The master checklist
Document | What it proves | Who usually asks |
|---|---|---|
Mill test report (MTR), EN 10204 3.1 | Chemistry and test results of each heat | Almost every metals customer |
EN 10204 3.2 certificate | The same, witnessed by a third-party or customer inspector | Oil and gas, pressure equipment, some defense |
Certificate of conformance (CoC) | Your signed statement that the parts meet the PO, drawing and specs | Almost every industrial customer |
Plating or coating cert | The finish (zinc, nickel, anodize, paint) meets its spec and thickness | Fasteners, automotive, aerospace |
Heat treat cert | The heat treatment and the hardness achieved | Fasteners, aerospace, tooling |
Hardness test report | Measured hardness against the drawing | Fasteners, oil and gas sour service |
NDT report | Ultrasonic, magnetic particle, dye penetrant or radiographic inspection results | Aerospace, oil and gas, structural |
First article inspection (FAI) report | Every drawing characteristic measured on the first part (AS9102 in aerospace) | Aerospace and defense, new parts |
DFARS or domestic melt statement | Specialty metals melted in the US or a qualifying country | US defense contracts |
RoHS and REACH declarations | Restricted substances below limits; any substances of very high concern disclosed | Electronics, EU-bound goods |
Country of origin | Where the goods were made, for customs and trade rules | Exporters and importers |
Packing list | Each line, quantity and heat or lot number | Everyone; it ties the packet to the boxes |
Cert packet checklists by industry
Metals service centers and distributors
MTR for every heat shipped, with the heat traceable to each piece (stencil, tag or label), including cut pieces.
CoC from the service center, listing PO, line, heat and spec.
Domestic melt or country-of-origin statement when the customer asks.
Packing list with heat numbers by line.
Fabrication and structural steel shops
MTRs for plate, shapes and tube by heat, matched to the members they went into.
Weld procedure (WPS) and welder qualification records when the contract calls for them.
NDT reports for welds the drawings or code require to be tested.
Paint or galvanizing certs.
CoC for the shipment.
Fasteners
MTR for the wire or bar heat, traceable to the fastener lot.
Mechanical test results per the product standard (for example ASTM F606 test methods).
Heat treat cert and hardness results.
Plating cert (for example zinc to ASTM F1941), with hydrogen embrittlement relief noted for hardened plated parts.
Lot CoC and packing list by lot.
Aerospace and defense
Raw material certs to the AMS or ASTM spec on the drawing, from an approved source.
Special process certs (heat treat, NDT, plating) from approved processors, often Nadcap accredited.
First article inspection report (AS9102 forms) for new parts and changes.
DFARS 252.225-7009 specialty metals compliance: melt country on the cert.
CoC that names the PO, part, revision, quantity and lot or serial numbers.
Oil and gas
EN 10204 3.1 or 3.2 certs, depending on the project spec.
Sour service compliance to ISO 15156 / NACE MR0175, with hardness results.
Positive material identification (PMI) results for alloy parts.
NDE and hydrotest or pressure test reports.
Heat treat charts and impact (Charpy) results when specified.
Automotive (PPAP)
Material and performance test results, one of the 18 PPAP elements, including the material certs.
Part submission warrant (PSW) and the rest of the PPAP at the level the customer asks for.
IMDS material data submission, when the OEM requires it.
Lot traceability from raw material heat to finished part. See the PPAP checklist.
Food equipment and pharma (CoA)
Certificate of analysis (CoA) for each lot of ingredient or component.
For stainless equipment: MTRs for the 304 or 316 heats and surface finish records.
In US drug manufacturing, a supplier’s CoA can stand in for full testing only with at least one identity test of your own (21 CFR 211.84).
How to build a cert packet, step by step
Start from the customer’s PO and quality clauses. Write down every cert they name: MTR type, CoC wording, process certs, DFARS, RoHS.
List what shipped by heat or lot. Use the packing list. Every line needs its heat or lot number.
Pull the cert for each heat or lot. MTRs from receiving, process certs from your platers and heat treaters.
Check each cert before it goes in. Spec, grade, heat match, results within limits, cert type, melt country. The MTR reader does this in a minute per cert.
Request anything missing from the supplier today. A missing plating cert is the usual hold-up; ask with the PO, lot and spec in the email.
Write the CoC. List PO, part, revision, quantity, lots and specs. The certificate of conformance template does this.
Assemble one PDF in a fixed order. CoC first, then the packing list, MTRs, process certs and test reports, with the PO number in the file name.
How to read an MTR in six checks
Heat number on the cert matches the material.
Spec and grade match the PO.
Units read correctly (ksi, psi or MPa; chemistry in %).
Chemistry inside the limits.
Yield, tensile and elongation meet the minimums.
Cert type (EN 10204 3.1) and melt country are what the customer requires.
Paste a cert into the mill test report reader and it runs these checks and gives you a review record to file.
DFARS, domestic melt and country of origin
US defense contracts restrict specialty metals (many steels, nickel and cobalt alloys, titanium and zirconium) to those melted or produced in the US or a qualifying country, under DFARS 252.225-7009. That is why defense customers want the melt country on every MTR. Country of origin is a different question: it is where the goods were made for customs purposes, and it can differ from the melt country. Ask which one your customer needs.
RoHS and REACH
RoHS limits lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium and certain flame retardants and phthalates in electrical and electronic equipment sold in the EU. REACH requires disclosure when an article contains a substance on the Candidate List of substances of very high concern above 0.1% by weight. Customers ask for a declaration of each, often per part number.
Mistakes that get a cert packet sent back
A cert for a heat that did not ship, or a heat that shipped without its cert.
Typical values or a data sheet in place of the MTR for the heat.
A 2.2 test report when the PO asked for EN 10204 3.1.
The CoC names a different revision or quantity than the packing list.
No melt country on a defense job.
Plating cert missing, or for a different lot.
Pages out of order, or unreadable scans.
Where Morsa fits: the packet fills itself
Today the cert work is manual. Receiving scans the MTR, names the file, and maybe types the heat number into the ERP. Months later a customer asks for the cert packet on an order, and someone hunts through email and shared drives for the right heats, then emails the supplier for the one cert nobody saved.
Morsa does that work while your team approves. When receiving posts a phone photo of the packing slip, Morsa turns it into the ERP receipt and saves the mill cert against the PO and the heat number. When a customer asks for the certs on an order, Morsa builds the packet from the heats that actually shipped, sees the cert that is missing, requests it from the supplier, and sends the finished packet once it arrives.
