In today’s global economy, one must be especially diligent about supplier control, as country of origin is no longer an indicator of product quality. Supplier evaluation and monitoring are a focus at our company. We lead the industry at identifying and establishing relationships with the premier suppliers around the world, using a layered process:
Supplier site audits – all of our vendors receive on-site audit visits from our personnel. This is too important to “contract out”. We consider personal relationships with our suppliers an important factor in ensuring not only the best prices, but the highest quality. By only using the best suppliers, we eliminate quality concerns at their source.
Third-party lab tests - selected products and regions of the world are subject to third party inspection.
Receiving inspection – all parts are verified upon receipt. Samples are tested for dimensional and metallurgical compliance with the specification depending on the size and application.This information is recorded in an Approved Supplier list shared between all our North America companies.Every part we sell is fully traceable back to the raw material by heat number and accompanied by an MTR showing compliance with the ordered specification. Bar code scanning is employed in our manufacturing operations to track orders through the shop in real time.
