B. GAJDZIK, J.

SITKO

ISSN 0543-5846
METABK 53(1) 135-138 (2014)
UDC UDK 669.015:672:65.01:621.41=111

AN ANALYSIS OF THE CAUSES OF COMPLAINTS

ABOUT STEEL SHEETS IN METALLURGICAL
PRODUCT QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Received Primljeno: 2013-04-15
Accepted Prihvaeno: 2013-06-30
Review Paper Pregledni rad

The publication presents the causes of complaints about metallurgical products, illustrated with an example of steel
sheets, with a particular focus on the reasons having their source in the human factor. The publication has been
based on direct research and analysis of complaints made available by a metallurgical plant. The obtained results
have been enriched with theoretical considerations on quality management systems for metallurgical products.
Key words: metallurgical products, steel sheets, quality management system, complaints

INTRODUCTION
Social and economic changes resulting from technical, technological and organisational development have
contributed to a greater importance of production enterprise competitiveness. One of competitiveness components is the quality of products, understood as an advantage over other enterprises. Offering better quality products than competitors is a way of building the companys
competitiveness. Quality competitiveness is conditioned by the products fullment of all the requirements
that determine its functions and attractiveness for the
purchaser [1].
In the case of metallurgical products, the nal quality is determined mainly by physical attributes, such as:
chemical composition, physical and chemical properties, precision of workmanship, functionality etc. Particular physical and chemical properties of metallurgical products must comply with both the production
standards in force and the specic character of the customers order. Before being put on the market, metallurgical products are subject to quality control. Although
it is computerized, this process depends on the precision
of measurements taken by the staff. The results of product quality evaluation may vary in their degree of accuracy, depending on particular employees who take
measurements. The publication presents issues related
to the causes of complaints, with a special focus on reasons having their source in the human factor. Basic
causes of an organisations low efciency include improper organisation of work and the fact that employees
are not sufciently motivated toward the goals set by
the organisation [2]. A case study was carried out in a
metallurgical plant producing steel sheets.
B. Gajdzik, The Silesian University of Technology, Faculty of Materials
Science and Metallurgy, Katowice, Poland
J. Sitko, The Silesian University of Technology, Faculty of Organization
and Management, Zabrze, Poland

METALURGIJA 53 (2014) 1, 135-138

PRODUCT QUALITY MANAGEMENT

SYSTEMS IN METALLURGICAL PLANTS
The increasing competition on the market as well as
growing demands of purchasers forced enterprises to
implement product quality management systems in accordance with the assumptions of ISO 9001 standard.
Product quality management is a set of coordinated activities related to quality in the context of the functioning of the whole enterprise [3]. A product quality management system is a component of the companys management system. There is a correlation between the improvement of the companys functioning and the improvement of goods quality [4].
Enterprises develop and implement a vast array of
methodological quality management instruments (for
example 5S tidiness, orderliness, cleanliness, standardization, discipline, Six Sigma in statistics sigma is
a standard deviation of a variable, six sigma means 3, 4,
defects per million, FMEA Failure Mode and Effects
Analysis, SMED Single Minute Exchange of Die,
TMP Total Productive Maintenance, SPC Statistical
Process Control, benchmarking, Knowledge Management, FMS Flexibility Manufacturing System, LM
Lean Management, BSC Balanced Scorecard, Kaizen). Product quality is a key aim of enterprise management as well as a standard (requirement) of World Class
Manufacturing WCM [5]. Characteristic features of
production plants striving for management through
quality include among others product innovation, process improvement, commitment of staff, delivery timeliness indicator, a high number of support services (transport, assembly), permanent control over product quality
and cost accounting (striving for a competitive advantage through elimination of wastage). Although implementation of quality management systems is a voluntary activity of enterprises, an increasing number of
companies have certied quality management systems.
135

B. GAJDZIK et al.: AN ANALYSIS OF THE CAUSES OF COMPLAINTS ABOUT STEEL SHEETS IN METALLURGICAL...

When observing the changes in metallurgical plants, researchers noticed that the rst quality management systems appeared in the years 1993-1994. The rst metallurgical plant to implement a quality management system was Huta (Foundry) Ferrum S.A., followed by Bumar abdy S.A. Implementation of quality management systems intensied at the end of 1990s and in the
rst years of the new era. At the end of 2001, approximately 4000 companies in Poland had quality management system certicates [6]. The rst quality management systems in metallurgical plants complied with the
standard at the time - ISO 9001:2000. Apart from the
already mentioned plants, foundries which had certicates of conformity with the quoted standard included:
Huta (Foundry) Zawiercie S.A., Huta Buczek SA in
Sosnowiec, Huta Jedno in Siemianowice lskie,
Huta aziska, Huta Batory SA in Chorzw, Huta Pokj
SA in Ruda lska, Huta Florian in witochowice,
Huta Baildon SA in Katowice, Huta Katowice w
Dbrowa Grnicza, Huta abdy in Gliwice. Approximately 85 % of the companies having certicates of
conformity with ISO standards were awarded certicates of conformity with ISO 9000 standards, about 7 %
- ISO 14001, while the remaining ones had certicates
of conformity with other standards. Quality management systems were also rst to be implemented in metallurgical plants (before environment management systems). Striving for systems integration, metallurgical
plants made use of interactions between the already
functioning quality management systems and environment management systems (ISO 14001) which were being implemented at the time [7]. In August 2002 the biggest production plant in the Silesian Province Huta
Katowice, basing on its experiences with the quality
management system, proceeded to implement an environment management system (in accordance with ISO
14001:1996) and OSH management system (PN-N
18001:1999 at the time) [8]. The establishment of Polskie Huty Stali SA (PHS) concern, consisting of four
foundries (Sendzimir, Katowice, Florian, Cedler), involved a necessity of integrating particular management
systems, rst the ones in particular departments of the
concern and next - in the whole enterprise. After the
enterprise was purchased by a strategic investor (currently ArcelorMittal), the certicates were updated (another issue of standards) and the systems were further
integrated. In September 2010 ArcelorMittal Poland received a certicate conrming the functioning of a quality management system (ISO 9001:2008), an environment management system (ISO 14001:2004) and an
OSH management system (PN 18001:2004; BS OHSAS 18001:2007). Currently, companies without certied quality management systems do not exist on Polish
metallurgical market11.The obtaining of certicates of
conformity with ISO 9000 series standards by metal-

lurgical plants was the starting point on the way to management through quality. Metallurgical enterprises proceeded to streamline the organisation of work, improve
their productivity, implement incentive systems aimed
at continual improvement of the enterprise (motivation
through results), enhance the quality of manufactured
goods (conformity of products with subsequent standards allowing the products to be placed on a particular
market) etc. Gradually, the activities of the plants were
rewarded (titles, honourable mentions for performance
excellence Performance Excellence Award, Firma
dobrze widziana (Well-seen Company) Business
Center Club). Over time quality became a foundation
for WCM World Class Manufacturing in metallurgical plants belonging to global capital groups (e.g. ArcelorMittal Poland). Starting with certied quality management systems in conformity with ISO 9000 standards, through the assumptions of TQM (Total Quality
Management) concept as a manner of management focused on quality, which was based on co-operation of
all enterprise members and aimed at achieving a longterm success by satisfying the customers and providing
benets for employees and society [9], companies went
on to implement the methodologies and instruments of
particular pillars of WCM, among which quality is one
of the 10 columns of world class manufacturing. Figure
1 presents levels of management improvement through
quality in metallurgical plants.
Despite a wide range of product quality control instruments in enterprises, there are cases of product nonconformity, which are subject to complaints. The major
causes of complaints include material, mechanical and
human factors. Using an example of steel sheets, we
have presented the reasons for complaints in particular
categories of factors.

Excellence leader,
benchmark for other enterprises

WCM- World Class Manufacturing

Connual improvement of
integrated management
systems

Integrated management
systems

Quality management systems

in accordance with ISO 9000

The analysis covered 22 companies in the metallurgical (steel-making)

sector in Poland (author: B.Gajdzik)

136

Figure 1 Levels of improvement in metallurgical plants

METALURGIJA 53 (2014) 1, 135-138

B. GAJDZIK et al.: AN ANALYSIS OF THE CAUSES OF COMPLAINTS ABOUT STEEL SHEETS IN METALLURGICAL...

AN ANALYSIS OF THE CAUSES OF

COMPLAINTS ABOUT STEEL SHEETS
The analysis has been based on research carried out
in a plant producing steel sheets, which has a certicate
of quality management system conformity with ISO
9001 standard. Using the information made available
by the enterprise as well as direct investigations, the researchers determined the most common causes of complaints. The main material factors included: cold shuts,
surface cracks, material delamination, corrosion pits,
uneven application of a zinc or aluminium layer. The
latter factor exerts a considerable inuence on the very
process of cutting. Differences in material thickness
cause its uneven reeling and a possibility of its subsequent damage. In the process of DC01 black steel sheet
cutting the reeled strips tend to overlap, which is due to
release of stresses in the cold rolling process. Mechanical factors include mainly possibilities of scratching or
bending the material, damages caused by improper
transport of merchandise and a possibility of knife
crumbling in the cutting process. In steel treatment
processes it is very important to properly select and
train employees, as the whole production cycle depends
on their performance of duties. The reasons for complaints which reect employees errors include most
frequently incorrect measurements, improper setting of
machine parameters or an error in material records. The
company staff play an important role and can considerably inuence production processes, with regard to both
quantity and quality. A very important factor included in
the group of human factors is measurement error. The
accuracy of measurement is dened by a measurement
error, which is a difference between the measurement
result and the measured value. A cause of this non-conformity, which accompanies every measurement, is the
inuence of various unavoidable factors disturbing the
measurement. The impact of each factor causes a partial
error, whereas the co-operation of all the other interfering factors results in a pooled error. Measurement errors
depend mainly on the measurement tool, the employee
taking the measurement, the method of measurement,
environmental conditions and result calculation. Errors
related to the measurement tool have a few sources. The
most important ones include calibration errors, which
result from improper comparison between the indications of the measurement tool and the control tool (it
has to be remembered that the control tool indication is
also burdened with error); friction errors, which result
chiey from inhibiting factors and prevent a mobile element of the tool from reaching a proper position; errors
due to clearances in the mechanism, which cause indeterminacy of measurement indications; temperature errors, which may be caused either by a change of the tool
element dimensions or a change in their different material properties, e.g. modulus of elasticity, magnetic
properties during a measurement from vertical to horizontal position. Apart from these general sources, each
METALURGIJA 53 (2014) 1, 135-138

Mechanical factors
28 %

Mechanical factors
37 %

Human factors
35 %
Figure 2 Factors involved in steel sheets complaints (share in
total complaints)

measurement tool has a number of individual errors,

which need to be analysed. Errors caused by employees
taking a measurement result from the imperfection of
human senses and include: a limited ability to properly
assess a distance by the human eye. Moreover, an error
frequently results from an improper position of the observing eye in relation to the scale (this is a so-called
parallactic error). In order to avoid this unfavourable
phenomenon, modern tools are equipped with a digital
reading. An important role in measurements is played
by psychological errors, which result from certain tendencies, e.g. a tendency to always read off a slightly
lower (or higher) value, to round numbers to certain
privileged digits in the process of interpolation etc. Errors related to measurement result calculations occur
mainly because an improper principle of error compensation in a series of measurements is applied or because
the indicated values are rounded off. The percentage
share of all the accepted complaints in the company on
the basis of collected information has been shown in
Figure 2.
The enterprise subjected to analysis sells more than
75 000 pcs of steel sheet annually. For the four quarters
of 2009/2012 it sold 212 959 pieces (without IV quarter
2010). The highest sale levels were recorded in the
spring and summer period. Sale details have been presented in Figure 3.
As part of research, the level of complaints about
metallurgical products was compared with the sale. To
this end, a percentage share of complaints in relation to
sale in 2009/2012 was computed. The percentage share
of complaints in particular quarters was lower than the
assumed one (Figure 4).
The analysed company explains that its relatively
good results in the level of complaints are due to comprehensive monitoring of the production, continual improvement of the offered services quality as well as employee trainings. According to the quality management
system assumptions, improvement is a constant and vital aim of the enterprise. The employees take part in
training courses in the eld of quality. Continuing professional development is a key assumption of the enterprise management. The system of employee training
137

B. GAJDZIK et al.: AN ANALYSIS OF THE CAUSES OF COMPLAINTS ABOUT STEEL SHEETS IN METALLURGICAL...

20 429

II/2012

Very good mark

70 %

19 920

I/2012

18 140

IV/2011

Quarter/year

Good mark
30 %

18 991

III/2012

18 997

III/2011

19 895

II/2011
I/2011

20 712

III/2010

20 796

II/2010

21 098
17 791

I/2010
IV/2009

16 190
0

5 000 10 000 15 000 20 000 25 000

Sale / pieces

Figure 3 The sale of steel sheets in the analysed enterprise for

the year 2009/2012

Figure 5 An evaluation of the course and effectiveness of

production employee trainings

CONCLUSIONS
The main causes of complaints about steel sheets
produced by the analysed enterprise are material factors, which include cold shuts, surface scratches, material delamination, corrosion pits, uneven application of
a zinc or aluminium layer. The above quoted reasons
accounted for 37 % of all complaints in the metallurgical plant. Another category of complaints was related to
employee errors, which occurred at the stage of production and/or product quality control (35 %). The last item
concerned mechanical damage of steel sheets during
transport, loading, packing etc.

REFERENCES
[1]
[2]

Figure 4 The share of complaints in the total sale of products

for the year 2009/2012

[3]

[4]

organisation is aimed at improving their professional

skills and widening the scope of licences as well as acquiring knowledge in the eld of quality management.
The company organises: internal, external, obligatory,
specialist and professional development trainings.
Training needs are established on the basis of analysis
of periodical employee assessment, the completed trainings, qualications and certicates as well as skills
within the scope of machine operation. The direct investigations included evaluation of the course of trainings as well as their usefulness. 70 % out of 30 surveyed
people assessed them as very good, the remaining ones
gave a good mark (Figure 5).

138

[5]
[6]

[7]
[8]

[9]

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Note: The responsible translator for English language is Z. Dragon,

Gliwice, Poland

METALURGIJA 53 (2014) 1, 135-138