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Drawing Note for Machine Parts Coming In Damaged?

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gotpho

Mechanical
Nov 14, 2010
17
Hi all,

I apologize in advance if this is the wrong section.

We have parts that are outsourced to China to be manufactured and we found that these parts are coming in damage. These parts are around 3W"x3L"6H" and they have very thin wall features that are getting dented. I don't know if they are getting dented during shipping or if they are getting damaged in our stockroom when moving things around. I have asked the Vendor to double package and send pictures of the parts before they ship it out.

I was also thinking of putting packaging instructions on the drawings so that if we ever switched Vendors, they would know to be careful with the parts. Are there any industry standard notes that can be written on a engineering drawing that specifies the packaging instructions? Any other suggestions is also appreciated as I am going in blind on how to deal with this.

Thank you all.
 
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This is more of a contractual problem and not one easily solved on a per-piece item description, which the drawing is. What you could do is design packaging that the contract says must be used, such as a larger box with an expanded foam insert that holds one or a large number of these items.

It would be a good idea to determine where the damage is happening. I've seen some videos where finished items come off the assembly line and are just tossed into a big pile that is scooped up and dumped into large boxes for shipping.

But if it's in your own stockroom, then making the manufacturer do more work might not be enough.
 
Ggotpho:
Why not a contractual paragraph, something to the effect that..., the contractor is responsible for the quality and final condition of all parts until they are unpacked and inspected, upon receipt, at your plant. This includes, but is not limited to, inspections at their plant, after manufacture and prior to packaging, proper packaging to minimize part damage, shipping and handling instructions, etc. Maybe identify the particularly fragile areas of the parts which require special attention during handling and packaging.
 
gotpho,

I am now working for a manufacturing company, and I am coming over to the mindset that we ship boxes with stuff in them. We need to manage the boxes. Can you specify packaging from your vendor?

--
JHG
 
It sounds like your product, properly packaged, will consistently arrive in acceptable condition. I agree that you can make this a vendor responsibility. I suggest you include some photos of 'lessons learned' for packaging best practices so they get an idea of what current packaging looks like and what type of damage is most likely. The clearer the story and requirements the more likely (and cost aggressively) the vendor will buy in and get it right without losing product. When illustrative examples and photo details are the best information, we create a separate document and reference it on the drawing. We have a weld joint quality standard that is referenced by countless drawings and it is a separate document with numerous high resolution color photos with good and not-good examples.
 
Just one more piece of flotsam crammed onto an engineering drawing because another part of the system is failing.
 
TheTick said:
Just one more piece of flotsam crammed onto an engineering drawing because another part of the system is failing.

What is one more piece of flotsam?
 
consider a standard specification such as ASTMD3951 but not inclusive. look around. it will depend if these are commercial or military
 
Flotsam is due to accident. Jetsam is because someone put it there.
 
Surely your drawing is not the only contract? Would there not be a bit of boilerplate in the written contract that says item XYZ to be delivered undamaged to location XYZ?

Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376
 
Feels to me like you need a new drawing: "GA of package containing expensive components" - then start ordering those, rather than the components themselves.
 
I think the note your are looking for is "material rejected" returned to the vendor in response to an invoice.
 
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