LLOYD’S REGISTER have launched a new materials quality scheme, based on technical audits of a manufacturer’s process. This has now been approved by Lloyd’s Register’s Technical Committee following trials with a small number of selected manufacturers who supply materials to the marine industry. The new scheme will help Lloyd’s Register to better assess the capability of materials manufacturers according to their Rules for the Manufacture, Testing and Certification of Materials. The new scheme will replace their existing quality assurance (QA) scheme for materials when the Rules come into effect in July 2006. Their normal direct survey scheme will, however, remain unchanged.

The new materials quality scheme has been developed to make Lloyd’s Register certification more accessible to a wider range of manufacturers and to enable manufacturers to continuously improve their processes using feedback from regular technical audits throughout the production process, rather than merely submitting to a quality management system and audit and check tests.

“The old system was a sensible and adequate means of certifying materials manufacturers, but it became clear that there could be a better way of doing things that would bring benefits to our clients, as well as to ourselves,” says David Howarth, Global Head of Materials, Welding and Non-Destructive Examination,

Lloyd’s Register. “The new materials quality scheme will provide for this through ongoing technical audits, which can help to identify improvements on an ongoing basis, resulting in better quality overall and more efficient processes.”

The scheme will only be applied to manufacturers who have ISO 9001 certification from a certification body recognised by Lloyd’s Register. Scheme audits have been designed to complement ISO 9001 quality system audits. Manufacturers approved under the new process issue their own test certificates, to which the approved scheme mark must be applied, in place of the signature of a Lloyd’s Register surveyor. This helps to streamline manufacturers’ quality control operations.

The new materials quality scheme was developed after extensive benchmarking of similar approaches used in the aerospace, nuclear and automobile industries. It also uses experience from Lloyd’s Register current QA scheme for materials, along with the results of a local scheme which was run in Japan for a number of years.

Lloyd’s Register have formally evaluated the new scheme with a small number of selected manufacturers. One of the first to be approved under the new scheme was Corus Construction and Industrial in England.

“Corus has been proactive in wishing to go ahead with the trials. It is a very forward-thinking company, which views feedback from the marine industry through this scheme as a way of continuously improving the quality of its products,” says Howarth.

“Initially we were skeptical about the introduction of a new scheme, as we had concerns about the time and benefits associated with more audits. However, Lloyd’s Register’s technical approach highlighted a number of areas where improvements could be made, and we are very pleased to welcome the scheme,” says Dr Mike Pope, Technology Manager, Metallurgical Services, Corus Construction and Industrial.

Steel mills in Sweden and Finland have also been approved under the new scheme. The new process is ideal for manufacturers with a good record of supplying materials to meet Lloyd’s Register Rules, who also have quality management systems which have been approved to ISO 9001:2000.

Under the scheme, specially trained surveyors will monitor the audits of a manufacturer’s quality management system but will not repeat them. Lloyd’s Register will concentrate on technical audits of the manufacturing processes to ensure it meets their Rule requirements and complies with clients’ requirements, thereby providing an assessment of the integrity of a manufacturer’s operations. By providing regular statistics of quality control results, a manufacturer can demonstrate that materials are being produced under sufficient control to ensure products will consistently meet specified requirements. Further information from david.howarth@lr.org