Each package is assigned a criticality rating; ranging from 1 through 4, with criticality ‘’1’’ being the highest.
There are several factors for assigning the criticality rating but the most important ones are:
- Whether the package is long lead, one off item or crucial for success of project
- Design and manufacturing complexity of project.
Obviously off the shelf, simple design, low price, less important packages and materials would have lower criticalities ( “3” or “4”).
The higher the criticality rating, the more the expediting, inspection and engineering surveillance efforts.
As you can see, the criticality of a package depends on price, the criticality of on time delivery (from procurement and expediting perspectives); engineering and manufacturing complexity (from engineering and quality perspectives).
Therefore, all package team members should be involved when assigning criticality.
Some companies have a guideline for assigning criticality (or a table showing type of equipment versus criticality number) while other companies have a point based system where all the marks from procurement, quality and engineering is added up while each criticality number has a range, so, the criticality is determined depending on which range, the total score of the package falls.
