Almost every UK material converter relies heavily on sources of raw materials. That reliance is often placed with companies in countries such as China and India as the majority of these materials are no longer manufactured within the UK or the EU.

Many people believe that qualification to a standard such as ISO9000 or ISO/TS16949, or membership of a trade association or manufacturers guild – will guarantee the quality of that product.

Unfortunately – unless each batch of material is independently tested, these assurances may not be good enough – especially where unscrupulous companies are looking to make a ‘fast buck’ as many overseas purchases are paid for well before the material arrives in your warehouse.

So – the term we all know is ‘buyer beware’ – something that many UK companies have undoubtedly learnt the hard way.

We’ll readily admit that we were duped by a large TS approved manufacturer several years ago – they carried all the right qualifications (and still do!) – but still supplied several tonnes of a specific rubber – which they qualified with there own material certifications – only for us to find 2 years into the project that EVERY roll they had supplied contained ZERO % of the compound it was meant to contain !

The ramifications for this exceeded £6million in claims with the equipment manufacturer – luckily we were insured, but for a company with a little less ‘savvy’ it would certainly have been the end. The manufacturer by the way, being overseas, accepted no liability in the case even though the majority of the equipment facing replacement was in their own country!

From that day, our policies and procedures were changed, and we no longer take on suppliers we have not personally vetted. While this does mean we have to jump onto planes and live out of suitcases for days and weeks on end sometimes, that is a small price to pay against what some people see as a calculated risk – but it’s a risk we no longer take.

NB – No legal restraints are being broken here as no companies or industry sectors have been named.