XIV. Heat Treat Specification
Suppliers who provide heat treated product and/or heat treating services must demonstrate compliance to the AIAG specification CQI-9, “Special Process: Heat Treat System Assessment”, second edition. The Heat Treat System Assessment (HTAS) is intended to provide a common approach to a heat treat management system.
All requirements of the HTSA are applicable to all suppliers performing heat treat operations, regardless of type, size, and product including:
- Carburizing
- Carbonitriding
- Carbon restoration or correction
- Neutral hardening (quench and temper)
- Austempering
- Martempering
- Tempering
- Precipitation Hardening – aging
- Nitriding (gas)
- Ferritic Nitrocarburizinig (gas or salt)
- Aluminum heat treating
- Induction heat treating – ferrous
- Annealing, normalizing and stress relieving
- Brazing
- Sintering
Effective July 1, 2008, all suppliers shall conduct self-assessments using the CQI-9 “Special Process: Heat Treat System Assessment”. The self-assessment shall be conducted at PPAP or new model timing and at minimum of annually, unless otherwise specified. Suppliers who provided heat treated parts and/or processes prior to the issuance of this policy will still need to comply with the annual self-assessment requirement. The Company suppliers who receive heat treated components or outsource the heat-treating process must ensure the heat treat facility complies with this requirement.
The supplier shall keep records as evidence of compliance to the requirements identified in the HTSA, as well as all appropriate action plans to address any unsatisfactory ratings. These records shall be readily available for review upon request.
