Certificates & Traceability
Certificates are the supplier paperwork your quality profiles ask for — mill test reports, certificates of analysis, certificates of conformance and your own types. Traceability answers the two questions every quality problem raises: what went into this, and where did it go. Both live on the Traceability tab of the Quality workspace.
Certificates
Where to Access
Quality → Traceability, Certificates view. Certificate records are added at receiving, from the line's quality button, or with New certificate here.
Certificate Status
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| To follow | Expected, but the file is not attached yet |
| Received | The file is attached |
| Verified | Reviewed and accepted |
| Rejected | Reviewed and refused, with a reason |
If the certificate type must be verified, open the record and choose Verify, or Reject with a reason. Changing the file or its details after a decision sends it back to Received for another review.
How Certificates Are Used
- At receiving – A required certificate must be attached, or marked It will follow when the profile allows it. A certificate already on record for the lot, or for its heat, counts.
- Certificate holds – When the profile says Hold until it arrives, material received with its certificate to follow is held, and the hold releases by itself when the file is attached.
- Heat numbers – A mill test report on a heat covers every lot poured from it, so you do not need to attach it again for each lot.
- At shipping – Missing, unverified, expired or rejected certificates are checked by the shipping gate. See Holds & the Shipping Gate.
Traceability
Where to Access
Quality → Traceability, Trace view.
Running a Trace
- Choose what you are starting from — Anything, Shipment, Invoice, Sales order, Work order, Lot, Serial or Heat — or leave it on Anything.
- Scan or type the number: a document number, or what is stamped on the part. For lots, serials and heats, the first characters are enough.
- Choose Trace. If more than one match is found, pick the one to follow.
The result shows two sides:
- What went into it – The components, lots and serials it was made from, or the receipt and vendor it was bought from.
- Where it went – What it was built into, and the shipments and customers it reached.
A heat number finds every lot poured from it.
Using Trace for a Recall
When a supplier lot or heat turns out to be bad, start from it and read Where it went. The forward trace follows the material through every work order that consumed it and into the shipments that carried it — including material that was bought and shipped straight on without being built into anything, and shipments that have not left yet, so they can still be stopped. From there you can place holds on what is still in your hands and contact the customers who received it.
Common Problems
- "The receipt will not save because a certificate is missing." Attach the file on the line's quality button, or tick It will follow if the profile allows it.
- "A verified certificate went back to Received." Its file or details were changed after the decision. Review it again and choose Verify.
- "A work order trace shows nothing under Where it went." A work order is followed forward through what it built. Pick one of its lots or serials from the list and trace that.
Best Practices
- Record heat numbers on lots of metal so one mill test report covers every lot from that heat.
- Use Must be verified on certificate types your customers audit, so an unreviewed file never counts.
- Run a trace as a drill before you need one, so the team knows where to look during a real recall.