Welding filler material verification

Q

qualitynewbie87

Hello,
I'm in the process of getting our weld shop up & running. We are working towards our Nadcap accreditation and currently meet the requirements of AWS D17.1
I have a question about the control of filler material. I have been working with a retired welding consultant, and they tell me that we need to do bi-monthly verification of the filler material in the storage crib. Not verification testing, but basically inventory the crib to ensure what we have, to make sure nobody else has placed any un-approved filler in the crib, and to ensure the material isn't co-mingling. Also, we must keep a log of this or else it will be a finding during an audit. They told me this must be done, or how else do we know what is in the crib?

Where is this a requirement? I have read through all of my customers specifications, AWS D17.1 and all applicable Nadcap checklists & handbooks and found nothing related to this. Why would we have to do bi-monthly checks if our crib was controlled by upper management, and the crib remains locked at all times. The filler undergoes strict receiving inspection verification testing prior to being placed in the crib.

Thanks in advance for the help.
 

Mikishots

Trusted Information Resource
What did the consultant say when you asked for a citation of the source?

Hello,
I'm in the process of getting our weld shop up & running. We are working towards our Nadcap accreditation and currently meet the requirements of AWS D17.1
I have a question about the control of filler material. I have been working with a retired welding consultant, and they tell me that we need to do bi-monthly verification of the filler material in the storage crib. Not verification testing, but basically inventory the crib to ensure what we have, to make sure nobody else has placed any un-approved filler in the crib, and to ensure the material isn't co-mingling. Also, we must keep a log of this or else it will be a finding during an audit. They told me this must be done, or how else do we know what is in the crib?

Where is this a requirement? I have read through all of my customers specifications, AWS D17.1 and all applicable Nadcap checklists & handbooks and found nothing related to this. Why would we have to do bi-monthly checks if our crib was controlled by upper management, and the crib remains locked at all times. The filler undergoes strict receiving inspection verification testing prior to being placed in the crib.

Thanks in advance for the help.
 
Q

qualitynewbie87

They told me "this is they way we used to do things, and if we don't do it this way, then there will be no record of control over the filler material".

But there are records! It is controlled! Each box has the certification attached which has been inspected & stamped by QA, we also have another acceptance label that we print which shows date received, who inspected it, rack location, all kinds of good stuff showing it's been checked. Plus there are only 2 people with keys to the weld supply crib. The owner of the company & the general manager. But this guy keeps wanting to argue if we don't check it, how do we know it's right.

This person used to be a weld shop supervisor some 20+ years ago, then he started to do consulting work on the side and is coming out of retirement to help us get established.

I'm really thinking this had to be their companies policy and not a industry requirement. I just wanted to see if anybody out there had heard of this. I really don't want to argue with this person, but I feel this is a bit much.
 

Big Jim

Admin
How do you currently handle traceability of materials used? Sheet stock, plate stock, bar stock, welding rod, and so on. If what you do now meets AS9100C or even ISO 9001:2008, it is likely to meet NADCAP requirements. I'm not a NADCAP expert, so you should confirm with your NADCAP consultant and/or auditor.

If you lose material traceability you would be in a world of hurt with any of these bodies.
 
S

Sorin

I am on the side of the company policy and not requirement per se.

However.....you should have an inventory process. Either done when the filler is released from crib or as the guy said, at a fixed date.

One thing that you need to demonstrate during the Nadcap audit is that at any given moment, your welder is not able to:
1.Use more than one type of filler.
2.If welder needs more than one type of filler, the ones that are not used are locked in place and cannot be used.

PS. I know, 1 and 2 look kind of redundant (not to me :) )
 
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