Cogne Stainless

Reinforcement UK Ltd.
Quality Management
System Manual
For the purchasing,
processing and supply of
Stainless steel
products
Section 1

Controlled Copy Number

Issued to

Approved

Revision date

1st May 2005

Revision Number

QAM

1 of 24

Cogne Stainless Reinforcement UK limited

Quality system section index

Section 1

Quality management systems manual

Section 2

Process Procedures

Section 3

Reference documents

Section 3.1

Approved suppliers list

Section 3.2

Purchasing specifications

Section 3.3

Standard drawings, and reference

dimensions

Approved

Revision date

1st May 2005

Revision Number

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Contents
Section Title
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Page

Description of Company
Company vision
Overview of the quality management system
Quality Management System
Management responsibility
Resource management
Product realization
Measurement, analysis and improvement
Process procedures
Appendix I - Process flowcharts
Appendix II - Issue authorisation and control

4
5
6
7
9
14
115
18
21
23
24

Authorised by:

General Manager

Date: .....

Approved

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Section 1 - Description of Company

Cogne Stainless Reinforcement UK Ltd. provides the following products used
in the construction and building industries.
o Stainless steel reinforcing bars to BS6744
o Fabrication of cut and bent stainless reinforcement, to BS 8666 and
BS4466
o BS 6105 stainless steel studding in all grades
o Fabricate stainless steel mesh
o Associated civil engineering accessories.
Cogne Stainless Reinforcement UK Ltd. commenced operations at its
Sheffield site in January 2004. The Head Office and all manufacturing
facilities are located at that site.
Cogne Stainless Reinforcement UK Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cogne
UK Ltd, which itself is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cogne Acciai Specialis
S. P. A.
The Cogne Stainless Reinforcement UK Ltd. mission is to deliver reinforcing
bar and associated products to customers to provide sustainable competitive
advantage for them.

Section 2 - Company vision

Our vision is to be recognised by the market as a successful leader in the
industry through our proven ability to consistently satisfy our customers'
requirements.
We are committed to:
Fully complying with the relevant requirements of ISO 9001 : 2000
and CARES CP& AS 6
Meeting our customers requirements to:
o Provide value added products that meet agreed
requirements
o Accept contracts only if we believe we can meet our
customers' requirements and where those requirements are
compatible with our expertise and business activities
Continued controlled growth
Maintaining an environment for attracting and retaining the best
people in our industry sector
Continually enhancing and developing our expertise and
competency to ensure we maintain a leadership position in our
industry sector
General Manager

Date: .....

Section 3 - Overview of the Quality Management System

Cogne Stainless Reinforcement UK Ltd.'s management system comprises the

core and support business processes that take inputs and converts them into
value added outputs that satisfy the customers' needs and expectations.
The company has issued a quality management system manual and Process
Procedures (PP's) in accordance with the requirements of BS EN ISO
9001:2000 and CARES Steel for the reinforcement of concrete scheme
manual Appendix 2 - Quality and operations assessment schedule for the
processing and/or supply of steel products for the reinforcement of concrete.
Every business process is aligned to deliver our business goals and is linked
to key performance indicators that are used to monitor our achievements.
The quality management system does not cover any design or development
function, and hence Section 7.3 of BS EN ISO 9001:2000 is excluded from
the quality management system.
The finished goods can be inspected following manufacture, and hence
reference to section 7.5.2 has not been included in this manual
The quality management system processes are described in the process flow
charts, Appendix 1.

Section 4 - Quality management system

4.1 General requirements
The Management System has been documented to:
o Communicate objectives, policies, plans and performance data;
o Identify information flows and the controls to be applied to
processes;
o Consistently achieve the required quality;
o Evaluate the System for its suitability and effectiveness;
o Achieve improvement in process and business outcomes and
maintaining those improvements.
4.2 Documentation requirements
4.2.1 General and 4.2.2 Quality Manual
The documentation consists of the following:
Quality Manual
o Contains vision, organization and policies relating to business
processes and the Management System.
Process Procedures
o Document and demonstrate commitment to the policies contained
in the Management System Manual;
o Describe the activities necessary to achieve process outputs;
assign responsibility for the activity; describe the method and
controls to be applied; describe when and where the activity is
done; identify the records produced.
Reference Documents
External documents providing guidance for business activities, for
example British and International Standards approved suppliers and
purchasing specification.
4.2.3 Control of Documents
All quality documents shall be reviewed and approved by the Technical
Manager before issue. Each document shall be identified and its revision
status indicated.

The Technical Manager is also responsible for the review of all documents
once a year, amendment as necessary (including revision status), re-approval
and re-issue to those on the distribution lists. The holders of each amended
document shall be responsible for updating their own copies and maintaining
their condition. Withdrawn documents shall be either be destroyed or marked
as superseded and filed.
The Technical Manager shall keep British Standards up to date by monthly
reference to BSI Publications. He/she shall also be responsible for the
distribution and control of British Standards.
4.2.4 Control of Records
Records provide objective evidence of and demonstrate conformance to
specified requirements and the Management System. Defined records shall
be retained for a minimum period of ten years except as required by law.
A list of the records in use is shown in the Process Procedure. Individual users
are responsible for the identification, storage, protection and retrieval of
records, and the Technical Manager is responsible for determining retention
times and controlling disposition.
Appendix II Issue amendment and control identifies the location and/or
holders of documents.

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30th September 2005

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Section 5 Management responsibilities

5.1 Management commitment
The General Manager is committed to ensuring that the quality management
system is applied in an effective manner and is continually reviewed and
improved. In order to achieve this the General Manager has established the
following:
A review of the quality management system every year as a part of
which customer and British Standard requirements shall be discussed.
Relevant personnel shall be kept informed by the issue of minutes.
The issue of a quality policy (Section 5.3), which refers to quality
objectives (Section 5.4.1).
The provision of adequate resources to enable the quality management
system to be effectively implemented.

5.2 Customer focus

The General Manager acknowledges the importance of meeting all aspects of
the customers' requirements and has established procedures to determine
these requirements and to monitor customer satisfaction. The process
procedures are listed in Section 2

5.3 Quality policy

Cogne Stainless Reinforcement UK Ltd will listen to our customers,
understand and balance their needs and expectations with those of our
suppliers and employees and endeavour to give full satisfaction to all parties.
Through our leadership, we will communicate the company vision and core
values, to guide the behaviour of all to achieve our vision. We will involve all
our people in the organizations development, utilize their knowledge and
experience, recognise their contribution and provide an environment in which
they are motivated to realize their full potential.
We will take a process approach towards the management of work and
manage our processes as a single system of interconnected processes that
delivers all the organisations objectives. An environment will be provided in
which every person is motivated to continually improve the efficiency and
effectiveness of our products, processes and our management system.
Cogne Stainless Reinforcement UK Ltd will work to maintain and improve the
quality objectives identified in 5.4.

Through effective communication, we will develop alliances with our suppliers

and work with them to jointly improve performance.

5.4 Planning
5.4.1 Quality objectives
Cogne Stainless Reinforcement UK Ltd will provide a service better than the
industry norm, by
o Maintaining the promised delivery date or informing the customer of
any variation in writing prior to that delivery date.
o Reduce Complaints year on year.
o Continue to reduce scrap and redundant work.
o Reduce and monitor the late delivery days
All the above will be reviewed annually at the Quality assurance meeting, and
the performance trends monitored to improve the company performance
5.4.2 Quality management system planning
The General Manager has arranged for effective planning of the quality
management system by establishing procedures, instructions and quality
objectives.
Changes to the quality management system shall be reviewed by the General
Manager to ensure that the integrity of the system is maintained. Changes
may be due to continual improvement plans, internal quality audits or
corrective/preventive actions.

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5.5 Responsibility, authority and communication

5.5.1 Responsibility and authority

Organizational structure -

General Manager

Technical /
Operations
Manager

Production
Operatives

Finance Manager

Sales and office

staff

Key Responsibilities
The General Manager is responsible for providing the necessary personnel
and resources to ensure the effective and efficient performance of the Core
Business and Support Processes.
Technical / Operations Manager
has the overall responsibility for ensuring that the policies set out in this
manual are understood, implemented and maintained at a levels in the
Company and that the Company works towards achieving its Vision and
key objectives.
has the overall responsibility and authority for ensuring that corrective and
preventive actions for actual or potential process and / or System
deficiencies are implemented.
represents the company in all matters relevant to the Quality Management
System as established by customer, regulatory and ISO 9001
requirements. He/she is responsible for ensuring that the System is
effectively implemented and maintained, and reports on the performance
of the Management System at review meetings.

Sales and Office staff are responsible for maintaining the stock control;
system with information provided by the process operators, providing
customer information in accordance with the process procedures
Process Operators are responsible for ensuring that their processes are
effective in producing the desired results in accordance with defined company
policy as detailed in this Manual.
All employees of the Company are responsible for meeting the requirements
of agreed procedures, plans and controls and for conducting themselves in
accordance with approved practices.
General
Responsibilities and authorities are defined in Job Descriptions for
supervisory and administrative levels and Process Operators. All nonsupervisory staff have authority based on competence to perform various
tasks.
In addition, responsibilities and authorities are defined in
documentation such as Process Procedures.
In the event of personnel absences, authority reverts to the source of
delegation as defined by the organization chart, unless limited authority and
responsibility are delegated to other personnel via memoranda.
5.5.2 Management representative
The General Manager has appointed the Technical and operations manager
as the company management representative.
5.5.3 Internal communication
The General Manager shall ensure, by means of suitable procedures, that
lines of communication are defined and effective.

5.6 Management review

5.6.1 General
Once every year the General Manager shall convene a meeting to discuss the
ongoing effectiveness of the quality management system with representatives
from each level and function of the company. The agenda shall include quality
objectives and follow-up actions to the last management review (Section 5.6).
Records shall be maintained.
At intervals of one year, the General Manager shall review the quality
management system to ensure its continuing suitability and effectiveness.
5.6.2 Review input
The management review shall include the following:
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o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

The results of internal and external quality audits

Customer complaints and other customer feedback
Process performance and product conformity
Quality objectives
Corrective and preventive actions, including
Follow-up actions from the last management review
Changes that could affect the quality management system
Recommendations for improvement.
Review the suitability of the Quality Manual and the Quality Policy

5.6.3 Review output

The results of the management review shall be documented and
communicated to relevant employees. The output shall include any decisions
and actions relating to:
o Improvement of the effectiveness of the quality management
system and its processes
o Improvement of product related to customer requirements and
o Resource needs

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Section 6 Resource management

6.1 Provision of resources
Resources shall be determined and provided to maintain and continually
improve the quality management system (Section 5.6), and meet customer
requirements (Sections 7.2.1 and 8.2.1).
6.2 Human resources
6.2.1 General
Procedures shall be established to ensure that personnel performing work
affecting product quality shall be competent on the basis of education,
training, skills and experience.
6.2.2 Competence, awareness and training
The necessary competence requirements needed to perform work activities
shall be described in the process procedures. Training shall be provided to
meet these requirements and the effectiveness of the training assessed and
recorded by the instructor. The training shall include making trainees aware of
the relevance of their work to the achievement of the quality objectives.
Operators will be trained inline with the relevant British, European standards
and PP's as appropriate. Records shall be maintained by works manager.
6.3 Infrastructure
The necessary infrastructure shall be determined and provided to achieve
product conformity, including workplace facilities, process equipment and any
necessary support services.
Process equipment shall be maintained in accordance with maintenance
schedules.
6.4 Work environment
Working areas shall be determined and managed to achieve conformity to
product requirements.

Section 7 Product realization

7.1 Planning of product realization
The company shall plan and develop the processes needed for product
realization. All necessary resources shall be provided.
Inspection of in-process and finished product shall be in accordance with the
process procedures Records shall be maintained to demonstrate that the
finished product complies with the stated requirements.

7.2 Customer-related processes

7.2.1 Determination of requirements related to the product
Customer requirements shall be determined, including additional
requirements such as delivery details.
7.2.2 Review of requirements related to the product
On receipt of an enquiry or order the product requirements shall be reviewed
by sales personnel to ensure that they are clearly defined, any differences are
resolved and the company has the capability to process the order. In the case
of orders accepted by telephone, the customer shall be supplied with an order
confirmation, confirming acceptance.
In the case of amendments, the person responsible for accepting the initial
order shall control the changes and amend the works order accordingly.
7.2.3 Customer communication
Sales personnel shall communicate with customers and shall be trained in
product knowledge and the company's order processing system. Technical
advice shall be given related to the processing and application of the
company's products, but not on design or construction.
Sales personnel shall handle customer complaints, with reference to the
Technical Manager where necessary (e.g. for technical information). All
complaints shall be recorded and corrective/preventive actions implemented
and signed off on completion. Records shall be maintained.

7.3 Design and development

This section of EN ISO 9001:2000 is not applicable to the company's activities
and is excluded from the quality management system.

7.4 Purchasing
7.4.1 Purchasing process
Purchasing is the responsibility of the General Manager. Reinforcing steel
shall only be purchased from CARES approved firms; non-reinforcing steel
products will be purchased from companies on the approved suppliers list.
A current copy of the CARES approved firms booklet shall be maintained.
In the event cut and bent work is subcontracted, the subcontractor shall hold a
valid CARES approval and supply details of the deliveries made to site on
behalf of the company.
7.4.2 Purchasing information
Purchase orders for reinforcing steel shall specify the relevant British
Standard, the type and size of product required and the need for CARES
approval, together with works test certificate, identification and delivery
requirements.
Where deliveries of steel are made directly to the customer on behalf of the
company the supplier must supply details of each consignment, including
traceability requirements.
7.4.3 Verification of purchased product
Goods shall be inspected on receipt, cast or batch numbers checked against
the supplier's delivery note (or recorded if not advised by the supplier) and
confirmed as CARES approved where appropriate, to the correct specification
as shown on the purchase order. Details shall be recorded in a goods receipt
log, and the records endorsed to show that, where relevant, works test
certificates have been received and filed.
If the company or the customer wishes to verify product/service at the
supplier's premises, the intended arrangements shall be described in the
purchase order.

7.5 Production and service provision

7.5.1 Control of production and service provision
Process procedures shall be issued where necessary for the control of
production activities. These shall provide information on product
characteristics, the use of measuring equipment and the inspections to be
carried out before release for despatch to the customer.
7.5.2 Validation of processes for production and service provision
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The outputs from the processes operated by the company are all capable of
being verified by subsequent monitoring and measurement, and this section
of EN ISO 9001:2000 is therefore excluded from the quality management
system.
7.5.3 Identification and traceability
Steel reinforcement in stock shall be identified, including split bundles or coils,
and traceable to goods receipt records and, where relevant, works test
certificates.
Product in process shall be identified and traceable to production/quality
records.
Completed cut and bent orders shall be traceable to the cast numbers of the
steel used in their manufacture.
7.5.4 Customer property
Where free issue goods are being processed, they will be marked by a simple
label identifying the customer, the order that it is required for and detailed
description of the goods, including the original and current quantity.
7.5.5 Preservation of product
Product conformity is preserved during processing and delivery by
maintaining
Identity, storing in suitable areas and using approved handling methods.

7.6 Control of monitoring and measuring devices

All measuring tapes, rules and micrometers are numbered and issued to the
personnel listed in the Measuring equipment register. All items are checked
by the Foreman and replaced as necessary. Records are maintained.

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Section 8 Measurement, analysis and improvement

8.1 General
Process procedures shall be issued to specify the systems in use for verifying
product conformity ensure conformity of the quality management system and
demonstrate continual improvement of the quality management system.

8.2 Monitoring and measurement

8.2.1 Customer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction is monitored by evaluating customer complaints,
relating to either the product or service provided, and the resulting
investigations and corrective/preventive actions and by formal contact with
customers. Records shall be maintained and analysed as one of the
company's quality objectives. At yearly intervals product related complaints
shall be submitted to CARES.
8.2.2 Internal audit
Internal audits shall be carried out in accordance with an instruction issued by
the Technical manager. The planning and implementation of internal audits is
described in PP No.16.
8.2.3 Monitoring and measurement of processes
Processes are monitored and measured by means of internal audits, and
inspections carried out in accordance with the British Standards and
customer's requirements. In the case of non-compliance, corrective actions
are applied.
Through the means of the Accumet System a review of the late dispatch days
is completed annually.
The company does not use statistical techniques, since they are not
considered appropriate to the business.
8.2.4 Monitoring and measurement of product
Receiving inspection is carried out on all reinforcing steel before acceptance
into stock for production or re-sale (Section 7.4.3).
In-process inspection in the form of cut and bent inspections are carried out
by the Foreman at the frequency and in the format specified in BS 8666.

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Final inspection comprises checking the product during loading to ensure that
it is properly identified, undamaged and accompanied by the correct
documentation.
Records showing the authority for release shall be kept for all inspections
(Section 4.2.4).

8.3 Control of nonconforming product

Nonconforming product shall be controlled to prevent its inadvertent use.
Product shall be identified by means of a hold label on each bundle and,
where possible, separated from conforming material.
The Technical Manager shall determine the disposition of the nonconforming
product, which may be reworking and re-inspecting to verify conformity,
release under a concession by agreement with the customer or by scrapping
the material.
The Technical Manager shall be responsible for maintaining records of
nonconformities, concessions, scrap and corrective actions (Section 8.5.2).

8.4 Analysis of data

Data shall be collected and analysed to provide information relating to the
effectiveness of the quality management system and its continual
improvement. The sources to be used shall be customer complaints and the
results of customer satisfaction surveys, problems with supplied materials and
nonconformities.

8.5 Improvement
8.5.1 Continual improvement
The company aims to continually improve the effectiveness of the quality
management system, by the use of data analysis, quality objectives and the
results of internal audits. This information shall be analysed, and
improvements implemented, refer to the management review meetings
(Section 5.6).
8.5.2 Corrective action
Corrective actions taken shall be appropriate to the effects of the
nonconformities identified.
The Technical Manager is responsible for
recording all nonconformities and evaluating and monitoring the corrective
actions taken, demonstrating their effectiveness.
8.5.3 Preventive action
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The company determines actions needed to prevent nonconformities. Quality

and management review meetings shall identify potential nonconformities and
determine the preventive actions that shall be taken. The results of these
preventive actions shall be reviewed at subsequent meetings, and records
maintained.

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Process procedures
1. Processing customer orders
2. Purchasing
3. Inspection and testing
4. Stocking
5. Cutting reinforcement
6. Bending reinforcement
7. Threading
8. Welding
9. Despatch
10. Defective material
11. Amendments
12. Concessions
13. Complaints
14. List of records
15. Maintenance schedules
16. Internal audits
17. Training
18. Direct Delivery
British Standards
British Standard number
BS EN ISO 9001
BS 4466
BS 8666
BS6744

Location
General Office
General Office
General Office
General Office

Revisions and amendments

Any revisions or amendments shall be circulated to all holders on the
controlled distribution list and it is their responsibility to replace the
superseded pages.

Date

Section

Brief description of amendment

15/9/05

Page
number
6

Added reference to 7.5.2

Rev.
No.
1

30/9/05

Changed ref to QA Director to Tech manager

30/9/05

10

5.4.1

30/9/05

18

8.2.3

Remove ref to Quote response and added, added

ref to analysis of late delivery
Added ref to accumet

30/9/05

21

PP

Added Direct delivery

30/9/05

23

App 1

Review of Schedule

30/9/05

22

Revisions and amendments

Appendix 1 Process Flow Chart

Training

Audits

Complaints

Concessions

Purchasing

Processing
of Customer
orders

Continual improvement of quality management

system

Management
responsibility

Customers

Customers
Measurement,
analysis and
improvement

Resource
management

Product
realisation

Requirements

Product

Revision date

30th September 2005

Threading

Cut and
bend

Output

Calibratio
n

Inspection

Maintenan
ce

Input

Approved

Satisfaction

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Appendix II Issue authorisation and control

The control of this manual is the responsibility of the Technical Manager. Any
member of staff may initiate amendments. All amendments shall be
authorised and issued by the Technical Manager The authorising signature on
the Table of Contents page achieves this.
Controlled Distribution
The master copy of this manual and a list of holders of copies subject to
amendment control are held by the Technical Manager Only copies of
documents assigned a serial number and recorded on the controlled
Distribution List are subject to issue and amendment control. Controlled
copies of the Quality Management System Manual, Process procedures and
British Standards have been issued as follows:
The list of holders is as follows:
Quality management system manual:
Copy No.
1
2
3

Holder
General Office
Technical
manager
CARES

Rev. Status
1
1
1

Date of Issue