Newsletter - Spring 2003
PED Certified | Dip
Room Dilema | Weir Valves & Controls
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Message from the President
PED Certified
View PED Certificate (PDF)
It has been about a year now since I first heard the term PED. I
believe Goddard Valve and Strahman valve were the first customers
to contact me on the PED. By the way, PED is short for Pressure
Equipment Directive. The PED is a quality standard issued by the
European community to control the quality of pressure equipment
coming into Europe. I was surprised to find out the PED had been
around since 1997, the dead line for compliance was May 29, 2002,
and here it was July 2001. One of my first questions was why PPCP
had not heard about this sooner. My second question was now what
do we do? Well the first thing I did was search the web. I found
several sites. One of the sites I refer to most is ped.eurodyn.com.
The European Commission that plays a major role in policy initiatives
for the European Union maintains this site. The European countries
joined to form an economic union. The union formed the European
commission. One of their roles is to initiate Community policy and
represent the general interest of the European Union.
Still you are asking, what is the PED? The European Commission issued
Directive 97/23/EC, the Pressure Equipment Directive. It is one
of a series of measures intended to create a single European market
in which the technical requirements for goods are identical. The
purpose of the PED is to provide for a legal structure whereby pressure
equipment can be manufactured and sold throughout the European community
without having to go through a local approval regime in every member
state. There are fourteen member states. The means by which this
is achieved is to ensure common standards of safety in all pressure
equipment sold within the European Economic Area. Manufacturers
are therefore able to meet the requirements for approval in any
member state of the European Union, and do not have to repeat the
process when selling goods in any other state. The directive spells
out all the requirements for pressure equipment suppliers on how
to qualify their products for sale within the European community.
One of the requirements is to have the CE mark. Any product that
comes under a European Directive and is to be placed on the market
in the European Union must bear CE marking - it is a legal requirement.
CE marking is the manufacturer's claim that the product meets the
essential requirements of all relevant EU Directives. Some of the
first products required to qualify for the CE mark were children’s
toys, medical devices, and electronic equipment. I had been seeing
this mark on computers and even my kids Beanie Babies for a couple
of years and did not know the story behind the symbol. Now I do.
Our customers must have the CE mark applied to their product. PPCP
is a material supplier. Therefore, we do not need the CE mark. As
a material supplier we are concerned with the requirements spelled
out in Annex I paragraph 4.3. In this paragraph, it says the manufacture
of pressure equipment must obtain material certification for materials
to ensure it meets the requirements of the specification. Finally,
it says, "Where a material manufacturer has an appropriate
quality-assurance system, certified by a competent body established
within the Community and having undergone a specific assessment
for materials, certificates issued by the manufacturer are presumed
to certify conformity with the relevant requirements of this section."
This means an assessment will be performed on our quality-assurance
system, in order for our material reports to be accepted. This one
sentence has had two interpretations. One being that a material
supplier is to be ISO 9000 certified and the other is to have an
assessment by a notified body. Notified bodies carry out the tasks
pertaining to the conformity assessment procedures referred to the
applicable directives when a third party is required. Each member
country is responsible for choosing the bodies within there jurisdiction.
The question then for PPCP was to either pursue ISO 9000 registration
or have a PED specific material supplier audit. The only other available
option is to have a third party witness every mechanical and chemical
test for eternity. This option would be costly to our customers
and have several negative side affects. The notified bodies of half
our customers were leading us to the ISO route. After several months
of discussion with our customers, the consensus was we would have
an assessment performed by a notified body in accordance with PED
97/23/EC and pursue ISO 9000 certification for the long term. PPCP
choose Hartford Steam Boiler International as our notified body.
The audit performed between May 7 and May 10 was successfully completed.
We received our certificate from Germany June 4. Follow up audits
are required every six months. PPCP is committed to maintaining
our certificate. After almost one year of learning and educating
ourselves, we are finally PED certified.
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"After almost one year of learning and educating ourselves,
we are finally PED certified" |
Dip Room
Dilema
All of you as employees know, as well as many of our larger customers,
that we have experienced many frustrations in the dip room since
the installation of our robotic system nearly one and a half years
ago. We were told if we selected rainfall sanders instead of fluid
beds for stucco application, we could expect to see lighter weight
shells with equal number of coats. What we didn’t expect was
to see a much less permeable shell. As a matter of fact, we never
really had an issue with lack of permeability or ever gave it much
thought. We certainly never tested for it and had limited knowledge
of its’ importance. So what is it? The importance of shell
permeability is two fold.
1) At dewax a mold needs to be permeable enough to allow the wax
to be absorbed into the shell material.
Remember, as things get hot, they expand. So until the wax is hot
enough to melt and run out of the mold, it is expanding inside the
ceramic shell. Either it "permeates" the shell, or pushes
till the shell cracks. The more permeable, the less cracks.
2) At pouring, a mold needs to have a certain level of permeability
as well. As metal enters a mold and fills up the cavities, gases
and air need to be displaced. Gating and venting can handle much
of this, but not all. Some needs to permeate through the shell wall.
If the shell is "too tight", non-fill can be the result.
When we started the thought process for a robotic system, we were
unanimous in thinking the way to go was to put as many molds through
it as possible; that meant the smaller, thinner parts that require
fewer coats. We designed and built cluster fixtures to meet that
need and in doing so, set outselves up for problems. Thinner shells
are more crack sensitive, and thin parts are more likely to get
non-fill. We got both, and lots of it.
At about the same time we installed the robotic system, we converted
to a new wax that we had tested for several months. When molds started
to crack at dewax, we initially assumed the wax was the culprit
and politely blamed the pouring crews for the unexcused non-fill
we started to see. But after a few months of continued problems
we determined that wax (and pouring) were not the culprit. We also
realized that many robot shells were cracking at dewax and getting
non-fill at pouring while the hand-dipped molds were ok. We ran
several tests of the same parts utilizing both dipping processes
with repetitive results. Robotic dipping resulted in a 10-fold increase
in cracks and non-fill. So we turned to our suppliers for help.
One of them suggested we test our shells for permeability. We did
so and were amazed at the results. The hand-dip line was a little
below average by industry standards, but the robot line had virtually
none. Problem found but a long way from solved.
First we limited our exposure by taking the smaller, thinner parts
and molds off the robot and replaced them with the larger ones,
and thus abandoning our initial thinking 0n how to best utilize
the robotic cell. But what we really had to do was find a way to
"open up" the robotic shell. Both methods use the "exact"
same slurry and stucco formula; the only difference being how the
stucco is applied to the wet mold. That sounds simple, get rid of
a $20,000 rainfall sander and replace it with a $36,000 fluid bed
and blower. But it is not that simple. For months we tried to "tweak"
the system by raising and lowering viscosity, adjusting the ratio
of alumina silicate and fused silica, increasing and decreasing
polymer levels, and trying coarser stucco, all in an effort to raise
the perm level. Nothing we tried showed much improvement.
It now became apparent we might be forced to use a completely new
slurry system for the robot cell. In order to test the various systems
available we needed to simulate the robot cell exactly. This required
the purchase of 2 -48" rainfall sanders. One for primary and
one for backup stucco, and we set up what has now become commonly
known as "the 4th line". Over the last several months
we have tested 4 different systems and sometimes 2 or 3 versions
of these systems. Many of the newest systems technology can include
organic, or inorganic fibers, carbon, and anywhere from o to 11%
polymer. Some can be used at various levels of alumina silicate
and fused silica. Others can not. They vary greatly, but the fiber
technology looks very promising, so much so that we’ve had
one in the robot cell for over 2 months now and will soon try another
one that also tested good in the 4th line. These systems are much
more expensive, but they build strong, thick shells, thus allowing
us to reduce coats, and increase thru-put. Most important, they
are more permeable! Are we satisfied yet? No, but I’m sure
we’re finally heading in the right direction.
We recently poured the largest molds in our history. Molds made
in the robot cell.
Thanks goes out to all the suppliers and sales reps who have spent
countless hours helping us test their products. Most importantly
thanks to all of you who have, dipped, dewaxed, weighed molds, looked
for, counted and patched cracks, or inspected and counted castings
for defects over the past 6 months. You have literally helped track
thousands of molds, and tens of thousands of castings in an effort
to solve this problem. And we will!
Mike
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"But after a few months of continued problems we determined
that wax (and pouring) were not the culprit."
"Are we satisfied yet? No, but I’m sure we’re finally
heading in the right direction."
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Weir
Valves & Controls/Atwood & Morrill Co., Inc.
Weir Valves, previously known as Atwood & Morrill Co, Inc.,
is one of PPCP’s oldest customers. The change in the name
comes after more than one hundred years of operating as Atwood &
Morrill. Their corporate owners for the past twelve years, the Weir
Group PLC in Glasgow Scotland, reorganized and structured their
business into five divisional operating groups last year. The names,
faces and quality brand products remain the same, but the Weir ownership
has been emphasized and the five divisions are operating more closely
with common visions, practices and policies.
The Atwood & Morrill division has two locations, one in Salem,
MA and one in Washington, NC. The plant in Salem assembles their
large valves and nuclear valves. The plant in Washington assembles
the standard product line, their free-flow valves.
PA Precision Cast Parts has been manufacturing disc arms, brackets,
retainers, nozzles, clamp rings, glands and cover plates for them
since 1985. Our castings are shipped mainly to Washington, NC to
be used in their standard product line.
We at PPCP thank Weir Valves & Controls for their business and
look forward to our continued successful relationship with the people
at their Atwood & Morrill division.
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"The names, faces and quality brand products remain the
same, but the Weir ownership has been emphasized..."
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A Message
from Richard L. Miller, Jr./President - May 15, 2003
Spring of 2003 has arrived according to my calendar, but the weather
sure has not felt very Spring like so far. Hopefully we will be
blessed with at least a few weeks of pleasant Spring weather before
we experience the heat and humidity of Summer.
After truly lousy performance in January and February, we have seen
an improvement in our results for March and April. Part of this
improvement is the result of the better bookings we enjoyed during
late January thru March, which allowed us to increase our daily
injection schedule. Unfortunately, our bookings have slipped over
the past few weeks. Hopefully we will see an improvement and can
up our schedule again. Making sure that we do not waste our resources
- material and labor - is key to keeping our performance at a reasonable
level.
I am excited to tell you that we have been able to make a change
in our Medical Insurance coverage that will allow the inclusion
of several important items that have previously been excluded from
both our normal and major medical plans. The items that are now
included can generally be described as those procedures and tests
that are suggested by doctors to assure that we are as healthy as
we feel and provide baseline information for future health care
needs and evaluations. This addition will allow physicals and blood
tests that are not medically necessary to be provided as part of
our program. Be sure to determine if a particular procedure is covered
under the basic plan or is part of our Major Medical coverage and
is subject to an annual deductible. You will be provided a detailed
schedule of what items are included and how frequently they are
allowed.
Another medical related item involves new privacy laws. We will
be attempting to explain these items in our monthly meetings and
provide the necessary forms to allow anyone other than yourself
to be able to discuss your medical insurance questions with Blue
Cross.
Thank you all for your contribution to Pennsylvania Precision Cast
Parts.
Dick Miller
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"This addition will allow physicals and blood tests that
are not medically necessary to be provided as part of our program."
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