power cable

1.) Study up on AEIC CS8... 2.) If you see something that looks at all odd, say "That's NOT how Kerite does it!"

--s falke

Take the tour and enjoy yourself. Take special note of the final testing areas and the QC numbers when the cable is tested before shipment. Quality Control numbers are the hipot values of when the cables were new. We used to use a lot of Okonite cable. They required us to test the cables when installed, the @ 3 years and then @ 5 years and every five after that. We emailed the cable values to them and they in return gave us a 20 year guarantee. Which really does not mean squat. I have never seen a cable fail. Terminations, splices, load break elbows, etc. Never a cable. But hey I have only been doing medium voltage for 20 years.

Also grab an ISO9001 standard and consider the management systems behind the production operation. Look at their Quality Policy and their ISO certificate and make sure that they both cover the scope of products you want to buy from them.

A specific area you should look at carefully is how they handle "Nonconformances" (i.e. things that didn't turn out right, either because someone found a product problem, or because a customer complained.), and their "Corrective and Preventive Action" systems (i.e. what they do to put things right, AND change the way things are done so they don't happen again).

They should be able to show you procedures for Nonconformance, and for Corrective & Preventive Action, as well as a nonconformance or "Action Request" register that logs such issues and tracks them to completion as a systematic form of "Continuous Improvement".

It is also important to check by talking to front-line staff in the factory, whether they know anything about the company's quality policy, how to report nonconformances etc. It isn't enough to have procedures in a manual, which only factory managers know about.

If they have a nonconformance register/Action Request system, but there's nothing written in it, or if they use one but the staff at the front line know nothing about it, go elsewhere for your product because you can almost guarantee that you will be the one to be advising them of their production quality problems (only to find that there's nothing much done to put things right, and absolutely nothing done to prevent future recurrences!.

thanx all for the advices.are there any thing special to check which may be different in different factories?for example the raw material,speed of production,quality of final jackets ,or something special in the field of power cables?something that manufacturers like to hide. those defects which are not found during witness tests?thanx again.

I have to ask - why are you inspecting the plant when you are asking what to look for?

Sincerely,

Donald L. Phillips, Jr., P.E. Worthington Engineering, Inc.

145 Greenglade Avenue Worthington, OH 43085-2264

snipped-for-privacy@worthingtonNSengineering.com (remove NS to use the address)

614.937.0463 voice 208.975.1011 fax