How changes arrive
Customer changes reach a supplier in more ways than most change procedures admit. List yours, and make each one feed the same log:
- A new drawing or model revision, released on a portal or sent by email.
- A change notice that describes the change before the drawing is released.
- A purchase order amendment that calls a new revision, quantity or delivery (8.2.4).
- A revised specification: material, finish, process, test or packaging.
- Revised quality clauses or supplier requirements, which can change what you must do on every order.
- A deviation or waiver the customer grants for a limited quantity.
Our own engineering changes join the same log: a change to a router or a fixture we designed, a corrective action that changes the product's documents, an obsolete material replaced from the customer's approved list.
The impact assessment
Every product change goes through the twenty-line impact screen on the Engineering Change Impact Assessment (D11). Each line is answered Affected, Not affected or Not sure. For every Affected line, the actions go on the Change actions tab with an owner, a due date and, when done, the evidence. The lines most often skipped are in the middle: programs, inspection plans, setup sheets and gauges. They live in different places, belong to different people, and none of them is the drawing.
Three decisions on every assessment cause most of the trouble later, so D11 makes each a field:
- Product safety. Can the change affect a safety-related characteristic, or the part's behavior in service? Answered before approval, with the reason (8.1.3; the IA9100 screen, D02, if you are preparing for the transition).
- First article inspection. A design change normally calls for at least a partial FAI on the characteristics it touches (AS9102); some customers ask for more. Plan it at approval, not after the first lot.
- The customer question. Does anything about how we implement this need the customer's approval or notice: a disposition of old-revision product, a process change their clauses list, a deviation?
Classifying changes: examples
Use your customer's classes where the contract gives them. Where it does not, these examples show how we classify common changes and what each usually needs. Every row is still a decision for your change board, checked against AS9102 and the customer's clauses.
| Change | Class | FAI | Customer | Usual traps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hole size or position changed on the drawing | Major | Partial on the changed features | Implement their change | Program in machine memory; CMM program not revised |
| Tolerance opened, nothing else | Minor | Usually partial on that feature | Implement | Old inspection plan still rejects good parts |
| Characteristic marked as a key characteristic | Major | Partial | Implement; often a capability requirement | Control plan and KC register not updated |
| Material or finish specification revised | Minor or major, by content | Depends on what changed | Implement; flow down | Supplier certificates on the old revision |
| Note or title block correction | Administrative | None, reason recorded | Implement | Treated as nothing, so the revision is never issued |
| Order amendment: new revision from a given line | As the drawing change | As the drawing change | Contract review | Lots straddling the effectivity line |
| Packaging or marking change | Minor | None, reason recorded | Implement | Old labels in the packing area |
| Our router: operations resequenced | Process change | Check AS9102 and clauses | Notice if the clauses ask | Logged as a document change only (use E13) |
| Customer deviation for a limited quantity | Temporary | None for the deviation itself | Their written approval | Deviation applied beyond its quantity or dates |
Effectivity and the old revision
Agree one effectivity point with the customer: a lot, a serial number, an order line or a date. Every lot before it stays at the old revision; every lot from it is at the new one. Then decide, lot by lot, what happens to product at the old revision: work in process, finished stock, material and parts at suppliers, and product already delivered.
| Product at the old revision | Options | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Work in process | Complete to the old revision if it falls inside the old effectivity; otherwise rework to the new revision, or scrap | A lot finished to the old revision after the effectivity point is nonconforming |
| Finished stock | Ship against old-revision order lines; rework to the new revision under a written instruction (with customer approval where needed); scrap | Re-identification: marking, traveler and certificate must show the new revision |
| At suppliers | Revise the purchase order; let the supplier finish to the old revision only where it is still usable | Supplier certificates calling the old specification revision |
| Delivered | Usually not affected; tell the customer where the change bears on what they hold | Retrofit or return needs the customer's agreement |
Approval, implementation and closure
The change board approves the assessment before anything moves. Implementation starts at the effectivity point, with the FAI on the first product. A change is closed only when every action is done with its evidence, the FAI is accepted where needed, the customer's approval is on file where needed, the old revision is gone from every point of use, and the configuration register is updated. D11's closure section checks each of these and will not read Yes until they are true.
Before you close a change
- Every impact line answered; none left Not sure8.5.6
- Approved by the change board before any product was made to the change8.5.6
- Product-safety question answered before approval, with the reason8.1.3
- Every action done, with evidence an auditor could pull8.5.6
- One effectivity point agreed; every old-revision lot dispositioned8.5.2
- Customer approval or notice on file where the contract needs it8.2.4
- Changes flowed down on purchase orders and to outside processors8.4.3
- New programs proved and validated before use8.5.1.1
- FAI done and accepted where needed (AS9102)8.5.1.3
- Old revisions withdrawn from every point of use, machine memory included, and signed for7.5.3
- Configuration register and status accounting updated, with the effectivity8.1.2
- A configuration check made on the first lot at the new revision8.1.2
Answer each: Yes / No / N/A, with your notes and evidence. The Word and fillable PDF handbook have the check boxes.
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A management aid, not certification or a registrar audit. Using it does not by itself show conformity to AS9100D or any other standard, and your customers' requirements may add to it.
Clause numbers refer to AS9100D (SAE AS9100 Rev D) unless another document is named. The standards' text is not reproduced here: use your own licensed copy.
Aegis Insights are our own guidance, labeled wherever they appear: how we approach this work, not a requirement of any standard or customer.