Quality, inspection, and traceability
Every casting leaves a record.
Inspection is not a station at the end of the line. The record starts before the metal is melted and follows the heat to the loading dock.
Chemistry, heat treatment, dimension, and surface condition are all verified against the governing specification, and the results stay attached to the heat number. If a part is questioned two years from now, the file answers the question.
The quality record
It begins before the metal is poured.
The record is a living document that accumulates data at every stage of the heat path. By the time the casting ships, it is a complete history of the material rather than a certificate generated at the end.
HEAT 00000 / PART 000-0000
Example layout — not a real record
- Chemistry (spectrometer)Complete
- Heat treat verificationComplete
- Hardness and mechanicalComplete
- Dimensional layoutIn progress
- Non-destructive testingNot started
Verification protocols
What gets checked, and against what.
01
Requirements review
The customer drawing and specification are read before anything is quoted, so hold points and test requirements are known up front rather than discovered at inspection.
- Specification translation
- Inspection and test plan
- Hold point definition
02
Material and chemistry
The heat is sampled and read against the grade window before tap. The analysis is retained against the heat number.
- Spectrometer analysis
- Melt control
- Final chemistry record
03
Dimensional inspection
Drawing callouts are paired with measured results. First-article layout establishes the pattern is right before production runs.
- First-article layout
- Production verification
- Drawing callouts
04
Surface and visual
Cast surface condition judged against a written acceptance standard rather than an opinion, so the same part gets the same answer twice.
- Written acceptance criteria
- Surface condition
- Weld repair review
05
Hardness and mechanical
Heat treatment results are confirmed by test, not by the furnace chart alone — hardness plus the mechanical properties the specification calls for.
- Hardness testing
- Tensile and yield
- Elongation
06
Non-destructive testing
Ultrasonic, radiographic, magnetic particle, and phased array testing, all in-house. Method is chosen to match how the part is loaded in service — a part that sees fatigue loading gets a different examination than one that sees abrasion.
- Ultrasonic and phased array
- Radiographic
- Magnetic particle
Traceability
A number that opens the whole history.
One number connects a physical part back to its production history. The heat number retrieves the chemistry, the heat treat cycle, and the inspection results, and we keep it for twenty years — long after the part has worn out.
| Identifier | Scope | Retention |
|---|---|---|
| Heat number | Chemistry, melt, heat treatment, and inspection results | 20 years |
Lot and serial numbering are not used; the heat number carries the traceability
Deviation and disposition
Non-conformance is not a failure. Hiding it is.
Castings are a physical process and they do not all come out right. What matters is that the ones that do not are caught, documented, and resolved before they leave the floor.
01
Isolate
Non-conforming material is segregated so it cannot re-enter the flow.
02
Disposition
Repair, rework, or scrap is decided against the specification and, where required, with the customer.
03
Verify
Whatever was dispositioned is re-inspected before release, and the deviation stays in the record.
Testing and documentation
Four NDT methods, all under this roof.
Ultrasonic, radiographic, magnetic particle, and phased array testing is performed here rather than sent to a lab, so a questionable indication gets re-examined the same day instead of next week. Documentation packages ship with the casting where the contract calls for them.
- Non-destructive testing
- UT · RT · MT · Phased array
- Material test reports
- Supplied with the casting
- Welding procedures
- To customer specification
- Visual acceptance
- To customer specification
- Heat record retention
- 20 years
Documentation
What ships with the part.
- Certified material test reports tied to the heat number
- Heat treatment charts for the load the casting ran in
- Dimensional layout results against the drawing
- Non-destructive testing reports where the specification requires them
- Deviation and disposition records where they apply
Quality inspector and engineer over a certificate and a part together, comparing the record to the casting. Working posture, real paperwork, no staging.
Quality team
Ask the person who signed it.
Quality here is people who have been on this floor for years, not an outsourced audit. If a result on a certificate does not look right to you, you can get the person who recorded it on the phone.
Send the specification with the drawing.
Tell us the inspection and test requirements up front and they get planned into the job instead of discovered at release. Hold points, certification packages, and packaging requirements all belong in the quote.
- Technical review within 48 hours
- UT · RT · MT · PA testing in-house
- Heat records retained 20 years
Route
Export-controlled work
Do not upload ITAR or EAR controlled drawings or specifications through this site. The quote form asks first and routes controlled work to our existing controlled channel.