How to determine if 2 locations
are 1 site for ISO/TS 16949
SQA Advisory Number 16
Introduction:
Certificates are issued only to a single site but
how many individual buildings or addresses can be represented as a
single site? The answer to this question determines the number of
certificates issued to those locations and more importantly, the
number of audit-days required for certification.
Discussion:
A site, according to the definition in the standard,
is a “location at which value-added manufacturing processes occur”.
Manufacturing processes are also defined. This literally means that
if two sites are right next to each other they have to be addressed
separately for certification. While this interpretation is the
rule-of-thumb, there may actually be circumstances when two
locations are a single site. In other words, two separate locations
may be considered one site whether they are adjacent to each other
or a thousand miles apart. When two locations are considered one
site, the employees are essentially added together and the audit-day
requirement is based on the total. Conversely, if two locations are
considered two sites, their employee levels are treated as separate
and audit-days are determined on a separate basis.
SQA Position:
SQA Position (i.e., Automotive Position): To
determine when two or more locations constitute one site the
following questions must be asked. A negative response (i.e., “no”)
to any of these questions means that there is more than one site
involved.
-
Is the additional location simply another
“department” of the company?
-
Do they have the same QMS?
-
Do they have the same management representative?
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Do they have a common scope of certification
(i.e., participate in the production of common products)?
-
Do they have the same site manager/management?
-
Do they have one financial statement, one set of
financial “books”?
-
Is there only one supplier code from the
customer for the locations?
-
Do they ship to the customer from only one of
the locations?
EXAMPLE-1 (two locations = one site): Raw
material is received and partially processed in Chicago. The
partially finished parts are then sent to Mexico for a polishing
operation. Once polished, the same parts are shipped back to Chicago
where they are further processed, packaged and shipped to the
customer. In this case, the Mexican operation is within the product
manufacturing stream and the operation is transparent to the
customer.
EXAMPLE-2 (two locations = two sites): Raw material is
received, processed and shipped from each location. In this case,
regardless of any other circumstance (e.g., proximity of locations
to each other, the number of applicable supplier codes, similarities
in processes and procedures, etc.), each location fully meets the
definition of a single site and must be audited as such.
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