Quality Control Procedures
Introduction
At Celsa, we are committed to manufacturing and supplying products that meet the requirements of our customers, materialized in the compliance with the standards or technical regulations that apply to the products we supply.
By controlling the manufacturing processes, keeping them stable and within known and acceptable variations, products of high and continuous quality are obtained. Therefore, and to instill confidence in our products to the customers, we subject them to “Conformity Certification,” which involves periodic inspections, verifications, and testing by a third party.
The verifications and inspections are not limited to the final product; to ensure repeatability, they also affect the “Quality Management System,” the manufacturing processes, and all intermediate products used as raw materials, which must provide the required level of confidence through their own certification.
The Quality Department at Celsa is responsible for ensuring the excellence of the products we manufacture. To achieve this, in each of the production units, there is a Quality Area, where the necessary samples are taken from each batch to ensure compliance with the requirements of the standards, customer demands, and the specific process requirements applicable in each case. From these samples, and depending on the moment of the manufacturing process, the chemical composition is analyzed, the mechanical properties are determined, the surface condition is verified, and depending on the type of finished product, tests such as resilience, ductility, bending suitability, fatigue, cyclic loading, etc., are carried out.
The department also has the necessary human and technical resources to carry out metallographic research, a fundamental element for the development of new qualities required by the market and for the improvement of performance in the steels of regular production.
Celsa’s laboratories are equipped with the most modern tools to carry out their work:
- To control the chemical composition of each batch, they use state-of-the-art optical spectrometers and LECO analyzers.
- Mechanical tests are carried out on various tensile machines that represent the behavior of the material until rupture, many of which are computerized.
- Fatigue and cyclic load tests are also conducted on materials using specially equipped testing machines for this purpose.
Quality Control Procedures
Celsa has established a Quality Management System according to UNE EN ISO 9001:2000, which covers raw materials, processes, finished products, and customer service, with appropriate control measures and qualified personnel. All of this is backed by the AENOR Registered Company certificate, which continuously audits our Quality Management System.
The continuous verification of finished products ensures that they meet all the required specifications and prevents the commercialization of any product that is out of specification. The control unit for checking the finished products is the casting, which consists of all the steel obtained each time the electric arc furnace is emptied.
Each casting, as an independent control unit, has a reference number with which all the material derived from it is identified. The casting number allows traceability in all the manufacturing processes the material has undergone, including the most significant production parameters that affect its characteristics: chemical composition, geometric, mechanical, technological properties, surface finish, among other values.
At Celsa, we dedicate all our efforts to manufacturing products of excellent quality and we want to provide proof of this. Therefore, all the products we manufacture and for which there is a Technical Certification Committee (CTC), are certified by the corresponding accredited organizations of international scope.
What is a certified product?
It is a product to which an independent Certification Organization has granted a specific quality mark (Certificate or License to use a brand or mark), after verifying, through audits and inspections, that the manufacturer has adequate and sufficient manufacturing, management, and control resources, both technical and human, and employs them in the continuous improvement of the quality of that product, ensuring that it meets the requirements set by the applicable Certification Standards and Regulations in each case.
This product certification involves sample collection, testing, and comparisons in external laboratories on a periodic basis by the Certifying Body (third party), both at the manufacturer’s facilities and directly in the market, to verify that the product bearing a specific quality mark or certification complies with the requirements of the standard that governs it.
The trust gained by the Certifying Body, such as AENOR, as an independent party, is what provides customers with the assurance that the product they purchase meets all the requirements it is obligated to comply with.
The certification of a product is authorized and overseen by a Technical Committee, established within the Certifying Body and composed of experts in the manufacturing and use of the product, coming from the administration, users, various institutions, and manufacturers.
This Technical Committee oversees the granting and withdrawal of the AENOR product seal, ensuring that only those products that consistently meet the required quality levels are awarded it.
It is necessary to distinguish between product certification (brand “N”) and certification of a Quality Management System (Registered Company “ER”). The first controls and guarantees the conformity of the products with the applicable Standards and Regulations. The second guarantees, through periodic audits of the management system, that the company has the appropriate means for the implementation, control and improvement of the manufacturing processes and that, in their application, it ensures that the quality level of the products meets the requirements of the applicable Standards and Regulations, as well as the requirements of the Customers.