Quality Clauses

Supplier shall provide and maintain a quality control system conforming to the requirements of the elements described in SAE AS9100. Third party registration by an accredited registrar will be accepted. Supplier declaring system compliance to AS9100 with no formal accredited registrar will be reviewed. The supplier’s system will be subject to review and approval at all times by Castheon.

All quality records to work performed under this Contract shall be kept complete and available to Castheon. Quality records include receiving and inspection records consisting of reports reflecting receipt and inspection of supplies, equipment, materials, and tooling; and production records of processing quality control, reliability, and inspection. The Supplier shall contact Castheon for approval prior to disposal of quality records.

Supplier shall notify Castheon of any violation or deviation from Supplier’s approved quality control system. Supplier shall notify Castheon of any work delivered to Castheon during the period of any such violation or deviation.

If a non-conformance is discovered by the Supplier prior to shipment that does not affect fit, form, or function, a request for waiver may be submitted. All such requests may be made in writing. Under no circumstances shall shipments be made without written approval from Castheon.

The Supplier shall flow down all relevant quality requirements imposed by Castheon to any sub-tier suppliers processing Castheon materials. The Supplier shall not subcontract work on any article to be supplied under the Castheon Purchase Order unless the company is AS9100/ISO9001/NADCAP certified or without prior written approval of the Buyer.

For all Castheon materials, special processes, as well as certain additional processes not typically categorized as “special”, are source controlled, and must be performed by a Castheon approved vendor. All source-controlled processes and approved suppliers can be identified by contacting the Buyer. Approval to perform one process does NOT imply approval for any additional processes. A vendor must be approved for each special and/or controlled process it performs. If a preferred source has not been approved by Castheon, the Supplier can request approval prior to beginning work by contacting Castheon Quality Management.

The requirement to use Castheon approved and/or mandated suppliers must be flowed down to any sub-tier providers. All material furnished or processing performed by a sub-tier supplier under this Purchase Order must be by a source approved by Castheon. Contact Castheon prior to placing any sub-tier order. The Supplier shall pass on to its sub-tier supplier(s) the applicable requirements of this Purchase Order.

The requirement to use a Castheon approved and/or mandated sub-tier supplier does not alleviate the Supplier of the responsibility of monitoring that supplier and providing conforming product to Castheon.

For each special and/or controlled process performed, the Supplier shall furnish a Certificate of Conformance in accordance with applicable specifications and/or engineering drawings. The Certificate of Conformance must meet all requirements as specified in Castheon’s quality clause QC-003.

Supplier shall submit with each shipment either on their packing list, or attachments, a certificate of conformance or certificate of compliance, which shall be dated and bear the signature and title of an authorized Suppliers Quality Representative, stating that the materials furnished to Castheon are in conformance with the applicable requirements of the contract, drawings, and specifications. The Certificate of Conformance shall validate that the form, fit, or function of the part has not changed since the part was purchased. It shall also state that the supporting documentation is on file and will be made available to Castheon or any regulatory or statutory agency upon request. An example of an acceptable statement of Certificate of compliance/conformance is as follows: “This is to certify that all items noted are in conformance with the contract, drawings, specifications, and other applicable documentation, and that all process certifications, chemical and physical test reports are on file at this facility and are available for review by Castheon”.

Certification must include the following:

a. The supplier’s full name and address
b. Castheon purchase order number
c. Castheon Part number
d. Serial numbers (where applicable)
e. PO quantity
f. Quantity shipped
g. Lot / Date Code
h. Castheon Drawing Revision Level, as noted on the purchase order. If no revision is noted on purchase order, provide and certify to the latest blueprint revision at the time of purchase order placement.
i. Name of lower-tier supplier and description of service provided (if applicable);
j. Authorized signature and date

The Supplier shall define and maintain the process for review, control, and disposition of nonconforming product (supplies or services) at their facility.

The Supplier shall notify Castheon of any nonconforming processes, products, or services and obtain approval for their disposition.

Nonconforming product may be dispositioned as use-as-is or repair, provided that the nonconformance disposition does not affect the form, fit, function, or end item performance of the Castheon requirements specified in the contract and related documents.

Material that is dispositioned to be scrapped must be destroyed in a manner to ensure that it cannot be used for its intended or similar purpose.

a. For purposes of this clause and the definition of Counterfeit Work, Work consists of those parts delivered under this Contract that are the lowest level of separately identifiable items (e.g. articles, components, goods, and assemblies).
b. Supplier shall not deliver Counterfeit Work to Castheon under this Contract.
c. Supplier shall only purchase products to be delivered or incorporated as Work to Castheon directly from the Original Component Manufacturer (OCM)/Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), or through an OCM/OEM authorized distributor chain. Work shall not be acquired from independent distributors or brokers unless approved in advance in writing by Castheon.
d. Supplier shall notify Castheon with the pertinent facts if Supplier becomes aware or suspects that it has furnished Counterfeit Work. When requested by Castheon, Supplier shall provide OCM/OEM documentation that authenticates traceability of the affected items to the applicable OCM/OEM.
e. This clause applies in addition to any quality provision, specification, statement of work or other provision included in this Contract addressing the authenticity of Work. To the extent such provisions conflict with this clause, this clause prevails.
f. If Work delivered under this Contract constitutes or includes Counterfeit Work, Purchaser shall, at its expense, replace such Counterfeit Work with genuine Work conforming to the requirements of this Contract. Notwithstanding any other provision in this Contract, Supplier shall be liable for all costs relating to the removal and replacement of Counterfeit Work, including without limitation Castheon’s costs of removing Counterfeit Work, of installing replacement Work and of any testing necessitated by the reinstallation of Work after Counterfeit Work has been exchanged. The remedies contained in this paragraph are in addition to any remedies Castheon may have at law, equity or under other provisions of this Contract.
g. Supplier shall include paragraphs (a) through (f) and this paragraph (h) of this clause or equivalent provisions in lower tier subcontracts for the delivery of items that will be included in or furnished as Work to Castheon.

The supplier shall operate and maintain a configuration management system, which shall ensure:

a. Changes are properly evaluated, classified, and documented.
b. Traceability of all changes made after the initial baseline is maintained.
c. Baselines are clearly defined and are re-creatable from configuration management records.

Supplier shall not change any process, material, or procedure without prior written approval by Castheon if such process, material, or procedure was originally subject to approval by Castheon. Castheon shall have the opportunity to qualify the product in the new location or qualify the source of the new product. The Supplier shall not change any process, material or procedure which was used to qualify the product without prior notification to Castheon and approval by the Procurement Agent.

Sampling inspection may be utilized during performance of this order. Prior to use, the sampling plan must be submitted to Castheon and approved. The use of sampling inspection in no way affects Castheon’s right to reject any unit(s) of product found defective.

Suppliers shall retain any documented information related to this Purchase Order for a time no less than 5 years. The Supplier shall contact Castheon for approval prior to disposal of any documentation related to this Purchase Order.