We manufacture small parts and assemblies for many major aerospace customers. This issue came up today, and I want to make sure that I do everything right. Basically, the goal is to provide the traceability that our contracts require, but still protect our valuable supplier base.

Here's an example:

One of the parts we manufacture and sell contains a complex spring. We outsource the spring, stamp the other components in-house, and assemble in-house. (As an important side note, the fact that we were able to source the spring is the main reason why we have the business.)

The customer requires chemical/physical certs with shipment. Because our source bought the raw material for the spring, it is shown as the customer on the certification. In submitting this, we divulge the source and potentially lose the business.

This also applies to a select few parts that we simply buy and sell. If we send a cert, the customer gets wind of our hard-to-find source, and we lose the business when they go around us.

So the question is how do we establish traceability to the chemical/physical certs without giving up our sources? One suggestion was to make up our own form and pull the information from the cert (Heat #, Chemical and physical properties, etc). Each supplier would have a unique number or ID that is referenced internally, and the unique number would be the source displayed on the certification. I'm not 100% positive that's legit though, and want to be sure everything is on the up and up.

Has anyone encountered this type of thing? Any ideas on how to handle it properly?

One suggestion was to make up our own form and pull the information from the cert (Heat #, Chemical and physical properties, etc). Each supplier would have a unique number or ID that is referenced internally, and the unique number would be the source displayed on the certification. I'm not 100% positive that's legit though, and want to be sure everything is on the up and up.

Has anyone encountered this type of thing? Any ideas on how to handle it properly?

Domingue,

I have encountered this situation with a supplier. We require chemical/physical reports for a component and they (the supplier) were hesitant to devulge their source, for fear of losing our business. So after, many discussions with our supplier, registrar and customer (end user of the component) we came up with an agreement that the supplier could reproduce the information in their own form, but they had to have/show traceability to the original reports. (i.e. report numbers, heat treat numbers, lot numbers, etc.) That way if something happened and the components had to be traced back to its original source you could show the link between your form and the suppliers reports.

This is my :2cents:....

We manufacture small parts and assemblies for many major aerospace customers. This issue came up today, and I want to make sure that I do everything right. Basically, the goal is to provide the traceability that our contracts require, but still protect our valuable supplier base.

Here's an example:

One of the parts we manufacture and sell contains a complex spring. We outsource the spring, stamp the other components in-house, and assemble in-house. (As an important side note, the fact that we were able to source the spring is the main reason why we have the business.)

The customer requires chemical/physical certs with shipment. Because our source bought the raw material for the spring, it is shown as the customer on the certification. In submitting this, we divulge the source and potentially lose the business.

This also applies to a select few parts that we simply buy and sell. If we send a cert, the customer gets wind of our hard-to-find source, and we lose the business when they go around us.

So the question is how do we establish traceability to the chemical/physical certs without giving up our sources? One suggestion was to make up our own form and pull the information from the cert (Heat #, Chemical and physical properties, etc). Each supplier would have a unique number or ID that is referenced internally, and the unique number would be the source displayed on the certification. I'm not 100% positive that's legit though, and want to be sure everything is on the up and up.

Has anyone encountered this type of thing? Any ideas on how to handle it properly?


Let me ask this: is this a specaility spring that is made from what type of wire. Have you check the Hanbook of spring design for common spring materials or the or the SMI cross reference materials book.

Let me ask this: is this a specaility spring that is made from what type of wire. Have you check the Hanbook of spring design for common spring materials or the or the SMI cross reference materials book.

Actually the spring is made from strip stock (or possibly sheet) Inconel X750, so it's not quite as simple as just finding some standard substitute I don't think. The forming of the spring is also quite complex - we don't have the machinery or tooling to shape it.

Even aside from this one particular spring though, it's the system in general I'm looking at. I want to be sure I can satisfy both my company and our customers.

Dominque:

Please see attached file that I Have attached.
Also get with SMI and get a copy of this Hand book spring design.

This is to be certified to AMS 5542 see 2nd page of pdf. last line.