Key takeaways
- An audit is a document check plus a floor walk, and neither half is enough on its own.
- Ask which machine will run your part and what else is booked on it.
- Five records cover most of the quality risk: material, first article, control plan, calibration and corrective action.
- A supplier that cannot show a wire certificate for the lot in the machine is a stop, not a finding.
What the audit is actually for
A wireform supplier audit has one purpose: to decide whether the supplier can make your part, to your drawing, at your volume, and prove it afterwards. It is not a search for a certificate to put in a file. A shop with a good quality system and no machine that can hold your bend tolerance is still the wrong shop.
The audit therefore has two halves. The desk review checks the paperwork before the visit: scope, certificates, drawing control, calibration and past performance. The floor walk checks whether the paperwork describes what actually happens. A short audit can cover both in a day if the questions are planned and the records are named in advance.
Prepare the desk review first
Ask for the quality manual scope, the current certificate and the last audit report before booking travel. Read the scope statement carefully, because a certificate that covers trading and assembly may not cover wire forming. Then ask for a list of the machines on site and the part families they run.
Send the drawing and the volume in advance and ask the supplier to prepare a sample of a similar part, with its first article and its control plan. That single request tells you whether the supplier has a part family with real process control, or whether every job is treated as a one-off. It also gives the floor walk something specific to look at.
The ten questions
The questions below are ordered from capability to continuity. Ask them in that order and let the answers run, because the detail is usually in the follow-up rather than the first sentence. The table pairs each question with the evidence that should exist.
| Question | What a good answer includes | Record to sample |
|---|---|---|
| Which machines will run our part? | A named machine type, a station count and the current load on it | Machine list and capacity plan |
| Who writes the bend program, and can we see a similar part run? | A named programmer and a live or recorded prove-out | Program revision and setup sheet |
| Where does the wire come from? | A named mill or distributor, grade, temper and lot | Mill certificate with heat number |
| How is temper controlled between lots? | Incoming check, bend trial or springback adjustment | Incoming inspection record |
| What is checked at first article? | Dimensions, load at length, finish and function | First article inspection report |
| Which finishing houses do you use? | Named approved sources with a defined approval route | Approved supplier list and plating certificate |
| What happens when a bend drifts mid-run? | A stop, a quarantine and a documented adjustment | Non-conformance and corrective action log |
| What is your on-time delivery record? | A stated period, a definition and the actual figure | Delivery performance report |
| How do you handle a drawing change after approval? | A change note, a re-approval and a revised first article | Change control log |
| Who owns the tooling? | A written answer that matches the purchase order | Tooling register and ownership clause |
The order matters. A supplier that cannot answer the first three questions clearly will not have reliable answers to the last seven.
The five records to sample
A quality system can be described in an hour. Records take longer to produce and are harder to invent. Ask for these five and follow one part number from the wire certificate to the despatch note. If the trail breaks, the system is not being used on the floor.
- Material certificate with the heat or lot number that matches the wire in the machine
- First article inspection report with the dimensions, the load result and the approver
- Control plan or inspection instruction that names the checks, the frequency and the gauge
- Calibration record for every gauge used on your part family
- Non-conformance and corrective action log covering the last twelve months
Follow one part, not one folder
Pick a part that ran last month and ask for its full record set. A folder of perfect documents for a part that never ran is a red flag, not evidence.
What to look for on the floor
On the floor, look at the machine that will run your part. Check the wire reel for a tag with the grade and lot, check the setup sheet at the machine, and check whether the operator can show the last inspection result. If the gauge at the machine is not the gauge named on the control plan, the system has already failed at the point of use.
Look at the scrap bin as well. A bin of bent parts with cracked outer bends tells you more about bend radius limits than any answer in the meeting room. Ask what happened to that batch and whether a corrective action was raised. A supplier that can explain the failure and show the fix is stronger than one with an empty bin and no story.
Score the findings and agree the close-out
Score each question on three levels: evidence seen, evidence promised, or no answer. A promise is not a pass. Give every open item an owner and a date, and state what production is allowed to start before the item closes. That is more useful than a single overall score, which tends to hide the one finding that matters.
Agree the close-out evidence in advance. If the finding is that the load test is not performed at the stated length, the close-out is a revised control plan plus three consecutive results, not an email saying it is fixed. Put the close-out in the audit report and make the next order conditional on it.
When the audit has to be remote
A remote audit can cover records, certificates and a video walk of the line, but it cannot confirm the feel of a machine or the condition of a tool. Use it to clear the documentary risk and to decide whether a visit is needed, not to replace the visit on a critical part.
If travel is not possible, ask for a live video call at the machine with the wire tag, the setup sheet and the first article in frame. Ask the operator to measure a part on camera. That is not a full audit, but it is much harder to stage than a slide deck.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a wireform supplier audit take?
A focused audit of one part family can be done in a day on site, plus a few hours of desk review beforehand. A multi-family audit with several machines and finishing sources needs two days. The limiting factor is usually the records sample, not the tour.
Do I need a certificate before I audit?
Ask for the certificate and read its scope, but do not treat it as the audit. A certificate shows that a system was assessed. The audit shows whether the system controls your part, which is a narrower and more useful question.
What is the single biggest red flag?
No traceable wire certificate for the lot in the machine. Without it, the material grade and temper are unproven, and every downstream result is built on an assumption. Ask for the certificate before discussing price or capacity.
Should the audit include the plating supplier?
Yes if the finish is critical. Plating thickness, adhesion and hydrogen embrittlement controls sit at the finishing house, not the forming shop. At minimum, ask how the forming shop approves and monitors that source, and sample a plating certificate.
Sources and further reading
- ISO 9001:2015, Quality management systems, Requirements
- ISO 19011:2018, Guidelines for auditing management systems
- IATF 16949:2016, Automotive quality management system standard
Qumek Engineering Desk
Engineering team
The engineering team behind Qumek drawings, DFM notes, tolerances and inspection standards. Every guide is reviewed against the drawings and processes used on live programmes.
Planning a wireform supplier audit?
Send the part drawing and the volume. The engineering desk can turn this script into a question set for the specific process route and finish.
Talk to the engineering desk