Title: Certificates of Conformance
Course: PW-Course-Import-Test > Section: Module 3: Acceptance Criteria

Module 3

In this section you will learn about Certificates of Conformance (CofC) or Certificates of Analysis (CofA) that are sent by a supplier with the product to the customer. As a quality inspector you are expected to review these to approve or reject the product.

A Certificate of Conformance (CofC) or a Certificate of Analysis (CofA) is a document that is sent by the supplier to the customer along with the products. The contents of these certificates are agreed upon by the customer and supplier prior to shipment or product. Examples of two certificates are shown below.

Take, for example, the certificate of conformance from the Stanlock Group. This certificate is for 9/16” hex nuts that they manufacture and send to their customer. Half way through this certificate is a paragraph that starts with “We certify that these parts …….”. After this paragraph they have a list of specifications listed below. This the list of specifications that the the supplier certifies too and have been agreed upon by the customer. In this particular certificate the supplier states that they certify that the 9/16” hex nuts meet all the requirements of the drawing, they are made of a certain material and size, and the material conforms to an ASTM standard. There can be additional specifications like heat treatment, finishing and plating if required by the customer.

Advantages of Certificate of Conformance and Analysis

Some of the advantages that a certificate of conformance analysis can provide are as follows:

1. Saves time since inspection does not be performed by the customer
2. Builds a level of trust between the supplier and customer
3. Inspection is performed by the supplier who have the expertise of the process and inspection
4. If expensive equipment is required for testing, it saves the customer money
5. Quality inspection resources can focus elsewhere in the process

Disadvantages of Certificate of Conformance and Analysis

1. Parts may cost more since the supplier is performing the inspections
2. Any non conformance in the parts will not be detected till they are ready to use on the manufacturing floor