Quality Program for Suppliers (QPS)
The QPS Standard and its Certification program have been developed to be a supplement to technical standards that do not have a dedicated section that addresses quality and their requirements. Applying QPS to these standards will enhance quality of items supplied to general industry.
The QPS Certification Program is for any general industry organization regardless of type of product they are producing or the size of the company. Typical companies that would benefit from QPS would be, but are not limited to:
- raw material manufacturers - Ingots, slabs, additive materials
- material manufacturers - forgings, piping, fittings, castings, bolts and nuts, plates, filler metal (materials for welding)
- manufacturers with or without design responsibility - Valve Manufacturers, Oil & Gas, Power Generation, Additive Manufacturing, Hydrogen industries, Green Industries
- Service providers - NDE, Auditing, Heat Treating, Welding (Cladding), Machining, Coating
QPS is different from the typical ASME certification program. After the application has been submitted and accepted, the company undergoes a two-stage survey/review process. Survey Stage I: Document Review, determines an organization’s readiness for the Survey Stage II: Implementation Review.
The Survey Stage I: Document Review is typically carried out over 1 or 2 days, depending ont he size of the organization (onsite or videoconference) and is primarily documentation based. The organization's QMS Manual and related procedures are reviewed to ensure they are in line with the QPS standard quality elements.
Survey Stage II: Implementation Review determines the degree of compliance with the governing Standard/Document as established through the organization’s QPS program.
Once QPS certification is obtained, the company will be identified on the ASME website under ASME Certificate Holder Search. The QPS Certificate of Conformance accompanies the supplier’s finished product and identifies the approved scope and the certificate number. In order to maintain QPS Certification, the organization is required to successfully complete an annual audit.
Pricing for QPS Certification is fixed and based on a predefined organization class, which is determined by the number of employees and number of locations covered under the Quality program. QPS Certification pricing consists of an initial certification fee and an annual certification maintenance fee. Refer to the Price Guide for pricing details.