Receiving Inspection for Metal Strips & Wires

[jennifer2015]

Hi all, we are a small manufacturer of metal-stamping parts and springs, the materials purchased are metal strips and wires.

In our procedure for incoming inspection and process control plan, we state that our incoming inspection of raw material during receiving is carried out by Store based on document verification (delivery orders and certificate of conformity or material certificate), and the dimensional check is only carried out by Production technicians when the materials are issued to them during the setup of machines. The reason that the dimensional check is only carried out during the setup of machine is to prevent/minimize the risk of material oxidation, all our raw materials are packed in coils by our suppliers, if we open the package, we are unable to re-pack the coils. To prevent material oxidation/rusty, the packing of finished products including oiling.

We have been doing these for many years, during one recent customer audit, their auditors are 1 Purchase and 1 Quality Engineer. We have no issue dealing with their Quality Engineer but the customer Purchaser commented that documentation verification during receiving is not enough, and if the materials are only found out to have dimensional problem during the production, we might not be able to meet the delivery deadline promised to the customers. But all these years, we do not cause any late delivery problem to our customers. We explained to him but he wasn’t convinced, even though we receive only 1 observation for this issue, I need advice here whether our current practice is acceptable. What kind of incoming inspection can be carried out for raw materials such as metal strips and wires packed in coils during the incoming inspection?

 

[somashekar]

You are good as you are. Please ensure that you get proper lot dimensional report from your supplier and they match to the number of coils. The markings and the coil number on the coil must match to the supplier report.

 

[Ron Rompen]

I agree completely with Soma (sorry, but it takes far too long to type out somashekar). Although your customer can ADVISE and SUGGEST how to conduct your business, it is your responsibility (in the end) to determine a process which results in you meeting your customers requirements. I agree completely that if you open the packaging on the received material you WILL end up with a corrosion problem.
If your supplier certification includes a dimensional report which is traceable back to the specific lot from the supplier, AND you can tie your in-process inspection to that lot, then you have covered one side of the question.
The other side (which is valid) is that you may receive nonconforming material, and not detect it in time to meet a customer deadline. What is your contingency plan for this? What is your SUPPLIERS contingency plan? If you can document these to show that your customer is protected, then you should be completely covered.

 

[Miner]

Your inspection plan should be based on RISK. Your past experience indicates that this is relatively low risk, so your plan seems reasonable.

 

[Eredhel]

If you feel like you need to satisfy the customer audit by doing more than you do then you could look at things like affordable, nondestructive, portable hardness testers. More expensive options include guns that can give you the exact properties of the material.

I would also lean toward listening to their advice without changing my procedure. But if it is a customer that defines a lot of your work you may have to appease them.

 

[Golfman25]

Both are right. And the issue about verification at the line being too late should be addressed. We check incoming material just for that reason. Not sure how your material comes in, but there usually is a tail that can be checked.

 

[Big Jim]

Unless you have a customer requirement that goes deeper I feel that you are on solid ground. Should you start having a problem then you may need to figure out something additional.

One thing you could do if you felt the need would be to request the supplier provide you with a test coupon that is wrapped separately that you could use for a thickness check. The supplier may want to charge you extra for that. They would be entitled. Or they may not just to keep the business.

 

[jennifer2015]

Hi everyone, thanks for all the advice.