| 1 | Investment Casting Process Capability | Confirm experience with wax injection, ceramic shell building, dewaxing, pouring, heat treatment, finishing, and final inspection for the required alloy and part geometry. | Process flow chart, production samples, control plan, process qualification records, and capability data for critical characteristics. | 15% |
| 2 | Quality Management System | Assess whether documented procedures control purchasing, production, inspection, nonconformities, corrective actions, and traceability. | A current ISO 9001 certificate issued by an accredited certification body; verify its scope and validity independently. | 12% |
| 3 | Material Control and Traceability | Check control of heat numbers, incoming raw materials, alloy segregation, melting records, and product identification through shipment. | Mill certificates, melting logs, chemical composition reports, material identification records, and EN 10204 type 3.1 certificates where specified. | 12% |
| 4 | Dimensional Accuracy | Evaluate the supplier’s ability to consistently meet drawing tolerances, datum requirements, wall thickness limits, and geometric tolerances. | Coordinate measuring machine reports, calibrated gauges, inspection plans, first article inspection reports, and customer-approved drawings. | 12% |
| 5 | Defect Prevention and Yield | Review controls for shrinkage, porosity, inclusions, cracks, misruns, cold shuts, shell defects, and wax-pattern distortion. | Historical rejection and rework data, Pareto analysis, corrective-action reports, casting simulation where applicable, and documented root-cause analysis. | 12% |
| 6 | Inspection and Testing Resources | Confirm access to dimensional, chemical, mechanical, metallurgical, and nondestructive testing required by the purchase specification. | Calibrated CMMs, spectrometers, hardness testers, tensile testing equipment, X-ray or CT inspection, and liquid penetrant testing according to applicable specifications. | 10% |
| 7 | Industry and Compliance Experience | Determine whether the supplier understands the documentation, validation, and regulatory expectations of the target industry. | Relevant approvals or certifications such as IATF 16949 for automotive applications, AS9100 for aerospace quality systems, or customer-specific approvals when required. | 10% |
| 8 | Tooling and Engineering Support | Assess design-for-casting support, wax tooling design, shrinkage allowance control, mold maintenance, engineering-change management, and prototype capability. | Tooling drawings, mold trial reports, revision control records, prototype lead-time data, and documented approval procedures for tooling changes. | 8% |
| 9 | Production Capacity and Delivery Reliability | Verify available furnace capacity, equipment utilization, staffing, maintenance planning, safety stock practices, and ability to support forecast changes. | Capacity statement, on-time delivery records, production schedule, preventive-maintenance plan, and documented business-continuity arrangements. | 5% |
| 10 | Total Cost and Commercial Transparency | Compare tooling, casting, machining, heat treatment, testing, packaging, logistics, and potential nonquality costs rather than comparing unit price alone. | Itemized quotation, payment terms, tooling ownership conditions, warranty provisions, change-order policy, packaging specification, and landed-cost calculation. | 4% |