An Insiders Guide to Steel Quality Inspections and Quality Control ...

Quality control in steel products is extremely important. The steel fabrication process demands attention to detail and an understanding of the many variables that come into play.

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When sourcing steel products from another country, you often have no control over the production process and must rely solely on your supplier. Steel inspections can help to reduce risks and ensure that the products meet your quality standards.

In light of this issue, we’ve created an insider guide from our clients’ cases packed with steel quality inspection strategies to reduce your risks when you buy steel from China, India – or anywhere else in the world.

Why Is Steel Quality Inspection Important?

Quality inspections of steel products are important to ensure that the products you’re purchasing meet industry standards and customer-specific requirements. Steel inspections can often help you identify faults or irregularities in the material – even before you receive the products from your supplier- saving you both cost and time.

But not only does it ensure the reliability and safety of the steel, but it can also verify that the produced steel products use a particular grade of steel and meets agreed-upon standards set by industry bodies such as ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) or AISI (American Iron and Steel Institute).

What to Consider When Buying Steel Abroad?

The first step is to understand the technical requirements of the products that you’d like to purchase, and be aware that each country has its own standards for steel production. Make sure your supplier can meet your technical requirements, despite what steel standard they have.

What Are the Common Steel Standards?

There are numerous steel standards, each with its own unique grading system and levels. Some of the most common include:

• American Society for Testing and Materials – ASTM
• American Iron and Steel Institute – AISI
• Society of Automotive Engineers – SAE
• Deutsches Institut für Normung – DIN (German Institute for Standardization)
• European Committee for Standardization – EN
• Japanese Industrial Standards – JIS
• China National Standards Committee – GB

Steel Vendor Selection: How to Audit Steel Suppliers

One of the most critical moments in the selection of steel suppliers. Most of the steel producers are located in China, India, Japan and Brazil, and their factories are located thousands of miles away from you. It is important to find a supplier who can meet your needs in terms of quality, specifications, delivery time, and price.

How to Check the Steel Factory?

If the steel vendor you’ve chosen is a manufacturer, then you should consider doing a factory audit. A factory audit often includes: checking the manufacturer’s basic register information and background, bank information, existence and production capability, quality control and management system, human sources and more.

An image of a factory audits summary, click here to see the factory audit sample report.

How to Check a Steel Supplier?

Be aware that many steel traders try to pass themselves off as a manufacturer, especially in China. If you’re questioning whether your vendor is a trader or manufacturer, consider conducting a supplier audit to review the company’s registration information and background.

Steel Supplier Versus Steel Manufacturer, What Is the Best Option?

Both steel manufacturers and trading companies have their advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Buying from Steel Manufacturers

For still mills, they have invested heavily in many fixed assets. Hence, it’s less likely that they would risk cheating. They can also control the production of the order by themselves, making it more likely that they will produce the goods on time and as per the specifications and standards.

On the downside, metal manufacturers often require a higher minimum order quantity and can’t produce multiple goods at the same factory.

Steel Trading Companies Advantages and Disadvantages

The advantages of dealing with steel trading companies are that they are more flexible than manufacturers. For example, they are more likely to collect orders with many specifications and low quantities and can offer alternatives to you.

They are also very familiar with the market, have many sources and can communicate well with steel mills to resolve problems and find the products you require.

Aside from having little to no control over the actual productions, the main disadvantage is that the company may use your down payment to find materials from steel mills and:

• Wait for the market to turn to get lower prices, which can influence their on-time delivery
• Substitute your steel products that are of a foreign standard with ones that have a similar domestic standard.
• Increase the price after your down payment and demand you pay the price difference.

Tips for Selecting the Best Steel Supplier

Below are some tips for choosing the best supplier for your steel products.

• Opt for steel mills – Purchase directly from the manufacturer if your order meets the minimum requirement of order from the steel mills, as they are less likely to cheat on you.
• Beauty can be a red flag – If a supplier has an amazing website, but it’s only in English, and the contact information is just a personal cell number, that should be a concern to consider.
• Deposit payment – Before giving a company any money, we strongly suggest you double-check them through an audit, especially if something doesn’t feel right.
• Be cautious of low prices – Don’t be fooled by cheaper steel options; the lower price is usually indicative of a lower quality product.

Steel Inspection: What Quality Inspection Is Best for Steel Products?

There are four primary types of quality inspections used in quality control; however, when it comes to steel products, the most required inspections are often pre shipment and loading supervision for steel quality control.

The Steel Inspection Checklist: Pre Shipment Inspections

The pre shipment inspection (PSI) of steel products is conducted on a random sample of finished goods and packed on-site to ensure that the products comply with your specifications, or a full inspection (checking all products). The inspector will look at different parameters, including:

1. Style and Quantity Check:  

Check the actual weight of the steel by calibrating the weighting apparatus and quantity check the pieces by counting (especially useful for plates, sheets, tubes and bars).

2. Steel Dimension Check: 

Verify that the dimensions align with the agreed specifications by assessing the following:

• Plates and Sheets Coils: thickness, width
• Bar: diameter
• Pipes: Outside diameter, wall thickness, straightness, ovality and more.

3. Visual Inspection of Steel

Check the workmanship of the produced goods to identify using a visual inspection. This will tell you whether there are any defects such as dents, scratches, uneven weld beads, underfill of weld materials etc. The acceptance of these imperfections is per the applicable standard.

Other Important Pre Shipment Inspections

• Check the manufacturers Mill Test Certificate (MTC).
• Check the chemical composition using a PMI Spectrometer.
• Check the shipping mark and packing check.

Steel Lab Testing Inspections

1. Chemical Composition Test – Used to determine the chemical composition of the steel and measure its quality.

2. Mechanical Property Test (Yield Strength, Tensile Strength, Elongation) – Evaluate the material’s tensile strength, yield point, and elongation percentage.

3. Hardness Test – Check the material’s resistance to local penetration.

4. Ultrasonic testing (UT) of steel – Detect if there are any flaws or defects in the material.

Risks During and After Steel Pre Shipment Inspection

Here are some of the main risks that are associated with a pre shipment inspection.

1. Don’t forget the check the steel grade, the supplier may substitute your steel products that are of a foreign standard with those of a similar domestic standard.
2. It’s important to test the chemical composition to check the authenticity of the materials and compare the testing result with the MTC. For example, some materials may be of lower grade materials (for example, SS201 instead of the required SS316).
3. Ask the supplier to package all the materials on-site when the inspector is present so that they do not try to lower the quantity, especially the coils, which cannot be counted by pieces, after the inspection. Ask the inspector to stick or sign on the package to prevent someone from opening and repackaging the materials.
4. Be aware that some machines may be tampered by the supplier and may give inaccurate readings, especially for those that are harder to calculate on-site, such as steel coils.

Check here one HQTS Steel Preshipment Inspection Sample Report

What Is a Loading Supervision Steel Procedure?

Steel products are of high value. Unfortunately, some suppliers may cheat to make an extra profit. Once the pre-shipment inspection is complete and the inspector has left, your products may still be at risk for replacement or having the quantity reduced by the supplier.

This is where container loading supervision is useful. A loading supervision is conducted to ensure that the cargo has been properly loaded into the container. This inspection includes:

1. Check the quantity and weight.
2. Check the package and label.
3. Check the internal end external conditions of the container.
4. Supervise the loading process and the placing and fixing the products in the container.
5. Sealing of the container and witnessing the container leave.

Tips: Try to witness the container leave the factory after loading and record the license tag of the truck and the container number. Confirm with the driver whether it’s from the shipping company or the agent.

Conclusion Steel Inspection Checklist and Tips to Reduce Risks Quality Risks (Insiders Guide)

The steel market, especially in China and India, is complex, as there are small traders who pose as fraud suppliers. However, most of these suppliers are reliable businesses. Having said that, it’s important to know the risks associated with buying steel abroad.

To mitigate risks, we recommend conducting a supplier audit or factory audit on the businesses, combined with a pre shipment inspection and loading supervision.

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Overview: Retailers, Suppliers & Mills

When sourcing raw steel plate, purchasing managers have three primary steel plate sources: retailers, suppliers (also known as distributors) or mills.

Retailers include everything from big-box chains – such as Home Depot – to independent metal specialists, in-stores and online. With retailers, customers can simply walk into a store or browse a website, select an item and purchase the item at will.

Suppliers are “material middlemen.” They buy steel plate in bulk from a mill at discounted rates, store it in high quantities in warehouses and then sell the material to buyers with medium or high quantity needs.

Suppliers often sell by the “truckload,” or between 20,000 lbs. and 40,000 lbs. Suppliers offer a greater selection of steel plate product at lower per-hundredweight cost than retailers, since they deal primarily in bulk.

Mills are the producers of steel plate materials and offer a varied selection of steel plate product. In most cases, mills only sell direct to buyers in need of very large volumes of steel plate.

Service centers are another common source for processed steel plate (such as plate cut to specific sizes or shapes), but we will not focus on service centers in this article due to the variety of metal processing service options.

Related: Common Ways Steel Plate is Processed

Choosing Between Retailers, Suppliers & Mills

So which steel plate source is best for you? The answer depends on buyer needs surrounding five primary factors:

• Convenience: how quickly and easily do you need access to steel plate material?
• Product variety: are the grades and sizes you need common or specific?
• Price per hundredweight.
• Volume: how much product do you need?
• Inventory risk: can you buy in bulk and store excess? Or do you need smaller orders delivered over time?
• Buying methods: what options are available for placing an order?

Understanding your specific needs in each category will help determine which sourcing method(s) may be best for you.

Convenience

The most distinct difference between buying from retailers, suppliers and mills is the degree of convenience offered by each source.

Retailers are highly convenient. They carry very few steel plate products, but have these products readily available at all times. Retailers typically allow buyers to place a steel plate order via their website, which gives buyers the option to buy plate in just a few clicks.

Suppliers are significantly more convenient than mills, because they often have deep inventories and multiple inventory locations. They can respond to steel plate needs quickly (sometimes even within the same day), whereas mills usually require more than a month lead time on an order. Some suppliers, like Leeco Steel, are beginning to offer customers the option of ordering steel plate online via an ecommerce website to add convenience to the buying process.

Additionally, suppliers usually have experienced in-house teams that understand how to deliver large steel plate orders, which is an important convenience for many medium-to-large volume buyers.

Mills offer the lowest level of convenience, as they fill their production “books” (AKA: schedules) months in advance. Suppliers and retailers can handle these longer lead times due to large on-hand inventories, but buyers typically cannot. This is why only large buyers with specific, known material needs tend to purchase steel plate directly from mills.

Convenience of Credit

Retailers usually accept cash, check or credit card payments at the time the order is placed, making them highly convenient for smaller buyers.

Suppliers and mills almost never accept credit card payments due the large value of the average order. In fact, most suppliers and mills require buyers to undergo a business credit evaluation before the buyer can even buy.

Once a supplier or mill extend credit limits, buyers do have the convenience to place orders in advance but pay when material is received. In these situations, mills adhere to a strict 30-day payment window.

Suppliers have dedicated credit evaluation teams to assess credit risk and can therefore offer more flexible payment windows (i.e. 45-60 days), making them more convenient for medium-to-large buyers.

Product Variety

Retailers offer a limited variety of steel plate products. They typically only carry common grades, such as ASTM A36 and AR400, and usually only in smaller sizes.

Mills, of course, offer the highest degree of product variety, as they can produce-to-order hundreds of grades across a wide range of thicknesses, lengths and widths.

Suppliers may not carry as wide of a variety of grades as mills, but they can often quickly procure whatever grades and sizes are needed because they buy from a network of mills. In these situations, suppliers offer a service to customers by doing the sourcing leg-work for them.

Price Per Hundredweight

Steel plate is priced per hundredweight – or cwt. Retailers offer significantly higher cwt than suppliers and mills as a tradeoff for the convenience of immediate product access and easy cash or credit payment.

Related: How much does steel plate cost?

Suppliers have stronger buying relationships with mills that allow them to buy steel plate at more competitive rates than retailers and most large buyers. Additionally, suppliers usually have lower operational overhead, as they have fewer facilities and greater fulfillment efficiencies, since their orders are larger in volume.

Mills can sometimes offer a lower cwt price than suppliers (depends on the grade), but they only sell to very high-volume buyers, and orders can take months to fulfill. What buyers might get with cost savings, they lose with convenience and speed.

Average Order Volume

The volume of a buyer’s need often helps narrow the choice of supplier. Retailers specialize in handling low-volume needs, especially orders less than 200lbs. Orders under 200lbs. can be shipped via standard ship methods, unlike heavier orders that require freight transit.

Suppliers’ sweet spot is any order greater than 20,000 lbs./10 tons (about half a truckload) up to whatever inventory limitations the supplier has for the requested grade and size.

It’s not that suppliers would never fulfill a low-volume need, it’s often that they simply do not have small-sized material. Most steel plate stocked by suppliers is 8-10ft wide by 20-40ft long. This would be well beyond the volume need of many retail customers, who typically request plate under 2ft wide by 2ft long.

Mills, on the other hand, thrive on high-volume orders. Mills produce heats – or batches – of steel plate products, usually in quantities of 120-150 tons per heat. When mills supply to direct buyers, they are usually supplying one or more heats multiple times per year.

Inventory Risk

One huge advantage of buying steel plate from suppliers or retailers is reduced inventory risk. Buyers can receive the exact inventory they need, when they need it, and not have to worry about running short or not having space to store excess material.

Suppliers offer the lowest amount of risk related to inventory levels, since they themselves have healthy levels of material on-hand and have a network of mills from which they purchase. If one mill delays an order, suppliers can turn to other mills for the material.

Retailers also offer low inventory risk, but have less demand visibility than suppliers (who often sell a bulk of their orders via contract, and can predict demand). For this reason, retailers have higher inventory depletion risk than suppliers.

Purchasing through mills comes with a lot of inventory risk. Buyers typically must buy larger loads of material and store the material until depleted. This requires ample storage facilities and the ability to move and manage steel plate (i.e. overhead magnetic cranes).

Additionally, mills are more at risk of running behind in production. These delays in inventory could leave a buyer scrambling to find material to bridge the gap between depletion and the next mill delivery.

Buying Methods

Retailers, suppliers and mills each offer different methods for buying steel plate, and it is important to consider which method best suits your order needs and which source is able to accommodate those needs.

Retailers offer the most buying methods, with the option to purchase steel plate in-person, on a website or over the . This gives buyers great flexibility in how they can purchase plate materials. However, buying from a retailer tends to be more impersonal, so they may not be able to accommodate special requests for less common grades or extensive processing.

Suppliers traditionally take steel plate orders through direct communication with a sales representative. But some – like Leeco – also offer the option to buy through an ecommerce website. Flexibility in how orders are placed allows buyers to customize the purchasing process based on their requirements. Buyers with simpler needs who are looking to quickly order a popular plate grade can opt to buy online, while buyers with more complex, specific needs can work directly with an experienced sales representative.

Mills offer the least flexibility in buying options, as they typically take orders via or with a sales representative. Most mills due not offer the option to buy steel plate online.

Weighing Your Options

With each steel plate supply source, there are strengths and trade-offs. Determining how important each factor is for you – as well as any other factors important to your business – will help guide you towards the right steel plate supply source.

If you want to learn more, please visit our website Steel Products Manufacturer.