What is the Material Test Report

(MTR)/ Mill Test Report?

Material test report or Mill test report certifies that the chemical analysis and mechanical
properties are in conformance with the specified specification.
An MTR certifies a material’s compliance with the standard specification such as ASME
Section II Part A and B or ASTM. The MTR is supplied from the material manufacturer
such as plate manufacturer, casting manufacturer, forging manufacturer, etc.
Heat Number
The MTR document contains heat number which is also known as “melt number” and is
similar to lot or batch number. When the steel plate is in its molten condition, a sample
is drawn out from the batch for analysis of its chemical composition. This plate is given
a particular identification number known as heat number.
The heat number provides a way to trace back the steel plates to its production units
and process conditions. During the inspection of the material the heat number
mentioned on the MTR must match with one on engraved/printed on the plate.
Several plates might have identical heat number, and this is normal since that indicates
both plates made from the same batch of melted material.
Contents of Material Test Report
An MTR certificate contains following information in general.
• Basic information such as name of the material manufacturer, material size,
weight, material identification and grade i.e. SA 516 Gr. 70, ASTM A106 Gr 60
• Material Heat Number
• Chemical composition analysis test result
• Mechanical test result
How to review an MTR?
Assume you have assigned for inspection of pressure vessel plate material at the
pressure vessel manufacture shop. The vessel manufacturer provides you with MTR for
purchased plate material from his supplier.
You look at the pressure vessel drawing and find out the vessel plate should be SA240
TP 316 L (Low Carbon Stainless Steel).
Following MTR provided to you. This is just for example; the MTR header has been
removed.
Step 1
You will walk on the shop floor and make a visual inspection. You should see the
stenciled heat number on the plate surface which in this MTR is “N1J0”. With this
checking, you make sure your MTR is the one generated for this plate. (Based on the
project requirement, you might also run a visual inspection on plate edges, plate surface
and also make dimensional inspection especially thickness measurement)
Step 2
You will open the ASME Section II Part A and find SA 240 TP 316 L material
specification. Locate the chemical composition table and compare the percentage
values in the MTR with the acceptance range in the table e.g. Carbon (C), Chromium
(Cr), Cupper(Cu), Manganese (Mn), Molybdenum(Mo), Nitrogen (N), Nickel(Ni),
phosphor(P), Sulphur(S) and silicon(Si).
Step 3
Locate the mechanical property table in the same specification. It generally comes after
chemical composition table. Similarly, compare the measured value in the MTR with the
acceptance range in the mechanical properties table.
For this example, you need to check yield strength, tensile strength, elongation,
reduction in area and hardness
If the result of all verification on all these 3 steps were satisfactory, then the result of
MTR review will be satisfactory. The material test report review in most of ITP’s is the
“Review” point.
MTR based on EN 10204 Standard
When you review the project specification even the inspection and test plan
occasionally you might see that project requires the material test report being provided
either in conformance with EN 10204 3.1 or EN 10204 3.2
EN 10204 3.1
The material certificate is provided and certified by the material manufacturer. So when
you review the MTR with this requirement, you only see the material manufacturer
stamp/signature
EN 10204 3.2
Besides, material manufacturer an independent inspection agency also shall
authenticate the MTR. You typically need to see two stamps and signatures, one from
the material manufacturer and the second one from inspection agency.
The inspection agencies usually assign an inspector to witness the chemical
composition analysis test and mechanical testing. The third party inspector verifies test
result with acceptance criteria and also checks heat numbers and test specimens. If all
items met the requirements, the inspector would sign off the MTR.

Industrial Pre-shipment Inspection

The Industrial Pre-Shipment inspection (PSI) article provides you with information about
PSI services which are provided by third party inspection agencies.
Pre-shipment Inspection has two major applications as below:
First Application
The first application is used by buyers and sellers and when the commodities funds are
transferred through letter of credits (LC), in which buyers and sellers banks are
involved.
Then the commodities will be inspected before shipment by the independent third party
inspection companies to verify quality, quantity, packing, marking and loading.
Several documents must be delivered to the seller's bank for receiving the purchase
value, such as the bill of lading, certificate of origin, packing list and inspection
certificate.
So the inspection certificate is a document that must be issued by Third Party
Inspection Company and delivered to the seller. The seller will refer to its bank to
receive the funds by delivering the Inspection certificate and other related documents.
The placing of mandatory inspection requirements in the LC, depend on the buyer's and
seller's decision and might be ignored by mutual agreement.
The second application is used by the government to safeguard national financial
interests such as the prevention of capital flight through over invoicing and customs duty
evasion.
The core service in the second application is goods price verification. The PSI
companies have their own updated database for goods prices, and the prices which are
declared by importers will be compared with the values in their database and will be
reported to the governmental authorities, e.g. custom authorities or banks.
In this case, the government's main aim is to prevent slippage of customs revenue as a
result of undervaluation or deliberate misclassification by traders of goods to be
imported under low-duty headings.
Review the following example to completely comprehend the pre-shipment inspection
applications:
An oil company wants to order for design, manufacturing, procurement and installation
of a gas turbine in its facility. The oil company makes a contract with the engineering
company for design, supplying and installation of the gas turbine. The oil company
opens a letter of credit with its bank for the engineering company.
Subsequently, the engineering company makes contract with the gas turbine
manufacturer and requests from the bank for the "transfer LC."
So in this LC:
The applicant and consignee will be the Oil Company, the first beneficiary will be the
engineering company, and the second beneficiary will be the gas turbine manufacturer.
The clause number 46.A in all LC’s designated for the listing of necessary documents
for any fund transfer between buyers and sellers. So for the above purchase, one item
in clause 46.A will be:
“ The Original Inspection Certificate issued not prior B/L (Bill of Lading) date by M/S
“name of third party inspection company” or its authorized agents on M/S “name of third
party inspection company agents” letter heads certifying that:
“The quality, quantity and the packing of the goods loaded/delivered are strictly
complying with specifications of the goods indicated in the related proforma invoice, the
terms of LC and any amendments made thereto as presented to M/S “name of third
party inspection company” by the buyer”
Please note in clause 46.A that there are lots of documents which must be delivered to
the bank for payment, and the inspection certificate is one of them.
So the above wording in “bold” must be exactly stated in the inspection certificate. Even
if there is a syntax error, it should be stated in same form.
Any change from the above wording will not be accepted by the bank and the funds will
not be paid.
For example, if the equipment manufacturer did not notify the inspection company for
the loading inspection and the commodity loaded without the witness of the preshipment
inspection company, then what will happen?
The inspection company will issue an inspection certificate, but will remove the word
“loading” from the above statement. But the consequences are that when the seller
takes this certificate to the bank for receiving the payment, the bank will announce a
discrepancy and will not pay to the seller.
The scope of inspection must be agreed upon between the Oil Company, engineering
company and gas turbine manufacturer. The scope is normally summarized in the
Inspection and Test Plan document.
For more details, review the Inspection and Test Plan article.
The ITP details the quality part of the inspection scope. The inspection company will
make an inspection in each stage of manufacturing and will issue an Inspection Visit
Report (IVR).
The engineering company must issue and submit the packing and marking procedure to
the manufacturer or ask for a draft of the packing and marking procedure from
manufacturer for approval.
In both cases, the inspection company must make an inspection based on the approved
packing and marking procedures.
When the inspection company inspected the quality of the gas turbine, controlled the
quantity and made an inspection on the packing and marking, then they will issue the
inspection release note for shipment.
Then the gas turbine manufacturer can organize with the shipping company for
shipment of the gas turbine. The inspection company must be notified for loading
inspection.
The inspection company will witness the loading and will issue an Inspection visit report
for loading.
Then the inspection company will issue the inspection certificate when they have
received following documents from gas turbine manufacturer:
• Bill of Lading
• Certificate of Origin
• Packing List
The inspection company already received the Letter of Credit, Proforma Invoice and
Purchase Order, so based on all of the collected documents; it will issue the pre-
shipment inspection certificate and will deliver to the gas turbine manufacturer.
Then, the gas turbine manufacturer, with the inspection certificate and other required
documents, will refer to its bank and receive the payment.
As stated in the opening of this article, sometimes the governments might use some
services from pre-shiment inspection companies.
Second Application
In the above gas turbine example, it might be necessary that the gas turbine
manufacturer's proforma invoice to be approved by the pre-shipment inspection
company (before issuing the purchase order by the engineering company) and make
sure the price is not more than the value which is on the market.
Some government authorities try to avoid capital flight through this mechanism so
safeguard national financial interest.
Pre-shipment inspection companies also are used to avoid customs duty evasion.
In the above example, the engineering company or gas turbine manufacturer's local
agent in the destination country is the importer and must submit a customs declaration
document to clear the gas turbine from customs.
So a pre-shipment inspection company might be hired to make a price verification and
determine the gas turbine custom duty.

Pre-shipment Inspection Related Articles:

Pre-shipment Inspection Services - This article provides you supplementary information
about this content.
Commodity Inspection - This article provides you information about commodity
inspection. The scope of work for commodity inspection is very similar to the pre-
shipment inspection.
Preshipment inspection must be done before shipment, but in commodity inspection,
the buyer and seller might agree to inspect the commodity in the destination country.
When commodity inspection is not accompanied by vendor inspection, then precise
attention must be paid to the document review. These documents are: quality control
records, test reports, test procedures, material certificates, etc.
Goods Inspection - Goods inspection and commodity inspection have the same
meaning and same definition and refer to the inspection of specific goods that a buyer
purchases from a seller.
Finished Goods Inspection - The scope of work for finished goods inspection is very
similar to the goods and commodity inspection. But shop or vendor inspections are
never included in this scope of work.
Inspection of Packing - This article provides you information about inspection of
packing, which is done in industrial goods before shipment and it is in the scope of the
pre-shipment inspection.
Seaworthy Packing Procedure - This article provides you information about seaworthy
packing procedure. The term seaworthy packaging is intended to indicate that the
packaging must additionally strengthen and withstand the conditions of maritime
transport and resist more severe stresses.
BS STD Packing Procedure - This article provides you information about BS STD
Packing Procedure. The BS 1133-8:2011 Packaging code, Guidance on wooden boxes,
cases and crates is most well-known and describes the comprehensive construction
standards for boxes, cases and crates, which widely are used for packaging and
shipment of industrial goods.
Quality Control in Packaging - This article provides you information about quality control
in the packaging process of industrial goods before shipment. The quality control in
packing process is the responsibility of the equipment and material manufacturer.
Container Shipping Seals -This article provides you basic information about container
shipping seals. The objective in using these seals is to minimize the risk of unauthorized
access into the container, which reduces the risk of cargo pilferage and the introduction
of contraband.
Establishment Inspection Report - This article provides you information about the
establishment inspection report.
When the third party or second party inspector carried out the inspection, then he/she
must provide an inspection visit report to its customer. The inspection visit report must
have some characteristics, which are explained here.
Certificate of Inspection - This article provides you information about the Certificate of
Inspection (COI).
The third party inspection service provider company must issue an inspection certificate
after finding satisfactory results during the inspection and when they have received the
shipping documents from the seller.
This certificate has more commercial value than technical value and is a very important
document in commercial transactions. This article explains the detailed content of the
certificate.
Document Review is very important item in pre-shipment inspection assignment
specifically when this inspection is not accompanied by vendor inspection.
In other word the purchaser order to the third party inspection agency is for doing pre-
shipment inspection and there is no inspection during manufacturing process. In this
case TPI inspector must pay more attention to control the quality control records.

As minimum the TPI inspector must check following documents for mechanical
equipment Pre-Shipment Inspection assignment:
• Manufacturers Data Reports
• Material Certificates
• Dimensional Inspection Records
• Welding and NDE Maps
• WPS and PQR
• Welders Qualification Records
• NDE Reports
• Post Weld Heat Treatment Records
• Hydro-static Test reports
• Mechanical Running Test Reports (Rotary Equipment)
• Performance Test Reports (Rotary Equipment)
• NPSH Reports (for Pumps)
• Strip Down Test reports
When specified by purchase order, the TPI inspector must sign and stamp the above
documents by special "Document Reviewed" stamp.
Industrial Quality Control
The Industrial Quality Control article provides you with information about vendors and
construction contractors quality control systems, manuals, plans, forms and their basic
requirements.
Definition of Quality Control:
The quality control refers to all activities that are done by manufacturers and
construction contractors to meet the requirement of specific codes and standards. The
quality control personnel are direct employees of the manufacturers and construction
contractors and using the word inspector for a manufacturer or construction contractor
employee is not correct.
The inspector is the person assigned by the buyer who attends the manufacturer's shop
for specific orders or purchases to witness some of the tests and examinations.
In the same way, the inspector is the person assigned by the plant owner to inspect and
witness the required tests at construction site.
The quality control system for vendors covers all activities such as material control,
design control, fabrication, examination, control of packing and marking, control of
loading and dispatch to the construction site.
Similarly, quality control systems for construction contractors on-site covers all activities
such as incoming material control, quality control in different construction steps,
examinations and testing, maintaining quality records, etc.
Quality Control Manual:
The manufacturer needs to implement a quality control system and describe the system
through their quality control manual. This manual needs to cover authority and
responsibility, organization, design calculation and drawing, material control,
examination and inspection program, correction of non-conformities, manufacturing,
codes and standards required examinations and tests, calibration of measuring Tools,
Record Retention and sample forms. For more details review the Vendor Quality
Control Manual article
The quality control manual for each equipment or material manufacture provides its
quality control description, an overview of the quality control concepts and the quality
control steps in their production shop.
Quality Control Plan
The vendor or manufacturer's quality control manual is different from the quality control
plan. The manual refers to the manufacturer's quality control system and is a
comprehensive document that addresses everything regarding quality.
But the quality control plan refers to a specific purchase order and identifies all
inspections and test points that need to be covered in the manufacturing process of the
equipment or material. For more details, review the Quality Control Plan article.
Quality Control Manual for Contractors
The quality control manual for contractors refers to the quality control systems of
construction contractors. This manual is not referring to specific projects and must
identify responsibilities and authorities, incoming material control, the examination and
inspection program, correction of non-conformities, construction, codes and standards
required examinations and Tests, calibration of measuring tools, record retention and
sample forms. For more details, review the Quality Control Manual for Contractors
article.
Construction Contractor Quality Control Plan
The construction contractor quality control plan refers to the all quality control activities
that are done in industrial plant construction, and covers all fields such as civil,
mechanical, electrical and instrumentation. This plan normally is in a table form, and
each activity needs its own quality control forms. For more information, review the
Construction Contractor Quality Control Planarticle.
Quality Control Forms
The quality control forms are supporting forms for the quality control plan. Each activity
in the quality control plan needs a specific form, which has to be completed and signed
by the quality control personal and third party inspector. For more details, review the
Quality Control Forms article.
Corrective Action Plan Template article provides you with a example corrective action
procedure for manufacturing and construction activities in the industrial plants.
Industrial Quality Control - Inspection and Quality Control Services
Inspection and quality control services are a completely different subject. As explained
above, quality control refers to the vendors, construction contractors, engineering
companies, and inspection refers to the third party inspection agencies or end-user's
own inspector.
When the end-user is using its own inspector, it would be a second party inspector.
Third party inspection companies sometimes provide quality control services to
engineering companies.
But please note: sometimes the end-user introduces the short list of third party
inspection companies and mandates the engineering companies to make an agreement
with one of them. In this case, the Inspection Company would play the role of a third
party inspection agency, because the end-user does not designate another inspection
company.
Industrial Quality Control - Quality Control Consulting Company
Sometimes vendors, construction contractors and engineering companies use the
services from quality control consulting companies, but they do the quality control
activities directly by themselves. They normally get these services from third party
inspection agencies.
Industrial Quality Control - Quality Control for Manufacturing
Quality control for manufacturing refers to all activities that are done by vendors based
on an approved inspection and test plan. When the vendors receive the customer
inspection and test plan, then they would prepare and submit their quality control plan,
which is necessary to meet the inspection and test plan.
Then the vendor would use their specific forms to record all quality control activities.
Finally, these records would be endorsed by a third party inspector and would be part of
a final book.
Industrial Quality Control - Quality Control Document
The list of quality control document is different from one type of equipment to other. The
following items are applied for mechanical equipment generally:
Quality Control Plan, Inspection and test plan, Data Sheets, Approved Drawings,
Strength calculation sheets, Material Test Reports, Welding Specification Procedures
(WPS), Procedure Qualification Records (PQR), Welding Maps, Welders Qualifications
Reports, NDE procedures and records, NDE Personnel qualifications Reports, Heat
treatment procedures and records, Calibration Certificates for Test Equipment,
Hydrostatic Testing Procedure and Water Quality Document, Special Testing
Procedures and records, Quality Control Records such as fit-up, welding, dimension
inspection, Preparation and Painting Procedure and records, Pressure Vessel
Preservation, Packing and Shipping Procedures and records
To realize the task of the industrial quality control system for each equipment type,
review following articles:
There are draft inspection and test plans in each page, you can download the draft
sheet and study the industrial quality control task for each type of equipment.
The first column shows the responsibility of the manufacturer's quality control
department.