Liquidity of Ukrainian-made products and particularly their competitiveness on the world market are the main conditions for the economic stability of Ukraine. At present, products of metallurgical mills contribute the most to the Ukrainian exports and acc
QUALITY IS THE PASSWORD TO FOREIGN MARKETS
Liquidity of Ukrainian-made products and particularly their competitiveness on the world market are the main conditions for the economic stability of Ukraine. At present, products of metallurgical mills contribute the most to the Ukrainian exports and account for some 45% of the total export revenues, though only a half of the available productive capacities is utilized. After collapse of the USSR, high potential of Ukrainian ironmaking and steelmaking ran out of demand due to the following two main reasons: oversupply on the domestic market and low competitiveness on the world market. Taking into consideration that Ukraine exports 80% of the locally-made rolled metal, the matter of provision and support of competitiveness with regard to these products gains paramount importance for the whole Ukraine’s economy.
Let’s recall that, in accordance with the Directive of the EEC Council “On new approach to technical harmonization and standards” dated May 1985 (85/136/EEC), products’ compliance with the main safety requirements (in particular, with quality guarantee as an integral part) is defined as the main condition for granting access to the market.
Quality and market value are the fundamental criteria of products’ competitive ability. Owing to the surge in prices for fuel and power and a number of other economic factors, prices for domestic metal products are swiftly approaching the global ones. Urgent measures aimed at enhancement of products’ quality up to the world standards would be the only possible way to retain export opportunities in this field. More precisely, it is necessary to manufacture products meeting the world standards, including by the means of nondestructive testing (NDT) with automatic devices. In this case, quality of the product should be verified with a certificate issued upon objective testing of a number of quality indicators (provided for in the standard technical documentation).
In the process of products’ certification, an extremely important stage is application of the NDT quality control using flaw detectors, which serve as technical devices for certification works. Even in case of imperfect metalmaking technologies and in case of lack of the necessary testing devices and instruments, the NDT always enables selecting and guaranteeing the quality of products complying with the international requirements. However, quality control over the whole scope of manufactured products can be ensured only by means of automatic NDT devices.
Traditionally, the former Soviet standard technical metal-related documentation virtually contained no requirements for the NDT testing of metal products (except for occasional standards on oil country tubular goods, 632-30, 633-80, and some others). This, of course, did not encourage metallurgical mills to introduce the NDT devices into their metal-making lines to perform thorough checks of metal products’ quality. Meanwhile, virtually all the standards on metal products manufactured in the developed economies contain requirements for objective NDT with simultaneous issue and printing of applicable certificates.
Thus, competitiveness of exportable Ukrainian products suffers from inconsistencies among domestic technical standards and foreign standards, which leave not a chance to identify the NDT results in order to issue export certificates.
A while ago, the NDT experts from a number CIS countries took joint steps to settle the existing problems. For instance, the 9th session of the Temporary Scientific-Technical Commission on Metrology, Standardization, and Certification approved the multilateral Program of NDT activities (minutes of the meeting No.9-96 on April 11-12, 1996). Also, the session has decided to set up a Temporary NDT Work Group to coordinate activities within framework of the mentioned program.
Experts coming from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Moldova, and Uzbekistan have taken part in three meetings of the Temporary NDT Work Group to discuss the most urgent problems. In particular, to optimize technical requirements for acoustic NDT means and develop standards for main parameters and technical performance of ultrasonic devices, it has been decided to take advantage of the draft European standard pr EN 12668-1.2.3 "Nondestructive testing. Characteristics and checkup of ultrasonic testing equipment" generated by the SEN/TS 138 technical committee. At present, activities of the Temporary Work Group have been suspended due to a number of organizational difficulties encountered. Therefore, there is an urgent need in Ukrainian specialists and resources to further advance these topical works.
However, lack of the NDT system, which should back efficiency and reliability of testing procedures, together with absence of a development doctrine and lack of all the necessary laws for introduction of NDT, is the main impediment on this internationally-accepted way.
Such an NDT system should rest on a complex approach to the control process with clear relations to and compliance with modern requirements of its main components, such as follows personnel performing the NDT; NDT labs (divisions); NDT standards and reference documents; NDT devices and equipment.
As regards training, assessment, and certification of staff, Ukraine has already taken certain steps, which have brought in particular positive results. First of all, GosNadzorOkhranTruda system has established a Department for Personnel Certification to secure control over highly dangerous objects. Similar bodies are being established in other industries, notably in mining and metalmaking. Nowadays, Ukraine already has six centers that assess NDT experts for compliance with three international levels. There are several higher educational institutions for training and advanced training of experts. Ukraine also maintains a register of experts certified for control over highly dangerous objects.
The State Committee for Standards of Ukraine has also provided general legal basis reconciled with foreign requirements for assessment of NDT staff and has introduced a number of state technical standards (the last two have been phased in since January 1, 2000) based on a series of European standards EN 45000 and EN 473. Nonetheless, there is still no single procedure of personnel’s assessment in Ukraine. This procedure should have been elaborated and approved by the Ukrainian Association of Nondestructive Testing and Technical Diagnostics. Now, it is up to this association to make urgent practical efforts towards official international recognition of accreditation of Ukrainian experts, as well as towards a procedure of mutual acknowledgement of NDT experts’ accreditation and certification results among different Ukrainian departments for personnel certification.
Accreditation of NDT laboratories (divisions) is regulated by the law of Ukraine "On metrology and metrological activities", order No.886 of the State Committee for Standards of Ukraine dated November 05, 1998, by orders of central executive authorities ruling establishment of their own metrological services, by the aforementioned state technical standards based on EN 45000, and by other acts. However, there is still much to be done to properly arrange relations among different institutions, which have not come to agreement on a number of clauses of the mentioned documents. As a result of disagreements, the present practices frequently contradict the effective legislation.
Ukrainian NDT standards are in a very lamentable situation now. Technical acts and reference documents, which were generated in the USSR some 15-20 or even more years ago, are hopelessly out-of-date in many respects. For example, deterioration has practically left nothing from the control equipment mentioned in these outdated documents. The old NDT standards do not comply with the new performance and parameters of modern products. While attention is indeed paid to elaboration of standards related to control over dangerous objects (in fact, the Russian Federation has done much more than Ukraine in this field), the assessed methods of product control, in particular control of metal products, are next to absent. All this is taking place regardless the fact that the law “On amendments to Ukraine’s code on torts as regards responsibility for violations in the field of metrological activity” has provided for penalties for measurements conducted using unattested procedures or performed by unaccredited labs. It is natural that such an acute contradiction between legal requirements and actual opportunities of producers requires urgent settlement.
The situation with NDT devices and equipment is about as pathetic, especially at metallurgical mills, mainly owing to lack of money assets and shortsightedness of managers, who fail to ensure the basics of competitiveness and export liquidity of metal products in the short run. Though, the issue of equipping enterprises with NDT devices to test the quality of metal products (including automatic devices, which execute thorough control over rolled metal during the rolling stage) is extensive enough and requires separate consideration. It should be mentioned that at present Ukrainian experts, including JSC NIIAchermet (the ex-lead establishment for NDT of metal products within the Ministry for Ferrous Metallurgy of the USSR), have gained their own experience and established business contacts with foreign companies, getting an opportunity to swiftly assemble and test the necessary NDT means at enterprises. It is possible to phase in both domestic and foreign units, as well as combined versions optimized with regard to price and consumer properties.
Considering the exceptional importance and urgency of NDT development in the metallurgical industry as soon as possible, Metallurgprom assn pays particular heed to this matter. In the recent half a year two events have been held under the aegis of the Association, namely the conference of top management with metal scrap collection centers (the conference also hosted an exhibition of NDT equipment) in October 1999 and February 2000, and the meeting of Pridneprovsk branch office of the Ukrainian Association of Nondestructive Testing and Technical Diagnostics to get ready for the 3rd All-Ukrainian conference on NDT and technical diagnostics scheduled for May 2000.
Of course, the authors of this article realize that such a brief review of the situation and main development trends of metallurgical NDT in Ukraine can not provide a complete notion of complexity and seriousness of this problem. However, it allows making the main doubtless conclusion that retention and expansion of output of exportable metal products is possible only if these products enjoy the necessary export liquidity. This liquidity fully depends on requirements of potential clients, who call for NDT quality control. The whole complex of control testing and verification works should comply with the procedures accepted in the world.