Steel Construction Production in General
Production begins with arrival of materials: passing the gates the materials are stacked in an orderly fashion with easy access in the depot or stock area. The organisation is time efficient. Vertical and horizontal transport systems (conveyors and cranes); forklifts adequate in quality and quantity; other transport vehicles, etc., are present as required and ready for service. In order to make a decision for the next step, we group the activities in the plant according to their characteristics:
• Pre production
- Surface cleaning and protective primer
- Profile processing
- Plate processing
- Special production / bending
- Machining process
• Production
- Production Assembly / fit up
- Welding
• Trial assembly (if required)
• Cleaning and painting
• Shipping
This is actually a very general grouping. Special conditions may develop depending on the production. Then the grouping will be altered accordingly. for example the surface cleaning:
• For a painted job, shot blasting can be pre-production or post production or both depending on the requirements.
• For galvanized production, a rough cleaning can be done before pre-production, but final cleaning is completed mainly before the galvanisation.
Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA & QC)
Since the projects and materials to be used in the production have to be approved/certified the QA must be guarantied by checking the certificates including CE/G signs. However sometimes the samples can be tested for QC in addition to QA.
The QA & QC procedures for each project must be determined beforehand and the processing should be accordingly for the benefit of quality and cost effectiveness in the long run.
Looking at the phases of processing above, we well understand and learn the information below related the procedure for compliance with production and project control:
• The kind and quantity of the material to be processed
• How will the processing be
- In accordance with which standards and regulations
- What measurements, quality, and how many (according to the shop drawings)
- At which machinery/bench, in what order, to what degree (processing-marking-numbering)
- What type of transport and handling among the benches with (material flow planning)
• Time limit for the process
• The assembly of the produced pieces
• Finishing procedures (cleaning, paint retouches, etc.);