Material traceability is not a folder full of certificates. It is the ability to start with a finished valve and identify the material history of its specified components—and to start with a heat or batch and identify where that material was used.
01 / Language
Keep certificate, heat number and finished-product identity separate.
- MTC / MTR
- A material manufacturer’s inspection document recording compliance and test information for the material represented. The exact document type and issuer depend on the order and applicable standard.
- Heat number
- An identifier associated with a melt or heat of metal. It is a starting point for material history, not a finished-valve serial number.
- Batch / lot
- A controlled grouping used for a manufacturing or inspection activity. Its definition must be clear in the applicable procedure.
- Transfer marking
- A controlled method used to preserve identity when original material is cut, divided or machined and the original marking would otherwise be lost.
- Valve serial number
- The finished-product identity that should connect the valve, nameplate, drawings, test report and final data book.
These identifiers may be related, but they are not substitutes for one another. A body casting heat number does not identify the stem material. A valve serial number does not prove which heat was used unless the manufacturing records connect them.
02 / End-to-end control
The traceability chain has nine practical stages.
- 01Material purchase
Approved actual manufacturer, material specification and grade, product form, certificate type, supplementary tests and purchase-order requirements.
- 02Receipt and document review
Quantity, dimensions, condition and markings checked against the original certificate and supplier documents. Discrepancies are quarantined.
- 03Cutting and subdivision
The parent identity is transferred to each controlled piece before separation, with a record of who performed and verified the transfer.
- 04Heat treatment
Part list, furnace batch, time-temperature chart, loading arrangement and equipment calibration remain linked to the material identity.
- 05Machining and outsourced work
Identity survives surface removal and travel outside the main facility through job cards, temporary marking and receipt/return checks.
- 06Weld repair or overlay
Weld maps connect the affected component to the WPS, welder, consumable batch, NDE, heat treatment and repair disposition.
- 07Assembly
The bill of materials or placement record connects pressure-containing and pressure-controlling parts to the specific valve.
- 08Test and final inspection
The valve serial number links pressure tests, dimensional checks, markings, nameplate and release status.
- 09Manufacturing record book
The final index preserves approved drawings, certificates, procedures, reports, nonconformance history and as-built revisions.
03 / Failure points
The weakest points are where identity changes form.
The marked end remains on one piece; the other pieces enter production without controlled transfer.
Stamped or painted identity disappears before a replacement marking is verified.
Parts are combined by size or grade and return under a delivery note that lacks the original identities.
The original component remains identifiable, but the weld, filler material, NDE and heat-treatment records are not linked.
Several acceptable parts are present, but no placement record shows which one entered which serial-numbered valve.
A generic MTC is added after production without evidence that its material was used in the shipped valve.
04 / Buyer audit
Use forward, reverse and quantity-balance checks.
Forward trace
Select one MTC and heat number. Follow receipt, subdivision, processing and placement records to every finished valve that claims the material.
Reverse trace
Select a finished valve at random. Start with its serial number and trace each specified pressure-containing or pressure-controlling part back to its material certificate.
Quantity balance
Compare material received with cut pieces, scrap, remaining stock, work in progress and finished parts. Investigate impossible yields or unexplained surplus identities.
A strong audit samples the breakpoints, not only the cleanest finished data book. Observe a live cutting or machining transfer if possible. Pick a part from the shop floor, not one prepared for the audit. Check outsourced processing records and quarantined material.
05 / PMI boundary
PMI can support identity; it does not rebuild a missing history.
Positive material identification can help screen alloy identity or detect a mix-up when the selected method can measure the relevant elements. It does not, by itself, prove mechanical properties, heat treatment, product form, all specification limits or the origin of the part. Some portable techniques also have important limitations for light elements, including carbon.
06 / Certificate scope
A higher certificate type does not repair a broken chain.
EN 10204 Type 3.1 and 3.2 inspection certificates differ in validation and independent involvement. Both still need to match the ordered product and remain linked to the actual component. A genuine Type 3.2 certificate held in a separate folder does not prove which body or bonnet entered a finished valve.
The 2025 IOGP S-611Q framework makes the distinction operational. It assigns certificate types and traceability levels to component categories and defines Level I as full traceability from manufacture, through stockists where applicable, to the supplier and actual position on the equipment. That framework is written for its API 600 steel gate-valve procurement scope; use it as a disciplined model, not as a universal legal requirement.
07 / Procurement
Define traceability before material is purchased.
Identify components requiring material certification and full traceability. State the certificate type, approved actual manufacturer requirements, transfer-marking controls, material placement record, PMI or supplementary verification, outsourced-process traceability and final data-book format. Supplier deviations shall be listed with the proposal.
For important orders, add purchaser intervention to the ITP at incoming material review, transfer marking, material placement and final data-book review. The intervention level should reflect service criticality, supplier performance and regulatory requirements.
Build a complete RFQ and document listSources / editorial control
Source basis
- Pressure Equipment Directive 2014/68/EU, Annex I. Material documentation and identification from receipt through manufacture to final test.
- IOGP S-611 Steel Gate Valves (API 600), Version 2.0; May 2025.
- IOGP S-611Q v2.0. Certification and traceability requirements, including traceability-level definitions.
- BSI inspection-document information scope associated with EN 10204.
Review limit: formal EN 10204 definitions and project certificate requirements must be checked in the licensed standard and contract. This page describes an audit method; it does not claim that Hande’s factory traceability system has been independently audited. A Hande-specific worked example will be added only after an end-to-end record pack is approved for publication.