In most steel mills, quality data is spread across several systems. The ladle chemistry sits in the spectrometer, the caster alarms in Level 2, rolling temperatures in the mill historian, surface results in the inspection system and tensile results in the lab. When a customer asks why a coil was released, or why it was downgraded, someone has to rebuild that story by hand. Through-process quality control links every stage to one record per coil, so release, downgrade and certificate decisions rest on the full picture. See how that record is built in a short metals quality demo.
One Quality Record per Coil, From Ladle Sample to Certificate
The iFactory Metals Quality Pack links heat chemistry and test results to every coil, adds surface vision findings, proposes the grade decision and generates the mill certificate automatically. Your quality team reviews and signs.
Four Stages Where a Coil's Quality Is Decided
A coil's final properties are set in stages. Chemistry is fixed in the ladle, internal soundness and much of the surface are set at the caster, and strength and dimensions come from rolling and cooling. Finishing is where it is all checked and documented. A defect found at the end usually started earlier, which is why each stage needs to pass its data forward. Review your own stage data in a stage data session.
Ladle Analysis: Where the Grade Is First Proved
Chemistry is checked several times before casting, usually with an optical emission spectrometer that sparks a solid sample taken from the steel. Early samples guide alloy additions. The final ladle or tundish sample becomes the heat analysis printed on the certificate. Many mills confirm carbon and sulphur, and gases such as nitrogen, on dedicated combustion or fusion analysers. ASTM A751 separates heat analysis from product analysis, which is made later on the finished product. Map your sample points with our chemistry data team.
What the Test Lab Proves That Chemistry Can't
Two coils from the same heat can test differently, because rolling and cooling shape the final structure. That is why product standards require mechanical tests per test unit, often defined by heat, thickness range and tonnage. ASTM A370 covers tension, bend, hardness and Charpy testing for steel products in the US, and ISO 6892-1:2019 is the international tensile method. The product standard and the order decide which tests apply, where samples are cut and how retests work. See how test machines connect in a lab data demo.
Heat to Slab to Coil: The Chain Behind Every Result
A certificate is only as good as the links behind it. One heat becomes several slabs, a slab may be cut before rolling and each coil is tested on coupons from a known position. If one link is typed wrong, a good result can end up on the wrong coil. iFactory keeps these links as the material moves, so every result has a clear parent. Walk through your genealogy with our support team.
Ask the Coil Record, Not Five Systems
iFactory brings chemistry, caster events, rolling data, surface vision and lab results into one coil record. It proposes a grade decision and drafts the certificate, and your quality engineer makes the call.
EN 10204: What Each Certificate Type Promises
EN 10204 defines four types of inspection document for metallic products. The key difference is whether results come from the product actually delivered. A 2.2 test report may use results from production in general. A 3.1 certificate states results of specific inspection on the delivered product or its test unit, so it carries the heat number and is signed by an inspection representative independent of manufacturing. That link to the heat is what customers rely on. Set up your certificate formats in a certificate session.
Prime, Reallocate or Downgrade: Decide With the Whole Record
A coil that misses one order can often meet another. Researchers working with Outokumpu's German sites describe matching coils to orders by comparing actual quality with what each customer expects, including moving over-quality coils to more demanding orders. Coils that fit no open order are sold as non-prime, often called second grade, at a lower price. The better the record, the more coils stay prime. Plan your decision rules with our grading specialists.
- Surface result judged without tensile or chemistry
- Coil held while someone collects lab and caster data
- Only the original order is checked
- Downgrade chosen because it is the quickest exit
- Reason recorded as free text, if at all
- Chemistry, tests, caster events and surface map side by side
- Rules flag which properties pass or fail each order
- Open orders of the same grade and size checked for a match
- Trim, reallocate, downgrade or hold proposed with the reason
- Quality engineer signs, and the certificate follows the new order
The Quality Systems Steel Customers Ask For
Most mills run a quality management system certified to ISO 9001, with sector schemes added for demanding markets. Automotive customers usually require IATF 16949, and order specifications for automotive steel are often tighter than the standard grade limits. Pipe mills working to API product specifications build on API Spec Q1, whose 10th edition from 2023 aligns with ISO 9001:2015. All three expect traceable records and controlled nonconforming product. Map your current system in a QMS mapping call.
Fields Every Coil Quality Record Should Hold
Use these fields as a template for your own coil record, whether it lives in a spreadsheet, your MES or a quality system. If a field is missing, a release or a claim response will stall at that point. Ask our support team for a version filled from live data.
See Which Stage Your Downgrades Really Come From
Once every downgrade carries a reason and a stage, the monthly review changes. Instead of a single scrap figure, you see where quality is lost and which team can act on it. The example below is an illustration, not real mill data. See a sample review pack in a plant manager demo.
Three Everyday Decisions, Made With the Full Record
These are illustrations of how a linked record changes common situations, not case studies. Your own rules and product standards always decide the outcome. Bring a recent coil to our metals quality team.
Surface Vision, Data Links and NVIDIA Server in One Package
iFactory delivers the Metals Quality Pack as a turnkey bundle. Surface cameras are installed at the finishing end, or your existing inspection system is connected, and a pre-configured NVIDIA AI server ships racked and ready with the surface models, coil genealogy and grading logic pre-loaded. You rack it, plug in power and Ethernet, and the AI is live. To scope it for your mill, request a turnkey quote.
- Pre-configured NVIDIA AI edge server, racked and ready
- Surface vision cameras, or a link to your current system
- Connectors for OES spectrometers, LIMS and test machines
- Links to caster and mill Level 2 process data
- Coil genealogy from heat to slab to coil
- Grade decision rules and EN 10204 certificate formats
- 24×7 remote monitoring of models and hardware
Server installed, lab, Level 2 and MES sources connected, genealogy rules agreed.
Coil records and draft certificates checked against your current release process.
Grade proposals and certificate drafts switched on, quality staff trained.
Quality Management Built Around the Coil
iFactory joins the data your mill already produces into one record per coil, then helps people decide faster. Our support team can walk you through a pilot plan.
What Plant Managers Ask About Steel Mill Quality Management
Release Every Coil on Its Full History
Link heat chemistry, caster events, rolling data, surface vision and lab results per coil, and let iFactory propose the grade and draft the certificate. Delivered turnkey and live in 6 to 12 weeks.
