Why Third Party Inspection Bodies are loosing credibility Rapidly ?
Evolution of Quality
History of quality goes back few centuries when competition creeped in a free market scenario when batter quality products needed to be identified with Quality Marks to differentiate them from the ordinary ones. In engineering field the quality of the product were greatly demanded for defense and military application for accuracy of arms and amunitions . MIL standards were developed.With the end of second world war many such Quality initiatives were abandoned in the USA. Quality movement quickly started in Japan post second World War II with the contribution made by Dr. Deming and Dr. Juran which shaped the quality of Japanese product . Countrywide application of quality principles helped Japan to become respected as a Quality Nation. ISO Standard was enriched with those experiences and proven practices adopted in Japanese organizations that was aimed to elevate the quality standard worldwide.
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Emergence of Inspection Companies
Inspection services had a slightly different history. It is argued that international trade and business needed extensive shipment of goods across the continents through Sea ports and ship. Reliable ship would ensure goods are transported safely. A reliable ship is nothing but a ship that is of high and superior quality, designed and built, and maintained throughout its life. This necessitated the need for the ship classification societies to have Global presence . Classification rules require all components and equipment that forms part of the ship also are designed and manufactured as per codes and standards and classification rules. That forced the organization to design and manufacture quality products for ships . Experience gained by those organizations is now available for non-ship and maritime-related products as well. This created framework for quality as a discipline -an important function in any organization. My strong personal view is those classification societies played a great role in creating quality environments across the globe.
ISO Standards for Reliable Inspection
ISO standards highlighted below specifies requirements for quality management system which ensures the organization develops processes to ensure reliable products and services that customer needs and expects.
Industry specific standards specifies requirements for a particular industry and full con formality to those requirements would ensure there’s a great level of quality in products and services the customer demands and expects.
ISO 9001:2015
ISO 17020: 2012
ISO 9001:2015 specifies requirements for a quality management system when an organization: a) needs to demonstrate its ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, and b) aims to enhance customer satisfaction through the effective application of the system, including processes for improvement of the system and the assurance of conformity to customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.
All the requirements of ISO 9001:2015 are generic and are intended to be applicable to any organization, regardless of its type or size, or the products and services it provides.
ISO/IEC 17020:2012 specifies requirements for the competence of bodies performing inspection and for the impartiality and consistency of their inspection activities.
It applies to inspection bodies of type A, B or C, as defined in ISO/IEC 17020:2012, and it applies to any stage of inspection.
ISO 9001 standard is generic and applies to all types of industries including inspection bodies. IBs can use this standard with additional requirement and use it as a framework for quality management for inspection servicesÂ
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ISO 17025: 2017
IATF 16949:2016
`Specifies the general requirements for the competence, impartiality and consistent operation of Testing and Calibration laboratories.
ISO/IEC 17025:2017 is applicable to all organizations performing laboratory activities, regardless of the number of personnel.
Laboratory customers, regulatory authorities, organizations and schemes using peer-assessment, accreditation bodies, and others use ISO/IEC 17025:2017 in confirming or recognizing the competence of laboratories.
ISO/TS 16949 (along with supporting technical publications developed by original equipment manufacturers [ OEMs] and their respective National Automotive Industry Associations) introduced a common set of techniques and methods for common product and process development for automotive manufacturing worldwide.
This is the most important standard adopted by Automotive industry that specified additional requirement in addition to ISO 9001:2015 -the standard for quality management system.Â
Competition Forced Dilution in Quality
Inspection, Certification is a business and subject to the open market competition which forces the organization to reduce service charges to meet customers’ needs and expectations in a competitive world as Inspection cost adds to the overall project cost to the customers.
Each supplier has customers and suppliers. When an organization wins a contract at a low, or marginal profit, at times at no profit would be pushed to cut costs everywhere, as much as possible.
Cost reduction as a result of process improvement is welcome and is the right way to go however to reduce cost at the cost of quality by just buying from a cheaper source would increase the risk of quality as the manufacturer needs to cut corners -the way TPIs are forced to. This forces the TPIs to engage cheaper resources and possibly less competent and experienced personnel. The result is quite obvious and understandable!
Lack of Competence Building Measures
There is an acute shortage of engineers and inspection personnel with multidisciplinary experience and expertise which need specific competence-building measures such as job-specific technical training. Inspection personnel needs multidisciplinary Knowledge and experience in welding, Painting, and Knowledge of Materials, products, and equipment such as pressure vessels, Pipes, Valves, storage tanks, spheres, cranes etc , compressors, pumps etc including a thorough knowledge of relevant standards such as ASME, API, AWS, NACE etc. The certification body is expected to impart these knowledge and competence to ensure personnel are competent and can assure quality is built throughout their stages of production which adds value. The value proposition must exceed the cost which makes engagement of inspection company worth.Â
These quality building measures have been greatly abandoned by the vast majority of inspection bodies. Mediocre inspection personnel without the desired level of expertise has greatly taken away the confidence of customers in the inspection bodies and reliability which is threatening the relevance of these value-adding servicesÂ
Can Customer Play a Role to safeguard their own Interest?
Yes. Voice of customers and their demand for the competence of the inspection personnel, demand for accreditation of the inspection bodies by independent authorities, and offering a fair price to engage capable people would go a long way. Inspection companies should also be allowed to make a reasonable profit for their Business continuity as well as continued improvement in their capabilities to serve customers better. This is the seventh principle of the quality management system which highlighted the importance of Mutually Beneficial Relationships.
What are we doing in TCB to address this issue?
The root cause of the problem is a lack of multidiscipline knowledge and experience greatly needed in TPIs to offer cost-effective services.
We developed programs to build this competence in a short period of time-Its doable.
Our Certificated Quality Verification Professional course (CQVP) is tailored to develop this ability in inspection personnel who can make a big difference. Together with this training which includes Welding, Painting, Equipment Inspection, Application of API, and ASME Code, we strongly recommend Quality Management System Lead Auditor training. This would build capable people the industry is looking for, so desperately
Let us try to bring back the glory of this noble professional and service by adding true value to customers.
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