Procedure for handling customer property in the manufacturing industry

Purpose:

To establish a process for identification, verification, protection and safeguarding of customer property ( Products, Materials, Tools, Fixtures, Gauges, testing equipment & software etc).

Scope:

All customer’s or external provider’s property.

Definition of Customer Property:

The property is owned by the customer and provided to the supplier for use in meeting the contract requirement. Customer property can include customer drawings, tools, gauges, fixtures, software and intellectual property.

Responsibility:

Marketing head / Quality head

Process description:

  •  Identify the customer/ external property.
  • Prepare a list of customer or external provider properties.
  • Use suitable protection to avoid damage.
  • Maintain & update the list every six months after physical verification.
  • If the property becomes unusable then inform the Customer/Owner within 48 hours.
  • Inform the customer/owner about damage or any kind of change to his property within 24 hours.
  • Share information with respective customers/external property owners once a year.  

List of external properties:

  1. List of customer / external drawings.
  2. List of customer-provided tools, fixtures and gauges.
  3. List of external standards.
    • IATF 16949:2016 Standard
    • ISO 9001:2015 Standard
    • AIAG VDA FMEA Manual
    • PPAP Manual ( 4th Edition)
    • MSA & SPC Manual ( 4th Edition)
    • APQP Manual ( 2nd Edition)
    • Other external standards

Identification and Traceability of the customer property:

Identification of customer property is very critical for ownership and to prevent any unauthorized use of the property. Customer property must be tagged with proper identification with the customer’s complete detail. So with all the detail customer property can be traced at any point in time.

Maintenance of customer property:

There should be a clear agreement between the customer and the supplier for doing repair and maintenance of the tools, fixtures, gauges and other customer-provided equipment. Terms & conditions should be clearly defined in advance. Also maintenance records should be maintained by the company as per procedure requirements.

For more detail about AIAG VDA FMEA.

For more information about APQP, MSA & SPC.

List of customer property. external property

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