Services

Quality assurance & Control

• Drawn up and/or updating of QA / QC procedures and/or internal work instructions according to international specifications as mentioned below and/or customers specific requirements
  • ISO 9001-2000
    
    One of the most applied management systems by which, if well implemented, companies policies and processes demonstrable can be managed. Pieper QSI takes care of keeping the ISO handbooks up to date as well as drawing up the required procedures and/or internal work instructions.
  • ISO 3834
    
    A quality assurance system that separate or as addition to a present ISO 9001 system can be applied to control and manage companies policy and processes related to welding activities. This ISO 3834 is the replacement of the formerly EN 729 which was implemented only by relatively few companies. Because the international rules / specifications become more and more stringent the importance of the ISO 3834 become more advisable. For example companies who delivers or wants to deliver steel structures according to the new EN 1090 with CE marking it's already required to implement a Quality Assurance system according to ISO 3834. This ISO 3834 consists of 6 parts by which part 1 provides guidelines for determining one of the three applicable parts (part 2, 3 or 4) in which the requirements are laid down. Part 4 prescribes the elementary quality requirements of a Quality system according to ISO 3834. Part 3 prescribes the standard requirements and is a little more expanded compared to part 4. If a company wants to met the highest requirements the quality system need to satisfy the requirements of ISO 3834 part 2. This part prescribes comprehensive quality requirements. Pieper QSI can guide / support your company with determining the applicable part, drawing up the required procedures (or adapt present ISO 9001 procedures) and implementing this system in your organisation. As already mentioned the ISO 3834 consists of 6 parts, part 5 prescribes the requirements for documentation within an ISO 3834 quality assurance system, and part 6 provides guidelines for implementing the system in an organisation.
  • Pressure Equipment Directive 97/23/EG
    
    The European Pressure Directive for manufacturing of pressure containing parts which will be sold within the European Community and need to be delivered / provided with the so called CE Marking. Manufacturers can draw up a quality assurance system and got this certified by a within the European Community registered Notified Body. By this qualification the company can perform some activities without the interference of such Notified Body. Even when having such system always specific production documentation need to be provided to the Notified Body for approval. The documents to provide depend on the module applicable to the specific pressure containing part determined according to the directive 97/23/EG. For example this can be a design examination or a type approval if serial production applies. In almost all the cases at least technical drawings, design calculations, test and inspection plans and hazard analysis need to be provided. The request for such assessment can be carried out by Pieper QSI.
  • EN 1090
    
    This is a so called product specification in which all the requirements are laid down for Steel- and Aluminium structures which, probably from 2012, need to be delivered with CE marking if delivered and used within the European Community. For companies who have to deliver structures according to this specification it is required to implement and certify a quality assurance system according to the ISO 3834. The EN 1090 is the replacement for the formerly ENV 1090 which already applies to some companies over the past years. This specification prescribes the technical requirements applicable to the constructions. This specification works with so called execution classes differs from EXC1 up to EXC4, the applicable class need to be specified by the customer during the quotation stage. Customer can decide to apply one execution class can to the complete structure or assign different execution classes to separate parts of the structure. These execution classes will be determined by way of three important factors. The first factor consists the consequence damage (Consequence Class) at possible collapse of the structure. This includes the lost of peoples lives, economical consequences and consequences for the environment. This will be determined by way of a table present in the EN 1090. The second factor consists the service category where a difference in structures is made based on the load which will be applied during service, static or dynamic. The last factor depends on the difficulty degree for manufacturing the structure, the so called production category. This can be related to the materials to use as well as on the complexity of the structure. This factor also will be determined from a table present in the EN 1090-2.
  
  
• Executing internal audits according to QA / QC manuals
  Companies who have certified any management and quality assurance system need to prove on a regular base that procedures laid down in work instructions and/or manuals are implemented correctly and that employees handle according to those. This is checked by performing internal audits. Those audits can be executed by own employees but also can be executed by un-dependent third parties like Pieper QSI.
  
  
  
• Adapt existing purchase specifications according to new international rules and material specifications
  A lot of companies are using purchase specifications drawn up in the past according to rules and specifications be in force the that time. Often these companies neglect to adapt their purchase specifications if applicable material specifications and or international rules are replaced by new specification which causes that suppliers often face problems with requirements / specification that doesn’t met the actual rules and requirements. Because of the wide experience with international standards and specifications Pieper QSI can adapt your companies purchase orders to the actual standards. Beside that Pieper QSI also can advise your company regarding adapting technical drawings and the on these drawings mentioned materials, remarks and tolerances in order to ensure that they met the latest standards / specifications.
  
  
  
• Execution of several internal training courses regarding general quality assurance.
  In order to inform employees within your organisation regarding for example about requirements applicable to materials andr weld connections or the inspection of such, or to inform your design engineers about how to put symbols regarding weld details and machining requirements on your technical drawings, Pieper QSI provides short presentations and courses. If there are specific ideas for internal courses within your company than don't hesitate to inquire about the possibilities of Pieper QSI. We also can inform you about subsidy possibilities for such courses (only applies on companies in the Netherlands).