Clause 8 Operation
8.4.3 Information for external providers
Clause Criteria
The organization shall ensure the adequacy of requirements prior to their communication to the external provider.
The organization shall communicate to external providers its requirements for:
a) the processes, products and services to be provided;
b) the approval of:
1) products and services;
2) methods, processes and equipment;
3) the release of products and services;
c) competence, including any required qualification of persons;
d) the external providers’ interactions with the organization;
e) control and monitoring of the external providers’ performance to be applied by the organization;
f) verification or validation activities that the organization, or its customer, intends to perform at the external providers’ premises.
Explanation
This clause of the Standard provides a set of criteria which can be used as an excellent framework for effective supply chain management.
The requirements for an organization to control external providers, with formal contractual arrangements should be considered applicable to:
Service Level Agreements - specification of requirements for product and service provision.
This can include specification for formal processes governing;
how particular activities are carried out,
the competency of individuals carrying out related process activities,
production and delivery schedules, etc.
Data Processing/Protection Agreements - specifying data processing arrangements, where applicable.
Non Disclosure Agreements - as applicable dependent on the nature of data transfer and processing.
All organization's should consider whether formal inspections and auditing is appropriate to their supply chain. Please contact us to discuss further if supply chain management is an area of concern for your organization.
Note: For organization's preparing for Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) Certification, this is a critical aspect of the management system. You can benefit from our experience working with organization's providing products and services into critical supply chains.
Chief Explainer:
Phil Byrne