Supplier-Designed Components: Quality Assurance For User Satisfaction

This paper presents a Quality Assurance program for developing user satisfaction with supplier-designed components for helicopters. The principal components in such a program are pumps, valves, oil cooler blowers, generators, actuators, flight instruments and other like items. Examined are user expectations, designer objectives and a Quality Control Program for supplier-designed components. The Quality Control Program applies a Management-by-Objectives principle in a 0-0% program which defines guidelines for percent rejection during bench test and production flight test for selected components. Also discussed are cases in which the user's expectations and designer’s objectives were in conflict. The conclusions should assist those involved in developing a Quality Assurance Program for supplier-designed components used in important applications on helicopters.