| IATF 16949 Certification | Confirm that the manufacturing site supplying the parts is covered by a valid automotive quality management system certification. | Current certificate, certification scope, issuing certification body, site address, and expiry date. | Valid IATF 16949 certification covering the relevant production site and product scope, with no unresolved major nonconformities. | Certificate applies to another site, expired certificate, unclear scope, or repeated major audit findings. | 15% |
| APQP and PPAP Capability | Assess the supplier's ability to manage product development, process approval, engineering changes, and launch readiness. | APQP timing plan, process flow, PFMEA, control plan, measurement system analysis, capability studies, and sample PPAP package. | Able to submit a complete PPAP package; Level 3 is commonly used as the default submission level unless the customer specifies otherwise. | Incomplete documents, uncontrolled engineering changes, weak revision control, or inability to provide capability data. | 15% |
| Defect PPM Performance | Review incoming, in-process, and customer-reported defects using a consistent parts-per-million calculation. | At least 12 months of shipment quantity, rejected quantity, customer claims, corrective-action records, and monthly trend charts. | For mature, stable parts, a screening target below 500 PPM is reasonable; safety-critical or highly controlled programs may require substantially lower targets. | Increasing PPM trend, repeated defects, missing containment actions, or data that cannot be reconciled with shipment records. | 15% |
| Production Capacity | Determine whether available equipment, labor, tooling, and shifts can support forecast demand and peak requirements. | Monthly capacity calculation, equipment list, cycle times, labor plan, OEE records, bottleneck analysis, and expansion plan. | Demonstrated capacity exceeds the agreed peak demand with practical contingency; a documented capacity buffer of approximately 15% is a useful sourcing target. | Capacity depends on one machine, excessive overtime, unavailable tooling, or no plan for forecast increases. | 12% |
| Process Capability | Evaluate whether critical characteristics can be produced consistently within specification. | Control plans, capability studies, calibration records, SPC charts, and measurement system analysis results. | For stable, normally distributed critical characteristics, Cpk of 1.33 or higher is a common production benchmark; customer-specific requirements take precedence. | Cpk below the agreed requirement, unstable control charts, uncalibrated gauges, or inspection performed only at final inspection. | 10% |
| On-Time Delivery | Measure the supplier's ability to meet confirmed delivery dates and required quantities. | At least 6 to 12 months of purchase-order performance, requested date, confirmed date, actual shipment date, and shortage records. | On-time, in-full delivery of 95% or higher for established programs, measured against the agreed delivery date. | Frequent partial shipments, unreported delays, unstable lead times, or reliance on emergency freight. | 10% |
| Lead Time and Flexibility | Assess standard production lead time, response to schedule changes, minimum order quantity, and replenishment flexibility. | Quoted lead-time matrix, order-change rules, minimum order quantities, safety-stock policy, and escalation procedure. | Lead times are documented by product family, changes are acknowledged promptly, and the supplier can support agreed forecast variations without compromising quality. | Unclear lead times, rigid order rules, long tooling queues, or schedule changes accepted without written confirmation. | 8% |
| Traceability | Verify that raw materials, production lots, inspection results, operators, equipment, and shipments can be traced. | Lot-code structure, barcode or electronic records, material certificates, inspection history, and mock recall results. | Traceability links the finished part to the material batch, production date, process records, inspection results, and shipment documentation. | Paper-only records with gaps, mixed lots, missing material certificates, or inability to complete a traceability exercise. | 6% |
| Corrective Action Capability | Evaluate how quickly and effectively the supplier contains problems and prevents recurrence. | 8D reports, root-cause analysis, containment timing, corrective-action verification, and recurrence data. | Immediate containment, evidence-based root-cause analysis, defined corrective actions, and effectiveness verification after implementation. | Repeated use of temporary sorting, unsupported root causes, late responses, or recurring defects after closure. | 5% |
| Tooling and Maintenance | Review ownership, preventive maintenance, spare parts, tool life, and replacement lead time for production tooling. | Tooling register, maintenance schedule, tool-life records, spare-parts list, and ownership agreement. | Critical tooling has documented maintenance intervals, monitored life limits, backup plans, and clearly defined ownership. | Unrecorded tool wear, no spare parts, unclear ownership, or production stoppage caused by preventable maintenance issues. | 4% |
