Quality Assurance

We are Registered to ISO 9001:2000 for the Manufacture of Brass, Bronze and Aluminum Castings.

Control Freaks That's what we are, we're control freaks. We obsessively, compulsively control every aspect of manufacturing. And we're proud of it.

Order That's what we call our custom manufacturing control system. Yes, because it manages orders. More importantly, because it brings order out of chaos. Since 1992 we have used this system to document every detail of everything we do. If we change something we document it. We can go back and see how we did anything a month ago or a decade ago. The history of every change, every hypothesis, every process step is here.

Document, Control, Repeat Say what you're going to do. Do what you say. Say what you did. That's the essence of our system and our business.

A Bunch of Know It Alls Information is success. The secret isn't having a lot of PCs and over priced software. It's having the discipline to document everything and the confidence to know you have the tools to do the job right. Our system is so thorough that we find that we know more about our customer's castings, orders and tooling than they do.

Granularity Because we developed our business management application ourselves it fits our needs perfectly. If we need something we add it right now. The granularity of information is unparalleled. Take temperature control for example. We don't just document pouring temperature of molten metal. We document furnace temp, maximum superheat temp, beginning ladle temp, temperature tolerance, time in seconds to pour a mold, and molds poured per ladle.

Continuous Improvement Continuous improvement is the goal. By documenting every detail and following the documentation every time we assure consistency of results. By formalizing corrective action and process improvement we assure that hypothesized improvements translate into verifiably effective results.

Traceability    We cross reference everything. If you need certification, those results are tied to the order, the heat numbers, the molds that were made that day, the way the molds were made that day, the temperature specifications, who made the molds, who ground the castings, who shipped the castings and on and on.   Everything but what color socks the plant manager was wearing.

History    We don't discard anything. We know everything we've ever done, every change we've ever made and whether or not they made things better or worse. We know the tendencies of each job. And we don't just keep the info at the management level. We push it all down to the operators. They get the instructions and salient history so they can make the job right. First time. Every time.

MIL-Q9858A and MIL-I-45208 were canceled without replacement in October 1996. ISO 9001:2000 registration is the recommended commercial standard for general quality systems certification.

APQP, PPAP, FMEA, MSA, Gage R&R, Flow Charts, Control Plans We have the knowledge and capabilities to submit whatever level of quality plan or certification you specify.

      St Paul Brass and Aluminum Foundry   -   954 West Minnehaha Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55104 - (651)488-5567 - (800)348-1649 -   Fax: (651)488-0908
      E-mail us for Free Video and Free Casting Design and Alloy Selection Guide or To Discuss Your Casting Project

St. Paul Brass and Aluminum Foundry is a charter honoree of the Inc 5000: