In this guide 6 sections
Make the vendor demonstrate, not describe. Request a live trace from one heat number through billet cutting, furnace, press, trimming, machining and dispatch. Then test die life records, furnace logs, subcontract machining returns and customer inspection reports. A vendor who cannot demo these on forging data has not built for forging.
Can it follow one heat number from bar to dispatch?
Start here, because everything else depends on it. Give the vendor a mill test certificate and ask them to trace that heat through your route, from billet cutting and heating to striking, trimming, heat treatment and machining.
Watch what happens when one bar is split across two jobs. Many systems lose the link at that point. Then ask how a customer complaint on one forged crankshaft leads back to every other piece cut from the same heat, including those already shipped to other buyers.
Ask about the certificate itself. Chemistry and mechanical values from the mill should sit on the record as searchable fields, not inside a scanned PDF that nobody can open when a customer calls.
- Heat number carried on every billet tag
- Split and merge of bars across jobs
- Mill certificate values stored as fields
- Recall list by heat in under a minute
How does it record die life and furnace history?
A die is an asset with a limited life. Ask how the system counts strikes per die set, logs each polish or re-sinking, and warns before a die cracks in the middle of a lot. Request a sample die card.
Furnace logs matter just as much. Soak temperature, time in the furnace and quench details decide whether a part passes hardness. Ask whether readings are typed in by the operator, imported from a controller file or captured by a gateway, because each route fails in its own way.
Typed logs get skipped on a busy night shift. A good answer explains how the system handles a missing entry rather than pretending it never happens. Look for a hard stop or a visible gap flag.
- Strike count per die and per cavity
- Die repair and re-sinking history
- Furnace temperature and soak time per load
- Heat treatment batch linked to part numbers
What happens to parts that leave for machining?
Most forgers send some parts to a job worker for turning, drilling or grinding. Forged rough pieces go out by weight and come back finished, with scrap lost along the way. The books rarely match.
Ask for the subcontract flow end to end. A dispatch note leaves with weights, and a return receipt arrives with counts, rejects and the job worker’s charges, so the system should show who holds your stock today.
Check rework too. A rejected machined part may return to the forge shop for another pass, and the record must follow it.
Can it produce the reports your customers demand?
Automotive and engineering customers ask for dimensional reports, hardness results, material certificates and sometimes a full control plan. Ask the vendor to produce one for a real part number, using your customer’s own layout.
Look at revision handling. When a drawing changes from revision C to D, old reports must stay tied to revision C. Overwriting is a common weakness, and it surfaces during a customer audit.
Ask who builds new report formats when a customer changes theirs. Waiting weeks for a vendor ticket is a real drag on your quality team.
- Inspection report in the customer’s own layout
- Hardness and microstructure results per lot
- Drawing revision tied to every report
- Control plan and PPAP file per part
How will they get your old data and your shop floor in?
Ask how part masters, die lists and open orders will move in from your spreadsheets. Request a written plan and a named person. Vague promises about migration are a warning sign.
Then ask who types on the shop floor. Press operators wear gloves and have no desk. Tablets at the press, barcode tags on billet bins and a supervisor entering data at shift end all work differently, so pick the one your people will actually use.
Finish with a reference call to another forging company, and ask that owner one thing: what broke in the first month?
Forging vendor question sheet
A single sheet with five blocks: traceability, dies and furnace, subcontract machining, customer reports and data migration. Each block has rows for the question, the vendor’s answer, a demo seen yes or no, and a rating out of five. A totals row at the bottom helps compare three vendors side by side.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Should a forging company buy general ERP or industry software?
General ERP handles accounts and stock well but often lacks heat tracking, die cards and furnace logs. Ask both types for the same trace demo and compare what each needs customised.
How long does it take to set up heat traceability?
Setup time follows the state of your part masters and billet routines. Pilot one press line first, then extend once tags and entry habits hold.
Do we need machine connections to the furnace?
Not at the start. Many shops begin with typed readings and add controller exports later. Ask the vendor how both paths feed the same record.
Who owns the data if we change vendors later?
You should. Ask for a written export of heat records, die history and reports in open formats such as CSV before you sign.