Parts traceability

Parts traceability is written into every quality manual and interpreted differently in every shop. This category is about what it means once a serialised part is on your bench. We cover the chain a part has to carry: incoming certification and where it is filed, serial and batch history through disassembly and build-up, how sub-components are recorded against the assembly they went into, what counts as acceptable evidence of origin, and how to handle parts that arrive with paperwork you cannot verify. Parts traceability also has a harder question behind it — what to do when the chain breaks, from quarantine and investigation to the point at which a part is scrapped rather than rescued. Parts traceability only pays off when it can be produced quickly, so we write about exporting a complete audit trail as much as about capturing one — from experience running a wheel and brake shop.