6. Conclusion

Increasingly stringent customer requirements, current standards and heightened competition are forcing foundries to implement a global quality policy. This must encompass all sectors of foundry activity. This quality approach must be reflected in the industrial process through the various controls to be carried out. The associated inspection methodology must be transcribed into an inspection program integrated into the part specifications, so that all inspection stages are validated by the customer and the foundry, as is the management of any non-conformities.

These controls, while necessary, must also strike a balance for each foundry. They must be sufficiently numerous, to avoid any quality incidents with customers, but not too systematic, so as not to interfere with industrial production. Great care must therefore be taken in defining control programs, with the...