Stellantis-FCA Additional Quality Requirements (AQR) are one of the quality documents explicitly referenced in the latest revision of Customer Specific Requirements (CSR) for IATF 16949:2016, as listed on the IATF website.
Locating the Additional Quality Requirements Document
To identify this document, reference should first be made to the Supplier Quality Sourcing Package (SQSP), as defined in standard FGP.42 (previously FGP.01). It is also referred to as the Statement of Requirement (SoR) and is typically attached to the sourcing package by the customer. In the IATF standard, the SoR is identified as a customer-specific requirement under section 8.2.2 “Determining the Requirements for Products and Services.”
The Importance of Familiarity with AQR
Lack of organizational familiarity with AQR can have significant consequences in collaboration with Stellantis-FCA. Each production plant responsible for manufacturing components for a new launch must be aware of the document’s existence and ensure full compliance with its requirements.
Why Organizations May Overlook AQR
There are two primary reasons organizations might be unaware of AQR:
- Approval Without Analysis: AQR documents may have been signed by a management representative during the sourcing phase months earlier, without proper review or analysis.
- Lack of Plant Involvement: In many cases, manufacturing plants are excluded from the sourcing process. The central business unit of the organization may approve the document without informing or engaging the dedicated plant.
An Ideal Approach to Managing Additional Quality Requirements
The optimal solution involves establishing an APQP interdisciplinary team at the dedicated plant. The primary role of this team should be to analyze Additional Quality Requirements during Phase 1: Product Planning and Identification. This task should align with Point 1.1 – Voice of the Customer in the APQP process.
AQR in Advanced Quality Planning and Process Audits
AQR compliance is assessed by Stellantis-FCA during both the Advanced Quality Planning (AQP) phase and the PPAP Process Audit (PA). At the AQP kick-off meeting, these requirements, along with the SoR, should be reviewed collaboratively with the client.
During joint meetings, both parties should verify that any open issues identified by the potential supplier during the sourcing phase have been resolved and adequately addressed. In the latest version of the Process Audit, AQR-related requirements are specifically addressed in questions 17.2 and 17.3.
Ensuring Supply Chain Compliance
Organizations must ensure that all AQR-related requirements are communicated across the supply chain if they apply to Tier 2 activities. This is verified during Process Audits under the Tier 2 Management section.
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