Compliance and scope

The planned practice would serve civilian manufacturers only: electronics manufacturing services providers, industrial and energy-equipment manufacturers, and medical-device manufacturers and their contract manufacturers.

Excluded now and in the future: defense-related work and programs, and government contracts. Also excluded: civil aviation and space. Requests from these sectors will be declined.

No services to persons located in Russia or Belarus. These are company decisions, adopted in addition to legal requirements.

• Restricted-party and sanctions screening of the client and named parties, including ownership.
• Confirmation that the work is civilian and involves no defense articles or controlled defense data.
• An engagement letter setting out the advisory nature and limits of the service.
• Agreement on data handling.
• Outside counsel reviews export-control and sanctions questions for the planned data flows before the first contract.

Management-system certification, laboratory accreditation, testing of a specific lot and a customer’s approval of a supplier are different things and are never described as interchangeable. Testing is performed by the laboratory the client selects, within that laboratory’s confirmed scope of accreditation. Advice does not replace the client’s acceptance decision.

Client files would be stored in access-controlled cloud storage with logging, backup and restoration testing. Lot records separate client-owned records, licensed third-party data and the assessor’s analysis. Reuse of client data for any other purpose requires a documented rights basis.

The practice would not sell the parts it reviews. The client chooses the laboratory; any referral fee would be disclosed in writing; no compensation would depend on the outcome of an assessment.