Customer Specific Requirement or more commonly known by their acronym, CSR, is often a confusing terminology for many. The term CSR is often incorrectly used interchangeably with the term customer requirements (CR). What is the difference between CSR and CR?
In the context of IATF 16949 for automotive industry, the definitions are clearly stated as follows.
customer requirements
all requirements specified by the customer (e.g., technical, commercial, product and manufacturing process-related requirements, general terms and conditions, customer-specific requirements, etc.)
customer-specific requirements (CSRs)
interpretations of or supplemental requirements linked to a specific clause(s) of this automotive QMS Standard
Applying these definitions, product drawings and specifications from customer is classified as customer requirements (CR).
Where can we find CSR?
The CSR often comes in the form of a document published by the customer, e.g. OEM vehicle makers like Ford publishes a document titled as Ford CSR for IATF 16949, where the content are aligned to that of the published IATF 16949 standard. Lower tier customers in the automotive supply chain tend to publish documents going by titles such as supplier quality manual or supplier requirements. Others sometimes make it more formal and call it supplier agreement. The content of CSR often includes specific preferred method or prescribed specific period of time for system processes. The CSRs are not model or part number specific, they are meant for the system processes. For example, Ford prefers 8D approach for problem solving while the Japanese car makers prefers 5-Why analysis method. The content of CSRs tend to be influenced by the work culture of the customer and remains a dynamic process where customers has absolute control on the content. Organizations needs to have an active process to manage these CSRs.
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