Chapter 6

Quality Assurance

Quality
assurance
(QA)
includes
all to
uppermanagement. The organization
planned and systematic actions necessary to should be staffed withtechnicallyqualified
provide adequate confidence that a structure, personnel to make decisions with regard to:
system, or component will perform satisfacto- (1) Identification of quality problems,
rily to design requirements or intended ser- (2) Determining compliance with specifica-
vice. This includes periodic auditsof the QA tions and procedures,
system’soperationandrelatedcontrolsto (3) Providingsolution(s)throughfunc-
assure that they are being implemented and tional channels,
functioning as expected. (4) Determiningimplementation of solu-
Quality control(QC) is the implementation tions, and
part of quality assurance through examination ( 5 ) Controllingfurtheractionsuntil an
of physicalcharacteristics andcomparison acceptable qualityhas been attained.
with predetermined requirements from appli-
6.1.2Purchasing. The quality
assurance
cablecodes,specifications,otherstandards,
departmentshoulddeterminequalityassur-
and drawings. A quality control program may
anceandinspectionrequirementsforthe
stand alone orbe part of a larger QA plan. In
project, the magnitudeof the inspection work
eithercase,qualitycontrolspecifications,
for each classof material and equipment, and
procedures, and acceptance criteria should be
the extentof the work to be performedby the
written for all required inspection operations.
department prior to purchasing.
If a quality program is to be implemented, the
The
quality
assurance and
inspection
following attributes may be a consideration.
requirementsforprocureditemsshouldbe
includedinthepurchaserequisitionand
6.1 Quality Assurance Program include the following,as applicable:
It is the responsibility of the manufacturer (1)Descriptivetitle of itemorservice
toprovideforthedevelopmentandimple- desired
mentationofa QA program.Theprogram (2) List of drawings and technical specifi-
should describe the company’s commitment cations, including revision level
toprovideproductsandservicesinaccor- (3) Codes, other standards, and regulatory
dance with established requirements. The fol- requirements
lowing representative areas to be included in (4)Inspection acceptance criteria
a quality assurance program that describes the ( 5 ) Special process requirements
elements of a QA systemaresubsequently (6) Customer contract requirements
supported by detailed QCimplementation (7) Documentation and record requirements
procedures. (8) Source inspection and audit requirements
Purchasingshouldmaintainanapproved
6.1.1 Organization Requirements. Adminis- list of acceptable vendors that comply with
tration of thequalityassuranceprogram is thespecified QA andQCprogramforthe
vested in a responsible element of the organi- project.Thislistshouldbemaintainedto
zation. The QMQC function’s authority and ensurevendorsareselectedthathave an
responsibility should be clearly defined, inde- acceptable QNQC program.Intheeventa
pendent of production, and have direct access quality assurance programis not being used,

29
COPYRIGHT American Welding Society, Inc.
Licensed by Information Handling Services
 30/Quality Assurance

thequalitycontrolprogramshouldencom- 6.1.5 Inspection. The quality control person-

pass the qualificationsof the vendors. nel who perform inspections during the vari-
ous stages of fabrication should be qualified
6.1.3Document Control. Control of docu- in accordance with a formal certification pro-
mentsrelatingtoengineering,procurement, gram. It is the responsibilityof those charged
policies, procedures, and instructions should with theadministrationandsupervisionof
be maintained. Procedures should be imple- inspection to assure that inspectors are quali-
mentedtoprovideappropriatereview of fied and certified. Quality control personnel
changespriortorevisionandissuance of shouldperformnondestructiveexamination
these documents. Document control measuresanddestructivetestinginaccordancewith
should include the following: established procedures.
(1) Identification of individualsresponsi- Certification of inspection personnel may
ble for preparation, revision, review, approval,be required by contract, codes, specifications,
and distributionof documents or civil laws.In this regard, it may be benefi-
(2) Use of correct documents identified and cial to considercertification of welding
verified inspectors by the American Welding Society
(3) Procedures for
controlling
receipt, under the Certified Welding Inspector (CWI)
reproduction,
distribution,
storage,
and and CertifiedAssociate Welding Inspector
retrieval of contract documents. (CAWI) programs. The American Society for
NondestructiveTesting (ASNT) and AWS
6.1.4 ProcessControl. Manufacturingpro- provide certification guidelines for NDE per-
cesses should be controlled and implemented sonnel. Other programs may be used for certi-
usingestablishedproceduresforstandard fication of inspection personnel.
commercial processes and special manufac- Inspection activities may be performed by
turingprocesses.Specialprocessessuchas quality control personnel in accordance with
welding, heat treating, nondestructive exami- written procedures and instructions to assure
nation,testing,andinspectionshouldbe thattheproductmeetsapplicablerequire-
controlled and accomplished by qualified per- ments. The welding inspector determines the
sonnel.Specialprocessproceduresshould accuracy, completeness, and acceptability of
defineprocessmethods,personneltraining materials and workmanship. Inspection activ-
andqualificationcriteria,requiredcertifi- ities also include verification that:
cationandrecords,aswell as requirements (1) Measuring and test equipment used for
from applicable codes, other standards, and inspections are calibrated.
specifications. (2) Process hold points are observed.
Weldingproceduresshouldbereviewed (3) Surveillance of manufacturing activities
prior touse toensure that the procedures meet is accomplished.
the specification requirements. Audits or sur- (4) Material receiving inspection is performed.
veillance should be performed during produc- A sampling program may be used to verify
tion to ascertain that the correct procedures acceptability of a groupof items. The sample
are being implemented. Welder performance procedure should be based on standard prac-
recordsshouldbeauditedperiodically to ticesandprovidesamplesizeandselection
determine that welders are properly qualified process. For example, MJL-STD-105 provides
to procedures being used for fabrication. If sample sizes and acceptable quality levels.
required by specifications, permanent identifi-
cationorrecords ofwelders’performance 6.1.6 Identification and Control of Mate-
qualifications should be maintained.It should r ial.The QNQC procedures should specify
be noted that a decision to inspect only after the requirements and controlof items. Identi-
completion of welding is not the best way to ficationandcontrolmaybemaintainedby
ensure quality. heat number, part number, serial number, or

COPYRIGHT American Welding Society, Inc.

Licensed by Information Handling Services
 = 078426505138278b8 W
Quality Assurance/31

purchaseordernumber.Theidentification mayincluderesultsofinspections,audits,
should be placed on the item. Identification material analyses, and process and test activi-
marking should be clear and appliedso as not ties. Quality procedures should describe the
to affect the function or identity of the item necessary controls for the identification, prep-
during processing. aration, legibility, maintenance, and retrieval
of these records, and how they are to be pro-
6.1.7 Nonconforming Materials or Items. tected against damage, deterioration, or loss.
The
QAlQC program
should
establish Unless otherwise specifiedby the engineering
detailed written procedures that describe the design,theretention of recordsshould be
controls used for the identification, documen- based on the requirements of the applicable
tation,segregation,anddisposition ofnon- standard for the project.
conforming items, material deficiencies, and
proceduralrequirements.Individualshaving 6.1.9 Audits. Audits are useful to verify com-
the responsibility and authority for the dispo- pliance with a quality assurance program and
sition of nonconforming itemsor deficiencies contract requirements and
detexminethe
should be identified in the procedures. Items effectiveness of the program.A system should
that do not meet requirements should be so be established byQAlQCproceduresfor
identified to prevent inadvertent use. internal and external audits. The audit proce-
duresshouldincludetherequirementsfor
6.1.8 Records. Records should document the training and qualifying auditors, the planning
quality of items and should meet the require- and schedulingof audits, preparationof audit
mentsoftheapplicablecades,other stan- reports, and resolution of audit findings and
dards, specifications, and contracts. Records implementation of corrective actions.

COPYRIGHT American Welding Society, Inc.

Licensed by Information Handling Services