One batch has to behave like the last one
A powder that is inside specification but different from the last delivery is still a problem. Consistency is the product.
An electrode coating formulation, a flux recipe or a press schedule is built around a particular chemistry and a particular size distribution. Change either one quietly and the consequence does not appear at goods‑inward — it appears as arc instability, as porosity, as a pressed part that will not hold green strength, or as hydrogen cracking found weeks after the job shipped.
By then the powder is inside somebody else's product. That is the reason a lot is tested before it leaves us rather than after it arrives, and the reason every bag can be traced back to the raw material it came from.
We have been doing this since 1983, and for the last thirty years primarily for welding consumable manufacturers — customers whose own process is unforgiving of variation.
Certified, and audited by someone else
A quality policy a company writes about itself is worth very little. Ours is externally certified and re‑audited on a schedule we do not control.
Our quality management system is certified to ISO 9001:2015 by Royal Impact Certification Ltd. (RICL). Accredited by the United Accreditation Foundation (UAF), a member of the International Accreditation Forum Multilateral Recognition Arrangement.
It is the standard that governs how we control incoming material, production, inspection, non‑conforming product and customer complaints — in other words, why one batch behaves like the last one. The scope on the certificate is Manufacturing, Supply and Export of Ferro Alloys and Metal Powders, so it covers the powders themselves rather than an office process alongside them.
The certificate details are published in full — number, certification body code, scope, cycle and expiry — so a buyer can file us against their approved supplier record without asking anyone. A copy of the certificate itself comes on request, and it is also independently verifiable with the issuing body.
ISO 9001:2015
Quality management systems
| Certificate | 24RN04CZ |
|---|---|
| Issued by | Royal Impact Certification Ltd. (RICL) |
| Initial certification | 12/04/2024 |
| Valid to | 11/04/2027 |
Environmental (ISO 14001:2015) and occupational health and safety (ISO 45001:2018) management systems are certified separately, by the same body and to the same dates.
BIS approved manufacturer of Atomized Ferrosilicon Powder
Approved by the Bureau of Indian Standards. Licence details on request
Where a lot gets checked
Five points, in order. The thread running through all of them is lot identity — established at goods‑inward and carried to the bag.
- IncomingEvery consignment of raw material is identified and checked against its supplier documentation before it is taken into stock. The lot identity is recorded at that point and carried through everything that follows.
- SegregationMaterial is held and processed by lot. That is what makes the rest of this possible — without it there is no honest answer to “which material went into this bag”.
- In processMelting, atomization, grinding, screening and blending are each controlled operations with their own records. Samples are drawn during processing, not only at the end, so a drift is caught while there is still something to be done about it.
- ReleaseA sample is drawn from the finished lot and tested for chemistry and for size distribution. The lot is not released for dispatch until both results sit inside the specification agreed on the order.
- Packing & dispatchThe lot number goes on the packaging, and the same number appears on the test certificate that travels with the consignment. Bag and paperwork match.
Traceability, not paperwork
Lot numbering is only worth having if it survives the whole route. Material arrives identified, is kept identified through grinding and screening, and the number that ends up printed on the bag is the number the test result was recorded against.
That is what lets us answer a question about a delivery made months ago without guessing — and it is what an auditor from your side will follow when they visit.
- Raw material identified and checked before it enters stock
- Processing and testing recorded against the lot
- Lot number on the packaging and on the certificate
- Records retained and available to a customer audit
What we test, and against what
Chemical analysis and physical testing are both done in our own laboratory at Khushkhera, on a sample drawn from the lot being shipped — not on a supplier's certificate, and not on the batch before it.
Wet chemical analysis
Complete gravimetric and volumetric assay. The reference method — slower than an instrument and harder to argue with, which is why it stays the basis of the certificate rather than a backup to it.
XRF analysis
Rapid elemental analysis across the range. Used alongside the wet chemistry rather than instead of it, so a result has been arrived at two independent ways before it goes on a certificate.
Sieve shaker and test sieves
Particle size distribution against the ASTM E11 / ISO 3310-1 aperture series — the same series the mesh figures on our product pages refer to.
Hall flowmeter funnel
Apparent density and flow rate, the two properties that decide how a powder behaves in a hopper, a feed shoe or a blender.
Graduated tube
Specific gravity — the true density of the material, as distinct from how densely it happens to pack.
What each property tells you
| Property | Why it matters to you | Method / reference standard |
|---|---|---|
| Chemical composition | The alloying elements and the residuals. A drift here changes how the consumable behaves in the arc, not how it looks in the bag. | Complete wet chemical analysis, cross-checked by XRF |
| Particle size distribution | Decides how the powder packs, flows and blends. The single property most often behind a coating or a press that has started misbehaving. | Sieve shaker with test sieves to ASTM E11 / ISO 3310-1 |
| Apparent density | How much powder occupies a given volume, loose. Set by the grade — it is the second half of an iron powder grade name. | ASTM B212 / ISO 3923-1 (Hall funnel) |
| Flow rate | How readily the powder moves through a hopper or a feed shoe. Matters most in powder metallurgy and automated dosing. | ASTM B213 / ISO 4490 (Hall flowmeter) |
| Specific gravity | The density of the material itself, independent of how loosely it packs. A cross-check on identity, and what converts a weight into a volume when you are filling a hopper or costing a coating. | Graduated tube, in-house |
| Moisture | Moisture in a welding consumable becomes hydrogen in the weld metal. This is the one that causes cracking weeks after the job left. | Loss on drying, gravimetric |
Scroll the table sideways to see every column
The standards named above are the published methods that define each property. Our procedures follow them. Where your specification calls for a different method, or for a property not listed here, we test to yours — tell us at the enquiry stage rather than at the first delivery.
Not every test applies to every product. Apparent density and flow rate are powder properties and are reported where they are relevant; a mineral powder for an electrode coating is controlled on chemistry, size and moisture.
What arrives alongside the powder
A test certificate for the lot supplied, quoting the lot number that is printed on the packaging, with the results as tested rather than as typical.
- Product, grade and lot number
- Chemical analysis of that lot
- Particle size distribution
- Apparent density, where the product is specified on it
- Quantity and date
Safety data sheets, country‑of‑origin certificates, REACH statements and completed supplier questionnaires are available for any product we supply — ask and they come back with the consignment paperwork.
Start with the lot number
Quote the number from the bag or from the certificate. It traces back to the raw material consignment, the processing record and the analysis, so the conversation starts from evidence instead of from recollection.
Where a retained sample is held for that lot, it is re‑tested against the original result — which separates a material problem from a handling or storage one quickly, and usually in your favour.
Handling of non‑conforming product and of customer complaints is part of the certified system, not an informal arrangement.
The binding specification is yours, not ours. The grade tables on the product pages are indicative of what the market treats as standard. What we are held to is the specification confirmed on your purchase order and stated on the test certificate for the lot — agree it at the enquiry stage and everything above is measured against it.