The Importance of Proper Paperwork

The Fastener Training Minute is a co-production of The FCH Sourcing Network and The Fastener Training Institute and is presented by Carmen Vertullo of the Carver FACT Center and the AIM Test Lab in San Diego, California.

Originally published on Fully Threaded Radio, Episode 87, 10/17/2014

A recent visit to a very important national defense facility was based on the fact that they were having some real problems with paperwork coming with their fasteners through the distributors that were providing them. It's always been my feeling that as fastener suppliers, one of the things we get paid for is serving our customers with good product when it lands on their dock. Not only are the parts right, but the paperwork is right. It holds up, it looks good, they are not delayed in being able to use the parts by having to call you back and ask you to complete the paperwork that comes with it.

A couple of things I saw that I felt were pretty egregious were lack of good lot traceability. We could not confirm from one test report to another, whether the test reports applied to the fastener in question. I actually saw a situation where the test reports were in German, 100% in German, and the package said that the country of origin was Italy!

Now, whether there is a possibility for that to occur, I don't know, but it did not give the end user a sense of confidence. So I'm very concerned that there may be a trend in our industry, because I've seen it in more than one place, that we are losing the scent in terms of the importance of good paperwork, lot traceability, certifications and test reports, and I 'm hoping that this will be a topic in the near future of Fastener Training Institute webinars, so be looking for that, and you can get lots of information about the training program that are available from the FTI at www.fastenertraining.org.