Flow Chart   

Quality is the hallmark of TPI tubes. And the quality of every tube manufactured at TPI is assured by a comprehensive quality system which encompasses all activities right from customer enquiry to the final dispatch of finished tubes. The Quality system at TPI Main plant, shirwal and Mohali is accredited with ISO 9000-2000 while the export unit has the QS 9000 certification from BVQI. Adhering to strict environment protection norms, TPI EOU also has acquired ISO 14000 status.

Quality Assurance begins right from the customer's enquiry. The customer's needs and specifications are studied very carefully and minutely before submitting a commercial offer. After receipt of the Purchase Order, a systematic approach is followed to establish and validate the manufacturing process through a well documented process sequence and the process capability studies are carried out for the critical parameters during the trial run through statistical Quality control techniques and the PPAP (Process Part Approval Plan) is submitted to the customer for approval.

Quality is assured right from the raw material stage itself. Raw material both hot rolled coils as well as cold rolled coils are bought from reputed Indian Steel Mills or imported from the best steel producing plants.

All incoming material is inspected for chemical composition and tested for mechanical properties, gauge variation and visually inspected for surface defects. All Hot rolled coils are pickled to clean all surface impurities and scales before it is fed into the tube mills.

At the tube mill, the product is rolled as per the set parameters and the initial set up tubes are subjected to the cone test, flattening test and crushing tests. The weld flow angle check is a mandatory qualifying test for each and every size of tube rolled to ensure the weld integrity. At the draw bench for the cold drawn tubes, the tubes are again randomly subjected to destructive tests.

All the critical parts are subjected to non destructive eddy current tests and if specified, pressure testing and magnetic crack detection tests. One of the latest features to be added to the non destructive testing capability is the introduction of Ultrasonic Inspection for thick walled tubes.

Other tests include the mechanical testing for Tensile strength, yield strength and hardness in line with the customers specifications. These include dimensional and visual checks for thickness, outside diameter, inside diameter, ovality, straightness, fin height, surface finish.

After complete inspection, the tubes are stenciled online through automatic stenciling machine giving details of the order number and batch number for easy traceability.

The tubes are then oiled and packed to ensure that the tubes are received by the customer in exactly the same condition that it was packed at the plant. The tubes are dipped in non bituminous rust preventive oil which can be easily cleaned before use.

The tubes are then packed in hexagonal bundles and each bundle is tagged with a printed tag for identification. The hexagonal bundles are then wrapped in HDPE sleeves for protection and loaded on to containers and is cleared for dispatch.

All the shipments are accompanied by a Work Test Certificate. Further inspections by third party such as Lloyds, Bureau Veritas or customer's own inspection can be arranged if required and agreed at the time of purchase order by the customer.