Pursuing the lofty goal of Zero Defects delivers undeniable benefits in the form of reduced waste and cost, happier customers, bigger sales, and higher revenue. But that implied level of perfection is not always realistic. Instead, establish a culture of continuous improvement.

ARaymond, an industrial supplier of fastening and assembling solutions, rose from humble beginnings. Founded in Grenoble, France in 1865, the family business “started out making fastening elements for the glove and footwear industry,” says Jake Fox, senior quality engineer at ARaymond’s Brunswick, Ohio location.

The dye penetrant method of inspection is a nondestructive test for defects open to the surface. It may be used on such materials as aluminum, magnesium, brass, copper, cast iron, steel, stainless steel, carbides, stellite, certain plastics and ceramics. 

Each application within the automotive manufacturing process requires a unique set of testing requirements.

The cost of quality isn’t discussed much. More often, the cost of poor quality hogs the limelight and the headlines. Cost of poor quality costs are believed to be 100% avoidable, and thus are assigned resources to expend extra attention and efforts to eliminate. 

Each day, facilities across the globe turn to nondestructive testing (NDT) to verify the reliability of parts or materials without causing damage. One of the most popular of these methods is magnetic particle inspection (MPI)—a form of NDT that uses magnetism to detect surface and near-surface defects, cracks, seams or stress points in ferromagnetic materials before parts and materials are placed into service.

This may sound familiar. Manufacturer’s efforts to do more for less have resulted in the purchasing department sourcing products to the cheapest provider. Such cost-cutting certainly makes purchasing groups look like heroes to management, but the effect on manufacturing and quality may be just the opposite.

“Lean isn’t going to help you if your quality is bad. Why just make bad stuff faster?”

A defect happens when the outcome of any process, whether to manufacture a product or provide a service, does not produce the expected outcome.