Receiving Inspection Steps

The following types of receiving inspection steps help minimize materials mix-ups  

Learn how to use the sampling system at your receiving location. 

Certification. The various types of paperwork used to check products include materials test report (MTR), certificate of compliance (COC), product analysis and purchase order. See Chapter 2 under MTR, COC and Product Analysis. The product description should match the purchase order. 

Learn to read standards such as ASTM, interpret mill test reports and product analyses, and understand when certificates of compliance are applicable. Learn the differences between embedded materials within standards and supplementary requirements in standards. See Chapter 2 for further information. 

Chemistry. Chemical analysis methods range all the way from simple to sophisticated. See Chapter 6 under Field Identification. The exact chemical composition is generally not required. The identification method should distinguish the correct material from materials that may have been substituted. For example, a moly (molybdenum) spot test is a chemical color change technique that is sometimes used to distinguish 304 (no moly) from 316 (small percentage of moly) stainless steel. 

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Receiving inspection is the first step in the total control program. This generally consists of comparison of what is received to the specification used in developing the purchase order. Acceptance tests on raw materials should be directed toward assurance that the incoming materials are correct and identical from lot to lot. 

Basic Receiving Inspections. The following inspection steps are required ... 

Step 1. Receive the sample according to the guidelines and protocol of the receiving institution. The persons who handle the sample must be properly trained and prepared. To receive and process the sample, the person must wear a laboratory coat, face protection, and gloves. The sample is unpacked and inspected in a hood behind a shield. (Note If the sample is packaged at an altitude different than that of the receiving location, there will be a pressure differential that must be taken into account when opening the sample.) This process should be performed as promptly as possible after sample receipt to minimize decay of shorter-lived radionuclides. 

A processor does not have control of all the steps from basic material to finished product. Material processing capability is limited by what is received and by when inspection is made or required so selection tests are important and must be subject to change (see Chapter 10). In turn, the process line has many variables that must be coordinated. A practical procedure today, with all closed-loop process control systems, is to subdivide the controls into distinct subsystems (Fig. 3-33). They can then be controlled within single control loops or by simple intermeshed circuits. A single-loop feedback circuit has one input and one output signal disturbances that affect the process are registered by the controller directly, by an ad-... 

Driver reporting is another key to cargo claim prevention. This applies at both the shipper and receiver. If your drivers are inspecting the freight and notice damage, do they know what their next step should be Many shippers will note the damage on the bills, but was it noted correctly and on all copies of the bills ... 

Quality control is the means by which every step in the production process receives the attention required to assure that all parts and end products meet the desired specifications. Some parts are so complicated that if a production machine introduces a minor variance, the end unit cannot be assembled. This means that the manufacturer must make a determination of every critical step of the manufacturing process. Then, he must decide at which point inspections will be made and what controls will be established in order to produce parts and end products with all of the desired specifications. 

Resonance spectroscopy is a low power, CW application used for quality inspection. It is used to test the quality of mass-produced components because it is fast and the cost per test is low. A test sample is injected with CW ultrasound or sound at one transducer and the response at a second transducer is measured. A spectmm is built-up by stepping over many frequencies. Continuous wave excitation fills the sample under test with ultrasoimd, allowing waves from relatively distant parts of the sample to reach the receiver and contribute to the spectmm. A whole sample canbe tested without any scanning and interpretation is done automatically by computer, typically using a trained artificial neural network, resulting in short testing times. The time to complete a full test of, 100 test frequencies on an automotive component could be as short as 1 sec so that more than 1000 parts per hour can be tested. Resonance spectroscopy is suitable for 100% quality assurance of mass-produced parts. 

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