Dan, i have been using QPulse in the aerospace aftermarket for around 6 years now, from the early days of version 4 up to version 5.2, currently in use today. I have used QPulse to gain certification to ISO 9001:2000 and more recently the Aerospace Standard, AS/ EN 9120. QPulse has been an effective tool in this certification process,with both Standards Auditors and Customer Auditors commenting on how comprehensive and seamless the system is. Several auditors have commented that they have far more confidence in the auditee if a) QPulse is used and b) it has been configured comprehensively to allow complete visibility of the audited areas.
My company specialises in the supply of fasteners, hardware and consumables to aerospace and therefore i have daily contact with EASA Part 21, 145, M customers within the EU and FAR Part 145 in the USA as well as contact with a wide manufacturing base.
The increased cost of quality products, brought about by the lack of availability due to increased lead-times from the manufacturers as well as rising raw material costs are an increased concern for my industry. This situation has been further exacerbated by the enormous supply chain requirement for fasteners, driven by the aircraft programmes within Boeing and Airbus, which has seen manufacturer’s backlogs increase from just a few months to well over two years in some cases. This has forced the majority of suppliers to re-align their procurement plans and to urgently re-examine their own supply chains to attempt to source (alternate) products from alternate sources to satisfy their own demand and to safeguard their own existing and future programmes.
As more and more manufacturing customers seek to adopt lean processes and just in time (JIT) methodology, leading to a streamlining of their own supply chains and consequently a reduction in the number of approved suppliers, the market share for the supplier/ distributor will become ever more challenging. Customers are demanding, and quite rightly so, suppliers to provide a more encompassing and more innovative solution to their supply chain requirements, expecting the supplier base to become more integrated and open with each other to ensure the best service possible is offered to the customer. Within the aerospace industry the OEM’s and Prime’s are also beginning to stipulate that supplier/ distributors revise their Management Systems to incorporate Standards such as AS/ EN 9100 and 9120. It is my view that suppliers who are not yet certified to AS/ EN 9120 and that use QPulse to manage their QMS will find it a far less painful process to achieve certification than those who dont.
I have configured QPulse to allow me to track not only batch numbers but also product serial numbers as well, so that i can cross reference a products history should it ever come back to me as an authorised return and can thus report on the number of instances. As batch/ lot and serial traceability is paramount within the aerospace industry, i would like to suggest future additions or upgrades to QPulse, to see the field for the LOT number included within the Batches section of the view/ edit properties. It would also be useful for the Batches section to contain a field for the serial number of a given item. (i will post this aslo within the forum for upgrades or enhancements).
Should anyone wish to see QPulse version 5.2 operating within the aerospace aftermarket before they "try and buy" or before they upgrade from version 4, i would only be too happy for them to arrange, via Gael, a visit to my premises to see it in operation.