Control of External Providers

How to control externally provided processes, products and services?

Control of externally provided processes, products and services, in simple terms means control of suppliers. When it comes to external control this encompasses everything from communication, verifying products or services received matched to the purchase, and whatever is necessary to ensure that products or services provided confirm to requirements.

Examples of controls to place on suppliers:

• Incoming inspection
• Supplier audits
• First Article Inspection Reports (FAIRs)
• Supplier performance metrics (scorecard)
• Site visits
• Supplier Selection Process

Organizations are required to evaluate supplier performance and also define the criteria for selecting suppliers. Information must be documented along with any activities resulting from your evaluations. For example, if you have set your criteria for 99% on-time-delivery, and in reality you are making your deliveries on time 80% of the time, you would need to take action to address this, possibly by deleting a new supplier or issuing a supplier corrective action to improve on-time-delivery. Other criteria for supplier selection can include requirements for price, ISO certification, or results of a supplier audit.

Our “Controlling of External Providers” procedure included with our All in One Certification Package contains all the forms needed to meet these requirements. This procedure can also be purchased as part of our Procedures Package or individually.