Manufacturing
The stockist who doesn't manufacture
You buy, cut to size and sell. You manufacture nothing, and yet you are the link where the certificate gets lost.
A six-metre bar arrives with its certificate. It is cut into four pieces for four clients. There is one certificate and four pieces — and there, in an operation lasting two minutes, it is decided whether those four clients will be able to show what their products are made of.
Traceability in distribution
You manufacture nothing, so your only documentary contribution is **not breaking the chain**: that what leaves can be related to what came in. It sounds minor and it is exactly what you will be asked for.
Where it breaks, by frequency
| Moment | What happens |
|---|---|
| **On cutting** | **The piece loses the bar's marking** |
| On mixing stock | Two intakes of the same material end up on one rack |
| On despatch | It goes out without the certificate, «we'll send it on» |
| On restocking | A new intake is served believing it is the old one |
Important
**Marking the piece as it is cut is the whole job, and it is where nobody wants to stop.** A number written on the material or a tag tied to it turns an anonymous offcut into a piece that knows where it came from. Without it, the certificate you hand over will be plausible but not verifiable — and when your client is in the middle of a claim, the difference between those two words is everything there is.
What to supply and keep
Watch out
The awkward case worth settling before it arrives: **a client asks for the certificate of something you sold three years ago**. If you served from an intake that no longer exists and never recorded which, there is no way to know. Sending «a certificate for that material» that is not their bar's appears to solve the moment and creates a bigger problem: you are certifying something you cannot support. Better to say plainly what you can and cannot evidence than to hand over a paper that does not correspond.
Worth knowing
What documentation must accompany each material, what each product standard requires and what duties a distributor assumes depends on the material, the destination sector and what was agreed. **Your adviser settles that**; here we cover the part that depends only on you: not breaking the link between what comes in and what goes out.
›Do I have to mark every cut?
It is what decides whether the certificate is worth anything. For demanding material, yes.
›Can I send the certificate later?
You can, but the right one. Sending another is worse than sending none.
›How long do I keep certificates?
Longer than your client's product life, which is not the same as yours.
A real case
The situation
A bar is cut into four and the pieces leave unmarked.
What you do
- Marks each cut with the intake reference before it leaves the yard
What you get
All four clients can show what their part is made of.
The situation
A client asks for the certificate of material bought three years ago.
What you do
- Keeps a copy of what was supplied to each client, with its reference
What you get
The correct certificate is issued instead of a similar one.
The situation
A new intake of the same material arrives and is racked next to the old one.
What you do
- Separates intakes physically or identifies which is being served
What you get
Stock is not served from one intake in the belief it is another.
The situation
Material is delivered with no certificate and a promise to send it on.
What you do
- Delivers the certificate with the material, not afterwards
What you get
The client is not left holding product they cannot document.
The situation
The certificate sent is the supplier's generic one, not the heat supplied.
What you do
- Supplies the certificate for the specific heat despatched
What you get
What is handed over is verifiable, not merely plausible.
The situation
A client claims and there is no record of which intake that order was served from.
What you do
- Records which intake was being served in each period
What you get
The claim can be bounded to one specific intake.
This article answers
- material distributor mill certificates
- selling cut-to-size material traceability
- what documentation to supply with material
- metal stockist certificate