The data book must be delivered in ten days. Three material certificates are missing, two procedures are stuck in review and no one knows which is the latest approved version of the welding map.
Descoltech's technical document management serves to avoid reaching that point. We prepare, verify and keep track of the order documentation from the purchase specification to the closing of the final dossier.
A perfect component with an incomplete dossier is not accepted. It remains in the warehouse, it is not invoiced, it does not enter testing. In industrial orders, the documentation does not accompany the supply: it is part of it, with the same contractual effects.
A material certificate attached but referring to a different casting, a welding procedure not qualified for that thickness, a test report without the signature of the required level: these are documents that exist and are not valid. A presence-only check does not intercept them. It is necessary to read its content and compare it with the specification.
Dozens of documents circulate on an average order that are issued, commented on by the customer, corrected and reissued. Without an up-to-date log and a clear rule about what the latest approved version is, the risk isn't losing a file: it's working on an outdated revision and realizing it when production starts.
The moment in which the documents are collected at the end of the supply is also the one in which the supplier has less interest in providing them and more difficulty in retrieving them. We set up the documentary matrix at the beginning, we define who produces what and by when, and we verify as we go. In the end, the dossier is already formed.
When management is distributed between quality, purchasing, suppliers and project managers, some documents risk being left without a precise contact person. We assign responsibilities, deadlines and progress to each item of the document matrix, intervening before a delay or lack blocks the approval of the supply.
We work with EPC contractors, plant and component manufacturers, oil and gas and petrochemical companies, energy operators, shipyards, railway companies and metalworking companies. The roles involved are quality managers, QA/QC managers, project managers, procurement managers and document controllers, when the figure exists.
The acronyms in the table recur in specifications and purchase orders. For each document, we indicate the function and the type of verification we perform.
It defines what you are buying and what requirements it must meet
It establishes which controls are carried out, when and who is present
They describe how welding, testing, painting, and packaging are performed
Document how it is welded and what qualifications it is based on
They certify the composition and characteristics of the material used
That it is complete, consistent with the project and does not contain contradictory regulatory references
That it covers the requirements of the specification and that the intervention points are located where they are needed
That they are qualified for the specific case and not taken from a previous order
That the qualifications cover the materials, thicknesses and positions actually used
That they refer to the casting actually used and comply with the required requirements
Documentary criticalities often arise during supply: missing certificates, outdated revisions, non-compliant procedures or incomplete reports. Technical document management reduces this risk by verifying and tracking each document as the order progresses, so that the final dossier is complete, compliant and ready for approval.
It is the activity of preparing, collecting, verifying, classifying and updating all the technical documents that an order or supply must produce. It includes the definition of the document matrix at initiation, the control of revisions during execution and the composition of the final dossier at closure. It is not archiving: the value lies in the verification of compliance of the contents with respect to the technical specification and contractual requirements.
Document control is the function that governs the formal flow of documents: numbering, revisions, transmittal, distribution, register. It answers the question of which version is valid and who received it. Technical document management includes document control but goes further, because it goes into the merits: it verifies that a procedure is qualified for that case, that a certificate corresponds to the material used, that a control plan covers the requirements. The first guarantees order, the second also guarantees substance.
The Manufacturer Data Record, MDR, is the organized collection of all the documentary evidence relating to a supply: material certificates, procedures, qualifications, test and inspection reports, declarations of conformity. It is prepared by the supplier according to an agreed index and accompanies the component to delivery. It is the document on which most of the rejections in the acceptance phase are concentrated, almost always for missing entries or for revisions that are not aligned with the index
The Data Book is the document package relating to a specific supply or a single component, typically produced by the manufacturer. The final order dossier is the upper level: it collects the data books of the different supplies together with the project documentation, the approved deviations and the as-built documentation. In practice, many data books flow into a single dossier. If the former are not verified, the latter inherits any gaps
It is a control certificate issued by the manufacturer of the material and validated by its representative independent of production, which certifies compliance with the requirements of the order with the results of the tests performed. It is the most requested type of certificate in industrial supplies subject to specification. The most frequent error is not its absence, but misalignment: a valid certificate referring to a different casting from the one actually used.