Supplier Quality Manual MSP 3 A
Supplier Quality Manual MSP 3 A
Supplier Quality Manual MSP 3 A
Manual
Contents ................................................................................................................. 2
We manufacture our products at facilities in New Zealand and Mexico and sell them in more than 120
countries worldwide. We sell our products through direct sales offices operations in most of our major
markets, and a network of distributors that sell to hospitals, homecare providers and other manufacturers of
medical devices. We employ more than 2,750 people around the world including over 325 staff dedicated to
research and development.
Fisher & Paykel entered the respiratory care market in 1971 with the development of a unique respiratory
humidifier system for use in critical care. We now offer a broad range of products and systems for use in
respiratory and acute care and in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
With the healthcare device industry regulated worldwide, the ability to meet stringent standards is vital to
ensuring market acceptance of our products. We assist our compliance with these standards by operating a
quality management system certified to a range of international standards which apply to both our
manufacturing facilities and our sales network.
We manufacture, assemble and test our complete range of products, including many components, in our
facilities in New Zealand and Mexico. Our facilities incorporate controlled working environments and our
manufacturing and design processes are certified to meet international standards including ISO9001 and
the medical device quality standard ISO13485.
VISION
Our vision is to increase shareholder value by profitably designing, developing, manufacturing, marketing
and selling healthcare devices worldwide that improve patient care and outcomes. Our consistent growth
strategy is to provide an expanding range of innovative medical devices which can help to improve
outcomes and efficiency of care for patients in an increasing range of applications, both in hospital and
homecare settings.
Incorporating patented and other proprietary technologies, our respiratory devices are designed to
overcome many of the challenges of effectively creating, controlling and delivering gases to a patient's
airway at close to physiologically normal levels of temperature and humidity.
Our therapy solutions incorporate technologies designed to benefit both the clinician and the patient,
translating to efficient delivery of care and improved patient outcomes.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare is a leading innovator that excels in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea
(OSA). We entered this market with the introduction of a heated humidifier, adapted from our sophisticated
ICU technology, as a simple adjunct to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. The aim was
to improve patient comfort and compliance to a treatment, which was at the time not very well tolerated.
Heated humidification has since become a widely accepted part of CPAP therapy. Today, we offer a
comprehensive range of CPAP devices, masks and humidifiers that deliver the best in sleep performance
for an energized lifestyle.
These expectations and requirements are based on Fisher & Paykel Healthcares regulatory, quality,
product, process and customer requirements to ensure quality products are manufactured. As suppliers are
critical to Fisher & Paykel Healthcares success in delivering quality products through their supply of
product, parts and services, this Supplier Quality Manual delivers an overview of those expectations and
requirements.
The requirements within this Supplier Quality Manual are provided as a supplement to existing agreements,
purchase orders, drawings and specifications between Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and existing suppliers
and do not replace or alter any existing agreements, purchase orders, drawings or specifications.
SUPPLIER:
As a supplier to Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, your organization is responsible for developing and
maintaining a quality management system to ensure consistent performance in delivering conforming
products, parts or services to Fisher & Paykel Healthcare. This includes responsibility for ensuring
compliance to Fisher & Paykel Healthcare requirements and specifications for products, parts or services
rendered, including those requirements provided in this document.
Supplier Quality personnel are responsible for the evaluation and approval of potential suppliers, and liasing
with suppliers to ensure quality systems, products, parts or services conform to requirements and
specifications. This includes process requirements to ensure consistent manufacture of supplier products,
parts or services and resolving non-conformances with the supplier. As part of ensuring these expecations
and requirements are continually met, they are also responsible for ongoing monitoring of supplier
Purchasing:
Purchasing is the primary contact for all production-related purchases to ensure production material
requirements are met. Purchasing is also involved in the approval of any new business with existing
suppliers. The supplier must inform the Purchasing group through the relevant Materials Controller for any
delivery related issues for existing products, parts or services. This includes any changes that may be made
to your packaging, process, product or facility that may impact the form, fit or function of the purchased
product, part or service.
Procurement:
Procurement are the primary contact for all commercial and business aspects of the supply chain. This
includes any changes in pricing, business structure, supply agreements or for any new potential business or
technology. They are also involved in the selection and evaluation of all new suppliers and form the link
between new suppliers and product development.
Development Engineering:
The Product or Process Development teams are responsible for defining requirements and specifications
for supplied product, part or services. They are also responsible for the assessment and approval of any
new, or changes to, outsourced products, parts or services.
Operations Engineering:
The Operations teams are responsible for ensuring ongoing production requirements are met during the
manufacture of our devices. This includes the implementation of a new product design into production and
implementation of changes to existing outsourced products, parts or services. They are also involved in
improvement initiatives to existing products, parts or services within the manufacturing environment.
The Quality System requirements we place on our suppliers ensures ongoing compliance to these
regulations as well as ensuring systems are in place to support the manufacture of quality products and
parts and delivery of quality service.
Internal Audits:
Suppliers shall ensure that periodic review of the effectiveness of the quality management system is
undertaken and documented.
Training:
Suppliers shall have a documented training program in place to ensure staff have the necessary education,
skills and knowledge to implement the requirements of their role.
Training conducted should be documented and include training to the Quality Management System as it
applies to the invidual roles of the employees.
All employees should also be made aware of defects which may occur from the improper performance of
their specific roles.
Upon request, documents which provide evidence that product, parts or services conform to requirements
and specifications should be able to be retrieved for review by Fisher & Paykel Healthcare or any regulatory
body within a reasonable timeframe.
Examples of records a supplier should retain, to demonstrate its conformance to requirements, include test
results, equipment verification records and calibration records. This includes dates of manufacture, quantity
manufactured, quantity released for distribution, part and lot identification, and data demonstrating
conformance.
A record retention policy should also be in place to ensure records are maintained in accordance with
standards, regulations and agreements. A supplier should determine its record retention period to be
equivalent to the lifetime of the product. Any record retention period has to be compliant with the applicable
laws, regulations, standards and agreements.
PURCHASING CONTROLS
Suppliers are responsible for their direct suppliers and supply chains to assure that raw materials and
components used in the manufacture of their products, parts or provision of services meet Fisher & Paykel
Healthcare specifications. As such, suppliers shall apply appropriate supplier controls to ensure that their
suppliers comply and are capable of meeting requirements and specifications.
The system shall also ensure that the raw material and components used to manufacture the product or
part shipped to Fisher & Paykel Healthcare can be traced through their system throughout the production
process from receipt to shipping. A unique traceability identifier, such as a lot or batch number should be
included on the product labels. For all custom components, the label must also include the Fisher & Paykel
Healthcare part number and revision.
Environmental Controls:
Suppliers shall ensure product or parts are manufactured in an environment to reduce contamination. This
may include applying environmental controls and processes for maintaining cleanliness and separation
between areas where controls are in place and uncontrolled areas. This may also extend to personal
Equipment:
Suppliers shall ensure adequate equipment is available and adequate for the manufacture of products to
meet specifications. This includes ensuring equipment is maintained periodically, documenting activities
performed and by whom and when the activites are performed.
Suppliers shall ensure that all measuring equipment, used for testing and inspection of components are
calibrated or otherwise verified to a national or international standard. A process should be in place to
ensure that equipment is routinely inspected, calibrated and maintained to ensure its accuracy is
maintained. Equipment should also be identified with its status and protected from any unintended
alteration. The limits of accuracy and precision should also be known, to ensure the correct equipment is
used for the appropriate measurements. Records of these activities shall be maintained.
CHANGE NOTIFICATION
Suppliers shall ensure adequate notification is provided to Fisher & Paykel Healthcare for changes which
may affect the form, fit, function, reliability, serviceability, performance, functional interchangeability,
regulatory compliance, safety or interchangeability of the product, part or service. This includes changes
made by sub-suppliers. This is to allow us to assess whether the change may affect the overall quality,
safety, performance or effectiveness of the affected devices. Notification of changes must include
description of the change, proposed implementation date, and affected products, parts or services.
Notification must be in writing and should be addressed to a Purchasing representative. For suppliers of
custom products, parts or services, all changes must be approved by Fisher & Paykel Healthcare prior to
implementation. A minimum of six months notice is required prior to implementing a change.
ACCEPTANCE ACTIVITIES
Suppliers shall establish and maintain procedures for acceptance activities. This includes inspections, tests
and verification activities for raw materials acceptance (incoming product), in-process acceptance activities,
and release of finished product. This includes procedures that ensure in-process product is controlled until
required tests or approvals are performed demonstrating compliance to specifications. These activities shall
be documented and available upon request for review.
The release of product shall also ensure that associated data and documentation is reviewed and approved
prior to release, to ensure that each production lot, run or batch meets acceptance criteria and is authorised
by designated personnel. Product shall be held in quarantine or otherwise adequately controlled until
released. The products status shall be identified to indicate its acceptance status. This status shall be
maintained throughout production to distribution.
PROCESS OVERVIEW
All suppliers must be evaluated and approved prior to use within our business. The process for all potential
suppliers, involves evaluation of the suppliers business systems and their ability to meet requirements and
specificiations for the product, part or service. This forms the basis of Fisher & Paykel Healthcares Supplier
& Part Approval Process (SPAP). This process is intended to ensure that those suppliers can consistently
meet requirements our specifications.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare uses a classification system based on the product, part or service being
supplied and its impact on the finished product being manufactured by Fisher & Paykel Healthcare. This
classification then enables suppliers to be grouped into categories which determines the level of approvals
and ongoing controls required.
The Supplier & Part Approval Process can be considered in two parts:
Supplier Approval: Evaluation of the suppliers business systems against internal requirements.
Part Approval: Evaluation of the suppliers process capability in consistently meeting specifications.
SUPPLIER APPROVAL
As part of the approval process, the following documents may be requested depending on the level of
approvals required. These documents will be sent to your identified contact and should be completed and
returned to a representative of the Supplier Quality team within 10 working days.
Once you have completed these documents and submitted them to a Supplier Quality representative, they
will be reviewed to ensure your business and quality systems meet our requirements.
PART APPROVAL
The Part Approval process determines the suppliers process capability in meeting the specifications for a
product or part being supplied and manufactured into or sold as a finished product. This process applies:
For any new part or component manufactured into a finished device for distribution.
Where there is a change to the suppliers manufacturing process e.g. a new tool is required.
Where the process output can not be fully verified by subsequent inspection or testing.
In the absence of the above conditions, Part Approval may still be performed for business reasons.
training of personnel;
Prior to performing Part Approval and initiating production, the manufacturing process should be
documented in a work instruction, standard operating procedure or equivalent and the specifications have
been determined and communicated. A protocol outlining the requirements for production, inspection and
1
Sole Source: Specific products or services available from only one source, also called sole provider, sole supplier, sole
vendor, or sole distributor.
2
Contract Manufacturer: Manufactures a finished device to another establishment's specifications.
During Part Approval, any measurement equipment used for inspection and testing must be calibrated. Any
deviations from the approved protocol must be reviewed and approved by Fisher & Paykel Healthcare prior
to execution of the deviation.
The level of confidence and reliability required to be achieved in the process will vary depending on the
impact of the supplier product or part on the finished product. The minimum process capability index (Cpk)
required to be met for any process is 1.33.
Before a product or part is approved, a report detailing the outcome of the production runs, inspection and
testing will need to be reviewed and approved by Fisher & Paykel Healthcare.
Where Part Approval is not required, a First Article Inspection may be performed. This involves verification
of key dimensions or characteristics from a single batch against requirements and specifications.
APPROVED SUPPLIERS
Once the Supplier Approval and Part Approval has been performed and successfully completed and
documented, the supplier and part will approved. Approval of the supplier and part involves the
establishment of the supplier in our approved supplier list. As an approved supplier, purchases may be
made of the approved product or part, and further business may be sought for new products, parts or
services.
If the Supplier Approval or Part Approval is unsuccessful, the potential supplier will remain unapproved for
the supply of the part under evaluation until the requirements have been met and a reevaluation has been
undertaken.
PROCESS OVERVIEW
As part of the Supplier and Part Approval process as well as ongoing monitoring of supplier performance an
audit of the suppliers Quality Management System and production processes may be required. This is to
verify compliance to applicable standards, regulations, agreements, requirements and specifications. It will
also involve a review of processes and procedures in place to assure quality product is manufactured and
delivered to Fisher & Paykel Healthcare.
The audit will be conducted by a Supplier Quality representative and may involve a Procurement,
Purchasing, or Product Development or Operations representative from Fisher & Paykel Healthcare. The
audit will usually involve a visit to the suppliers facility where an on-site audit is conducted and the
manufacturing activities and documentation is reviewed against set requirements. Alternatively, a desk audit
may be performed whereby documents are submitted for review. It may also include interviews using video
or telephone conferencing. A contracted audit may also be performed, whereby a contracted organization
may perform the audit on Fisher & Paykel Healthcares behalf.
Audit Plan
Prior to the audit, an audit plan will be issued outlining the areas to be audited and overall schedule for the
audit. The suppliers feedback will be sought on the audit plan. This is to ensure arrangements can be made
to enable all required personnel and documentation to be available during the audit.
Audit Execution
During the audit, the process, procedure, personnel and documentation may be reviewed for areas
identified in the audit plan. This may involve the collection of objective evidence and interviews of personnel
to support implementation and effectiveness of the suppliers Quality Management System.
Areas that are found to be non-compliant against a standard, regulation, agreement, requirement or
specification, will be noted as findings and classified depending on their severity. These findings will be
discussed at the close out meeting with the suppliers representatives.
A response is due from the supplier within 10 days of receipt, with a proposed corrective action plan and
estimated completion date provided. This will be reviewed by the Supplier Quality representative and
feedback provided. As the corrective actions are completed, the Supplier Audit Corrective action report
should be updated and returned to the Supplier Quality representative for review.
Audit Closure
Once all corrective actions have been completed and objective evidence provided demonstrating
implementation and effectiveness, the supplier quality representative will review to ensure all corrective
action has been adequately addressed. Once this review has been completed, and deemed to be
adequate, the Supplier Audit will be closed and the supplier notified.
PROCESS OVERVIEW
All suppliers shall define processes to control product that does not conform to Fisher & Paykel Healthcare
specifications. This is to ensure that any identified supplier nonconforming product will be documented and
appropriately addressed and corrected. A non-conforming product is any supplied product or part that has
not met requirements or specifications.
Any non-conforming product identified by Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and communicated to the supplier
should have appropriate containment, correction and corrective actions taken and the supplier should
confirm that the actions taken have been verified as being effective.
RESPONDING TO SNCRs
The supplier shall use the SNCR form provided by Fisher & Paykel Healthcare or suppliers internal non-
conformance report equivalent to SNCR to document subsequent actions taken to respond.
Supplier Containment & Correction Action: Supplier shall complete an investigation to determine
the extent of the nonconformance, complete the containment of identfied nonconforming product
and implement a correction within three working days from the issuance of the SNCR. Containment
is an action taken to prevent a non-conformance spreading or continuing (ie. Quarantine) and a
Correction Action is an action taken to eliminate the non-conforming product. This may include
repair, modification, adjustment, relabeling, destruction or re-inspection of a product. The first lot or
batch on which these actions are implemented shall be communicated in the SNCR.
Root Cause Analysis & Corrective Action Plan: Suppliers shall complete a Root Cause Analysis
(RCA) and determine a corrective action plan to address the root cause(s) of the problem within 10
working days from the date of SNCR issuance. Root Cause analysis involves identifying the
primary causes of nonconforming product rather than addressing their symptoms. Corrective Action
is an action taken to eliminate the cause of an existing non-conformance in order to prevent
recurrence, ie. change in process, equipment or procedure.
Corrective Action Implementation: Suppliers shall implement the corrective action plan within 20
working days from the date of SNCR issue OR until the agreed planned implementation date. The
first lot or batch on which these actions are implemented shall also be communicated in the SNCR.
If the verification activies deem the actions to be effective, the SNCR will be closed by the Supplier Quality
Representative and communicated to the supplier.
PROCESS OVERVIEW
The performance of all suppliers to Fisher & Paykel Healthcare is monitored on a regular basis to ensure
suppliers ongoing commitment and ability to meet business requirements. This review includes various
indicators of supplier performance. Performance is measured using both quality and delivery performance
indicators.This performance may be communicated to suppliers on a periodic basis.
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Quality: This is to measure conformance of supplied parts, products, components and service to Fisher &
Paykel Healthcares requirements and specifications . It is monitored through the following processes:
Incoming Goods Quality Control Acceptance (IGQCA) . This is the measure of the number of units
accepted in IGQC, as a percentage of total number of units delivered.
Line Acceptance (LA). This is the measure of the number of units accepted in production, as a
percentage of total number of units consumed.
Supplier Non-conformance reports (SNCR). This is the number of SNCRs issued against a
supplier.
Delivery: This is to measure the continued ability of a supplier to meet Fisher & Paykel Healthcare business
inventory delivery requirements.
On-time Delivery (OTD). This is a measure of the number of deliveries received on time as a
percentage of total deliveries expected.
Additional performance indicators may be added at the discretion of Fisher & Paykel Healthcare.
SUPPLIER RATINGS
A supplier is given an overall performance rating, based upon a cumulative score of the weightings. The
cumulative weighting score is between 0-100% and the resulting performance rating will be an indication of
a suppliers performance as measured against the supplier performance indicators. This will be used as an
indication of business impact and ability to meet set requirements.
FDA Food and Drug Administration - the United States regulatory body responsible for food and drugs,
including medical devices
GDP Good Documentation Practices - General guidelines for maintaining quality records
IGQC Inwards Good Quality Control - Fisher & Paykel Healthcare process for inspecting supplied
product before release into production
LA Line acceptance - number of parts that are conforming as measured against total number of parts
consumed in production
OEM Original Equipment Manufacturer - a supplier that manufactures and provides a finished medical
device for sale under its own brand name
OSA Obstructive Sleep Apnea - a sleeping disorder for which a product group within Fisher & Paykel
Healthcare is specifically focused on providing medical solutions for
OTD On Time Delivery - the number deliveries on time against total number of deliveries
PPE Personal Protective Equipment - tools, equipment, clothing issued for health and safety
requirements
QMS Quality Management System - set of structures, processes, and procedures definining an
organisations system for assuring product safety and efficacy
RAC Respiratory & Acute Care - product group within Fisher & Paykel Healthcare which manufactures
medical devices for treating patients with respiratory conditions
RCA Root Cause Analysis - process for determining the primary causes of a non-conformance
SA Supplier Audit - an assessment of a suppliers Quality Management System through the review of
process, procedures, personnel and practices
SACAR Supplier Audit Corrective Action Report - a document issued upon completion of a supplier audit
detailing the findings and corrective actions
SAS Self Assessment Scorecard - Quality Management System-based questionnaire for the
evaluation of a suppliers Quality Management System
SNCR Supplier Non-Conformance Report - a document issued upon receipt and confirmation of non-
conforming supplied product for documentation and approval of subsequent actions
SQA Supplier Quality Agreement - specific quality agreement identifying quality requirements for
supplied product, parts or services
VQ Vendor Questionaire - set of questions intended to provide an overview of the suppliers business
systems.