Putting Automotive Parts On Sort: What is Good, What is Bad, and How to Avoid the Bad (Part I)

For those working in the automotive sector, the concept of “putting parts on sort” should be familiar. The first time I heard of it was in 2001, and since then I have been really interested by the impact this process has had in the automotive sector, and more particularly for automotive parts providers, since some of them have come to close down their companies because of it. As a matter of fact, this concept has interested me so much that the ONTLEDGE team has developped several projects to suppress this “on sort process”.

But before continuing this article, I must define a few concepts that will be mentioned later on, such as OEM, TIER 1, PPM, NO FAULT, SORT COMPANY, ON SORT PROCESS:

• OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer): in the automotive sector, this name refers to companies assembling cars (VW, Daimler, Renault, etc.).
• TIER 1: OEMs direct providers.
• PPM (Parts per Million): this is one of the quality indicators used by OEMs to assess the level of TIER 1. It is the number of parts not accepted by an OEM for each million of parts delivered by his TIER 1.
• NO FAULT: In the agreements signed between an OEM and a TIER 1, a maximum of PPM/year is set for each new project. Today, some brands aim at not having a maximum of more than 10 PPM. This means that they allow ten “wrong” parts for each million of delivered parts. In order to comply with this objective, TIER 1 must try to get a no fault policy when setting their production processes.
• SORT COMPANY: Companies whose staff check parts and their faults. Their services are hired when one or several quality problems appear in a company, 100% of its material must be checked, and the company in question does not have any member of staff available to be assigned for this task. The OEM can also make their TIER 1 hire the services of these companies when they do not trust in the checks made by the TIER 1 staff.
• ON SORT PROCESS: Check of each unit of components according to some quality criteria made by one or several persons before mounting those components in a production line. In the automotive sector, there are companies specialised in that kind of operation – Sort Companies – such as Aktrion, Formel D, Qualitec, RLS, etc.

In the next article (Part 2), we will present you some techniques to avoid the implementation of an on sort process.

Fotografía: Aktrion