1. Complaint department
If WIKA recognises a deviation of the bought-in products, WIKA complains about the deliveries (in individual cases also parts of the delivery) and sends them back to the supplier. If it may be necessary to rework or sort out the products at WIKA for reasons of meeting deadlines, the supplier must agree upon the activities required prior to reworking or sorting out the products and the costs incurred are passed on. Each complaint is reported to the supplier by means of a test report and has effect on the supplier evaluation.

2. Comment / 8D report
If WIKA requests a written comment from the supplier in case of a complaint, the request is clearly recorded in the test report with indication of the deadline. The supplier must send the statement in the form of an 8D report to the quality employee defined in the 8D report (SQE, Supplier Quality Engineer) within the required deadline. If it is not possible to send the statement within the required deadline, the supplier must inform WIKA by sending a short message, including the new deadline, to the same e-mail address. The definition of the new submission deadline is important. If a statement is not submitted within the deadline, the supplier will receive a written warning and will be assessed negatively in the supplier evaluation.

3. Technical modifications
Technical modifications of the product or the manufacturing process at the supplier must be reported, planned and carried out early in agreement with WIKA. After each modification, WIKA reserves the right to re-sample the product or to revaluate the process on the basis of a process sign-off.

Modification on the initiative of the supplier
The supplier must request the modification of an approved component from the responsible WIKA Lead Buyer. WIKA decides internally if the modification can be carried out. The modification may be carried out only after approval. An advance plan guaranteeing the supply until the modification is authorised must be presented in agreement with the WIKA Supplier Quality Engineer.

The following modifications are examples that require a new first article inspection:

• Modifications of the product design
• Change of material or contents
• Modifications of the product manufacturing process
• Application of new or changed machines, tools or equipment
• Use of new subsuppliers
• Outsourcing of production

If new/follow-up sampling of the product is required as a result of technical modifications, WIKA will trigger a sample order and provide the supplier with the initial sample test report file (EMPB Report). The responsible WIKA Supplier Quality Engineer must agree upon the extent of the first article inspection.

Modification on the initiative of WIKA
After a modification, WIKA will provide the technical documentation, such as drawings and/or specifications, with a new index and provide it to the suppliers. On request, WIKA gets an offer (costs and deadlines) and a feasibility assessment of the requested modification. The drawings will be modified only after accepting the offer and confirming the feasibility. The extent of the first article inspection will be defined by the responsible WIKA Commodity Team.

4. Deviation Rrquest
If a supplier recognises that the product differs from the technical documentation, the supplier can inform WIKA by means of a deviation request. This can be found on the WIKA homepage (WIKA Group / Quality / Suppliers). The completely filled in application must be sent to the responsible Supplier Quality Engineer. The information on failure cause and rectification measures are of special importance here.

WIKA checks the usability of the product internally and will notify the supplier of the decision concerning a possible approval. Products delivered due to an authorised deviation permission are not considered negatively in the supplier evaluation.

5. Process audit
WIKA reserves the right to audit the manufacturing process and all processes relevant for supplying WIKA at any time and after agreement with the supplier. Reasons for an audit may be: qualification of a new supplier, conclusion of a quality assurance agreement, considerable deterioration of the quality performance of a supplier, approval of new/modified processes and tools. WIKA performs process audits based on VDA6.3. The audit is planned in agreement with the responsible body of the supplier. After carrying out the audit, the supplier is informed about the result within one workweek but normally the same day. If the audit result requires improvement measures, the supplier must elaborate an action plan and send it to the WIKA lead auditor within the agreed period of time. If a follow-up audit may be required due to the occurred deviations, the follow-up audit must be agreed upon with the responsible body of the supplier.

6. Quality of the series

Quality assurance agreement
The quality assurance agreement is a document accepted by both parties describing the basic principles of collaboration with focus on the activities related to quality and production. The quality assurance agreement is not product-related. WIKA aims to conclude a quality assurance agreement with the suppliers that already have proved extensive experience and high technical reputation in development, manufacturing and supply of the products. The aim of such a quality assurance agreement is to reduce or avoid costs induced by warranty claims (claims due to product liability) and to increase the efficiency of collaboration.

Reports on series
The report on the series is an inspection specification document that describes the WIKA test requirements with respect to the part and that is agreed upon with the supplier. The aim is to enable the supplier to check and document in-house all WIKA requirements to comply with for the incoming inspection. The report on the series can only be concluded on the basis of an existing quality assurance agreement. WIKA and the supplier agree upon the deadline of sending the test documents after concluding the quality assurance agreement and the report on the series. If no particular requirements are given (e.g. safety-related criteria), after sending 5 error-free deliveries, it is no longer necessary to send the test documents. The reports on the series are subject to the WIKA modification service, i.e. technical modifications are recorded in the report on the series and provided to the supplier for agreement or information. The supplier is also obliged to inform the WIKA-SQE about the modifications concerning the extent of the report on the series (e.g. modified method of measuring).

Boundary sample
The quality of special features that cannot be measured can be checked by means of boundary samples by creating a visual approval standard. The boundary samples have to be marked on the corresponding position and be provided with date and signature. The responsible WIKA-SQE evaluates the samples and approves them in writing. The supplier is responsible for the control of the modification status, the usability and the regular inspection of the boundary samples.

7. Rework
A process defining the method, qualification of the employees and the qualification of the parts after processing must be defined in order to be able to rework the parts. The parts reworked by the supplier that may be provided with a special marking on request of WIKA and are supplied separately must comply with all requirements of the specification. The method and extent of the rework must be discussed and agreed upon with the WIKA-SQE.

8. Quality objectives
WIKA reserves the right to conclude quality objectives in form of, for example, PPM with selected suppliers.

9. Continuous improvement process (CIP)
The supplier must continuously analyse and optimise its processes related to the manufacturing process. The results gained are used for the consequent implementation of improvement measures and control of the effectiveness. The measures must be documented and the corresponding documents must be handed out to WIKA if requested.

10. Supplier evaluation
At least once a year WIKA performs a supplier evaluation for selected suppliers. The supplier receives the results and must , in case of requirement, present a suitable action plan for improvement to the responsible purchaser / lead buyer.