Quality Control Statement

At SMA, every single specially designed part of yours, big or small, simple or complex, will be taken care by a team of more than 100 dedicated SMA employees, including customer support representatives, internal job manager, sampling group, R&D division, material management office, tooling engineers, plant manager, machinist, manufacturing managers, Q/C specialist, finishing technician, packaging engineer, export specialist, logistic agent, etc. SMA is committed to the highest standards of integrity, excellence, and performance. “Continuous Improvement” is not just our slogan but also our approach and reflects our commitment to better serve you, our valued customer, with highest quality but cost-effective products. At SMA, all of our group companies use CI methods such as Six Sigma, Lean Manufacturing, Total Quality Management, or ISO 9000 series standards, emphasizing involvement and teamwork, evaluating and systematizing processes, reducing quality variations, defects. Furthermore, SMA group is intensively learning and following the SA8000 Standard. That is an auditable certification social accountability based on international workplace norms of International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Standard Manufacturer for America/Shuimin Associate Group Quality Manual

>> Selection of SMA Associate Group member (enterprise, company, and manufacturer) The selection is based on its manufacturing ability to provide quality, price and delivery. SMA selects the company after evaluating its engineering and quality requirements.
>> Self audit and Survey Communicates the procedure for conducting self audit leading to formal quality survey and ultimate classification of quality potential and rating.
>> Receiving Inspection Defines Quality inspection responsibility and procedural criteria.
>>Sampling Plan Establishes guidelines for statistical techniques and inspection methods utilized for incoming material.
>> Quality Rating Our QC team will monitor progress of each member on a continual basis. Performance as related to percentage and classification is show here.
>> Corrective action Formal response for material defects and corrective actions must be communicated.
>> Certification Defines the method of evaluation, which determines certification. Establishes certification procedure for future production shipments.
>> Selection For all purchased material, will be made by the selected member meeting one of the following conditions: Sufficient previous history of meeting quality and production requirements for similar supplied products Satisfying an on site quality survey conducted by a SMA audit team.

Member selection guidelines

SMA policy related to manufacturer inspection methods allows the use of AQL’s to establish the size and frequency, but SMA reserves the right to recover cost of defective material. SMA has established procedures for conducting member manufacturer qualifications. A two page self assessment questionnaire is filled out by the candidate member and returned to SMA for evaluation. (form rmaaa7). When deemed necessary an SMA audit team is assembled and will carry out an on site quality survey to procedure rmaaa8. The on site survey is normally applied to Class I supplier). When class II (off the shelf items) is to be produced, a survey is not required unless it is recommended by the Focus Factory team involved with the specific product.

Self Audit and Survey for Member Candidates

The self audits is aimed to determine the member’s capability of meeting basic American manufacturing quality requirements. The self audits will be conducted so that the member candidate can better prepare for the subsequent formal quality audit carried out by SMA team, and for SMA to become familiar with the member’s quality capabilities prior to the formal quality survey. (Self audit is carried out on the two page member self evaluation rmaaa7 and the formal survey is carried out to the 20 page member manufacturer assessment procedure rmaaa8). In the case of member manufacturer and sub-contractors who have performed work for it in the past, their historical quality ratings will be obtained and evaluated. Proposed member manufacturer can also be utilized on a temporary basis through the use of the member utilization procedure. See the attachment Ipaaa18. Upon completion of the formal quality survey by a SMA audit team, a copy of the results will be furnished to the member manufacturer within two weeks.

Receiving Inspection

SMA and/or its customer will perform receiving inspection on a very limited basis. The receiving inspection carried out by SMA and/or the end user is intended for dimensional verification to gain knowledge of any error between SMA and the member manufacturer. See the first article submission procedure attachment (rmaaa4). It is our requirement that the member manufacturer is responsible to provide acceptable product and the quality documentation showing the required inspections have been carried out and the quality requirements defined have been met. It is the responsibility of SMA to provide the member manufacturer with necessary up-to-date specifications. This includes all the requirements including latest revision. Member manufacturers should well understand all the notations on the drawings and in the purchase order.

Zero Defects

It is the SMA’s policy to work towards a zero defect environment. We will work with our member manufacturer as allied group to help them produce products with the highest quality levels possible, this will be done as group and a sharing of technology is possible. SMA has a procedure that allows our member manufacturer to request a deviation for minor defects. This procedure requires the manufacturer to complete form Ipxx01 and submit it to the Focus factory Engineer assigned to the manufacturer in question. The responsible Engineer is known to the manufacturer”. Deviations may be allowed for defects, if they have no affect on the assembly or performance of the product, but must be approved by SMA prior to the products being shipped from the manufacturer. Any rework must be re-inspected and made to SMA prior to the product being shipped from the manufacturer. Rework methods are to be made known to SMA prior to being carried out; this is to ensure that the product will be accepted by SMA after rework. Sampling plans utilized by allied manufacturer will not be questioned unless SMA receives unacceptable product. SMA does recommend, however, the use of C=0 as the method for rejecting suspect product.

Allied Enterprise Quality Rating

>> SMA will rate allied manufacturer on a quarterly basis. This rating will be done through the tracking of all defects received and the on-time deliveries from each en. It will be the responsibility of the Focus Factory to track the on-time deliveries and the Quality Analyst to track the defect rate. A report card will be sent to the member stating the number of late deliveries, number of defects and current status. Current status will be: >>Preferred member: A preferred member is one that had zero defects between reporting periods and has made all required shipment on time. This member has also been active and innovative in continuously improving the product or devising cost savings for SMA.
>>Approved member: An approved member is one who supplies parts or services to SMA that fall within the allowed limit for defects but have not been capable of shipping zero defects.
>>Conditionally approved member: Conditionally approved member status means that the member has had rejects recorded at SMA that caused a loss of production or required special sorting or handling of material. This status will usually be applied if the member has faulty product without receiving a deviation approval in advance.
>>Disqualified Approved member: This status will be applied when the member has continuously shipped defective product or sample, and the Focus Factory team has decided on disqualification. It then becomes the responsibility of the purchasing manager to either work with the member to help solve the problems that led to their disqualification or to eliminate it as member.
The purchasing manager is responsible for limiting or suspending the use of a member who consistently rates poorly.

Corrective Action

SMA will request a formal corrective action from their member when we receive components that are rejected for conditions that jeopardize the integrity of our saleable product. When we receive defective product from our member, we will notify the problem by fax, phone, or email. Each defect should be summarized on the corrective action request and issued a tracking number. The member receiving the request for corrective action is responsible to evaluate the defect and define the root cause of the problem and the implement corrective and preventive actions within 10 working days from receipt of the corrective action request. The completed corrective action must be returned to SMA for evaluation and approval.

Member Certification

Member may become a certificated one under the following conditions:
1. The manufacturer must pass an on-site quality survey carried out by a team of auditors assigned by the Focus Factory Manager
2. Manufacture products within the allowed defect limits for a period of six months.
3. Defect limits of up to one percent will be allowed if there is a plan to drive the effort to zero defects.
4. The allowed one percent defect rate does not apply to class II the shelf items.

Benefits of Certification

>> Certified company will be asked to quote on new products ahead of the other candidate manufacturer.
>>Certified company will be able to furnish their products to SMA as “dock to stock material” without it being put through receiving inspection.:
>>SMA will work with the certified company as much as possible to increase the volume of business.
>>SMA will no longer perform on-site quality audits, unless a quality problem arises that would require it.

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Some of our Equipments

Some of our Tools

Some of our team members