Why "Good Enough" is No Longer Viable - A Case for Positive Material Identification (PMI) in Your Metals Business

We all require Material Test Reports (MTRs) from our vendors these days. In fact, one of the biggest objections I hear from new and prospective clients when I ask how they identify their metals is we have MTRs. "We have MTRs" is stated so matter-of-factly that I often envision my clients standing in court defending themselves after a terrible accident where someone got hurt. They shout at the top of their lungs but we have MTRs. The courts reply? Guilty. This good enough mentality is no longer viable. We can do better!

They shout at the top of their lungs

"but we have MTRs!"

The courts reply?

"Guilty."

What sets our businesses apart in today's competitive landscape is demonstrating to our customers that our businesses are safety and quality focused.  Then, with the next breath we don't question the rudimentary techniques we for alloy selection--a decision human lives may depend on. Selecting the correct alloy, the first time, matters. Simple, fast, safe, and inexpensive solutions exist to identify metals. So why not use them? Trust but verify--in this case verify via Positive Material Identification (PMI).

"Trust but verify--in this case verify via Positive Material Identification (PMI)"

Who put a heat number on a piece of metal? Hopefully the mill. Are you the mill? Was the heat number re-written by your company? How many times was the heat number rewritten and was it re-written correctly? Is your business dividing metal up into smaller pieces? Do all your smaller pieces of metal have the original heat number stamp? I BET THEY DON'T. So why then do we not simply spend the 2 seconds it takes to identify these alloys via PMI through our existing QA/QC programs?

So why then do we not simply spend the 2 seconds it takes to identify these alloys via PMI through our existing QA/QC programs?

I am arguing a heat number WITHOUT verification down-stream is no longer "good enough." The financial liability alone is not worth it--that's not even considering social, emotional, or even political ramifications. If we choose the wrong alloy we can lose money or people can get hurt! This is especially true for safety critical applications. Our "best guess" that a metal is the correct alloy is no longer "good enough."

Our "best guess" that a metal is the correct alloy is no longer "good enough."

I often hear from clients "we organize our material on shelves, our metal does NOT need labels because we label the shelves!" I have personally seen this kind of metal sorting and there are ALWAYS mix-ups associated with it--especially when trying to point metal pieces back to heat numbers. What a nightmare. Bringing in a handheld metal analyzer gives you confidence your business is using the correct alloy every time. It also demonstrates your business is focused on creating quality products... the first time! The best part is companies like Rigaku are making fast, safe, and inexpensive handheld metal analyzers that can get your company up to speed in no time!

Check out this new FAST FACT and we can talk about how to easily incorporate FAST and SAFE analysis with an on-site tool into your QA/QC program!

About the author: My name is Nate Newbury and I am a Materials Engineer with a Bachelors from Iowa State University with a specialty in metallurgy. I have served the metals industry for over 10 years dabbling in just about every element and alloy out there. I believe we owe it to the people and families we touch every day to create safer work environments. Handheld LIBS helps a small part of that initiative in a big way by removing harmful X-Ray radiation from handheld metal analyzers found throughout the metals industry.

If you would like to learn more about metals, All About LIBS is a short YouTube series with ~2 minute videos about metals. The series includes an overview of the alloys then demonstrates a safe technology to sort the alloys with.