Defective Material Report Process to Set Expectations
We often hear customers say that when they received their anodized aluminum parts back from their anodize vendor, they are surprised by scratches and dents, which they are THEN told were there on arrival. To maintain clarity throughout production and delivery, Precision Coating created a proactive process for the assessment and notification of such issues.
Parts are inspected for obvious cosmetics defects by visual observation. If poor or torn packaging, damage, scratches, or other obvious defects are found, we issue a DMR (defective material report) on the order and immediately notify customers of our findings.
What it Means for You, the Customer
If a defect is found and deemed to be a customer notification issue, you will be asked to advise a course of action, which may include:
- Returning the parts to you unfinished for corrections
- Having us process as is
- Having Precision Coating perform additional work to attempt to correct the defects(s)
- We may ask for some clarification on what to do should this issue appear again, to save us both wasted time in the future
The benefits of having a process in place ensure clear expectations and timely, dependable responses from us for every project.
Our goal is:
- To eliminate any surprises to you
- To finish only acceptable product
- To create a quick and easy DMR notification process to save both companies time and money
Our goal is NOT to verify whether the machining operations are to specifications or not (i.e., holes, dimensions, etc.), unless this is part of our contract with you. We are looking for cosmetic and obvious defects only.
Effective Outcomes
Thus far, Precision Coating has been able to stop many potentially problematic jobs from being coated, saving thousands of dollars to our customers and countless disagreements over who’s to blame. In addition, we have found that the overwhelming majority of DMRs on incoming product is due to damage of some type—such as, scratches, dings, and dents. Most are from inadequate packaging materials or actual metal-to-metal contact.
The remaining issues generally involve counts, incomplete paperwork or instructions, and improper identification of the parts.
Precision Coating is working very hard to help eliminate all the wasted time and money that it takes to clarify these issues by talking to our customers and advising them on how to avoid these types of problems with their anodized aluminum in the first place. These discussions help avoid costly delays.
At Precision Coating, we know that many questions arise when considering aluminum anodizing, hardcoat, and other metal finishing jobs. Our sales team is ready to answer your questions anytime at sales@precisioncoating.com. Let us know how we can help!
