Team 1 Plastics Passes Customers’ Audits

Team 1 Plastics, a plastic injection molding company for the automotive industry, recently received passing grades from two customers’ audits. The first audit was conducted in August 2016 by MAHLE, an international supplier of automotive engine components, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. On this VDA 6.3 audit, Team 1 Plastics received a grade of “B.”

The second audit was performed in September 2016 by YanFeng, the “world’s leading supplier of instrument panels and cockpit systems, door panels, floor consoles and overhead consoles,” according to its website. For this supplier on-site assessment, Team 1 Plastics received a mark of 90.

According to Dave Sanford, Quality Manager for Team 1 Plastics, “Any grade above an 80% is considered passing. If a grade is given below 80%, then the supplier is considered not to have a capable quality system according the VDA rating scale. To be considered capable, the company must at least obtain a grade between 80%-90% which is considered a ‘B.’”

A VDA 6.3 audit is, according to omnex.com, “required by many European customers to the automotive industry. VDA 6.3 is one of many documents produced by the VDA (Verband der Automobilindustrie), an interest group of the German automobile manufacturers and component suppliers. It has been adopted by German automakers as a supplier requirement.”

The VDA audit is similar to the ISO/TS 16949 audit, which Team 1 Plastics passed in early 2016; however, VDA audits are much more extensive because VDA quality standards are higher than those required by TS 16949. According to Sanford, “TS 16949 audits are targeted more to adherence of the company’s standards while VDA verifies the performance of the organization to the standards.”

Sanford added that Team 1 Plastics has had four VDA audits in the last year. He said that although each of the audits is different, based on the auditor conducting the evaluation, each audit has evaluated the six phases:

– Project Management
– Planning of Product and Process Development
– Implementation of Product and Process Development
– Supplier Management
– Process and Production Analysis
– Customer Satisfaction and Customer Service

Being focused on continuous improvement, Team 1 Plastics “appreciates the feedback from the auditors given during and at the conclusion of each audit and views all of the comments and suggestions as positives. The improvements put in place after each VDA audit pay off not only for the next audit but also to help strengthen Team 1’s quality system.” Sanford added, “It is also nice to have an outside set of eyes come in and look around. This has helped Team 1’s quality improve over the years and has developed stronger systems, allowing Team 1 to become more globally competitive.”

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Albion, Michigan 49224-9506

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