The quality of an industrial plastic part is not measured solely by its dimensional compliance at the time of delivery. It is defined by the ability to maintain that compliance from one batch to the next, over months or even years of production. It is this consistency in product quality that defines the quality of a plastics subcontractor.
At Plastisart, our quality approach is based on a simple principle: quality is built in, not inspected afterwards. It is integrated into every stage of the production process, from material selection through to final packaging. All these stages are documented so as to be traceable throughout the entire life of a project.
Plastisart's quality approach
Design quality
Our design office integrates quality requirements from the design phase of parts and tooling onwards. Design for Manufacturing allows sources of non-conformity to be anticipated before the first part is ever produced. Well-designed tooling means a compliant series from the outset.
First article validation
Before any series launch, a first part or a first validation batch is produced and fully inspected against the manufacturing file. This First Article Inspection validates the consistency between the design, the tooling and the part produced. It serves as the quality reference for all subsequent production.
In-process inspection
Operators carry out regular checks during production to detect any dimensional or appearance drift before it affects the entire batch. Production parameters are recorded to maintain process stability.
Final inspection before delivery
Every batch undergoes a final inspection before packaging: dimensional inspection of critical dimensions, visual inspection against the criteria defined in the specifications, and verification of packaging and labelling.
Traceability and documentation
Traceability is a central element of our quality approach. Every production run is documented to allow complete information traceback, from the delivered part to the raw material used.
The information systematically tracked includes: the reference and certificate of the raw material batch used, the key production parameters according to the process, the results of inspections carried out at each stage, and the production and delivery dates.
This traceability is available on request as a complete batch file, tailored to the requirements of our most regulated clients.
The documentation provided with our deliveries
All thermoplastics we use comply with REACH and RoHS standards.
Depending on the requirements of the project and the sector, we provide the following documents: a referenced delivery note with batch identification, a certificate of conformity confirming that parts are produced in accordance with the manufacturing file, material certificates 2.1 or 3.1 on request, and dimensional inspection reports on critical dimensions.
For applications subject to specific regulatory requirements, we use certified grades and provide the corresponding compliance documents: medical grades certified to USP Class VI for biomedical applications, food-grade materials compliant with EU regulation 10/2011 for food processing applications, and flame-retardant grades certified to UL94 for electrical and electronic applications.
Continuous improvement approach
We strive to continuously improve our quality approach. This is why non-conformities detected in production or reported by our clients undergo root cause analysis and corrective actions. This continuous improvement loop allows us to progressively reduce sources of variability and improve the consistency of our production over time.
We maintain an ongoing dialogue with our clients regarding changes to their quality requirements. When a client revises their acceptance criteria, we update the manufacturing file accordingly and revalidate where necessary.
Availability and response to client audits
We are regularly subject to quality assessments from our clients, particularly in the medical, food processing and defence sectors. These assessments cover our quality organisation, our traceability and the control of our processes. For clients wishing to qualify Plastisart as an approved supplier, we make available all the documentation required by their internal procedures.
