# EN 10168 Mill certificates
# Introduction
The European Standard EN 10168 (opens new window) defines five information groups to document the results of steel product inspection. For each information group 99 or 100 fields are defined with a very basic naming convention - letter for the section and 2 digit number.
| Information Group | Fields |
|---|---|
| Commercial transactions and parties involved | A01 to A99 |
| Description of products | B01 to B99 |
| Inspection | C00 to C99 |
| Other tests | D01 to D99 |
| Validation | Z01 to Z99 |
In each group some fields are designated for specific information and in all groups are many fields for designation and many for free usage. It should be noted that the standard does not give any recommendations on formats so basically all fields have to be considered as strings from a software development perspective.
# Examples
To illustrate the designation of sections (or fields in our understanding) some examples are given.
| No | Section designation | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| A01 | Manufacturer's works | Name and address of the works where the products were manufactured. |
| B07 | Identification of the product | Indications for the traceability of the products, e.g. cast number, ingot number, rolling number, batch number, test number. |
| C11 | Yield or proof strength | Yield or proof strength recorded in MPa. |
| C93 - C99 | Supplementary information | Available for supplementary information on the chemical composition. |
# Current situation
We have been studying certificates created by many market participants viewing them from the view point of machines - how is data provided for easy and high quality processing. In the following paragraphs we analyze some of the common problems.
# Description of products
To describe a product there are basically four essential fields:
| No | Section designation | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| B01 | Product | Description of the product form (e.g. : heavy plate, section, wide flat, tube, hollow section, etc.) and, where appropriate, surface condition, with reference to the dimensional standard, if applicable. |
| B02 | Steel Designation | ISteel name or number and additional symbols and the product specification for the steel. |
| B03 | Any supplementary requirements | This section is for indicating special requirements, agreed at the time of ordering, not appearing in sections B 01 and B 02. |
| B04 | Product delivery condition | Delivery condition of the products as specified in the applicable product specification. |
The real world is basically a mess illustrated by an overview of approaches we have seen:
- Product EW Steel Pipes S355J2H EN 2019/1/2-2006 written to a combined section for B01 and B02
- Product in B02 split into
- Product Norm
- Material Norm
- Mass Norm
- Steel Grade
- Product Code
- Product TUBE NORMALIZED (+N), EN 10210-1 ATA in B01, steel grade S355J2H/NH in B02 plus a combined section of B04 and B09-B11 with SGM 100x100x12,5x12000 S355J2H 10210 HF
- No section specified with S355J2H N / E355+N / St 52.0 N and DIN 2448: 81 EN 10210-1; 2: 06/ EN 10297-1: 03; DIN 1629: 84 which points to the interesting case a product complies to multiple standards.
- One company put everything into a section described B01-B04
- Steel grade C45+A/1.1730 in B02, the norm EN 10083-2:2006 is provided in section B14 as supplementary information.
- One company splits B02 into B02.1 for steel grade and B02.2 for the norm.
# Identification of the product
To identify a product section B07 is designated by the norm, which describes it with
Indications for the traceability of the products, e.g. cast number, ingot number, rolling number, batch number, test number.
In our simple understanding the section should contain the batch number of the product with which the mill certificate comes, e.g. the production batch number for some tubes. However, tracability must be ensured back to the inital cast number so in practice people developed some workarounds:
- Split of B07 into B07.1, into which goes Heat Number and B07.2, into which goes Specimen number.
- Many occurances of B07, put into context with processing step and its inspection, e.g. a batch number associated with the chemical analysis and a batch number associated with the product. We have seen up to five B07 on one mill certificate.
This is perfectly fine when looking at it from the production process and on paper. However, dealing with more than one B07 in an format to be consumed by software is getting tricky pretty fast.
# Chemical Analysis
Sections C71 to C99 are dedicated to the chemical analysis but leaving open which chemical element goes into which section.
# Conclusion
Based on our observations we came to the following conclusions on EN 10168:
- It is a very open standard enabling users to add any kind of information which is produced in inspecting steel products.
- It defines a somehow precise definition for a very limited set of information.
- The industry established some common practices to provide certain information.
- The target platform for the standard is paper which is fine as paper (and nowadays PDF) are the only means to establish document character.
- There is a need for data in a machine readable format, confirmed by basic tools offered by some companies.
# Objectives for a new format
Based on our observations and conclusions we set ourselves the following objectives for the design of an electronic format:
- The target platform for the format are both machines and humans (in the forma of PDFs).
- The format must be developer friendly enabling easy implementation of both the creation of data in the format and reading it for further processing.
- The format should provide standards and guidelines for many data points.
- The format should flexible to integrate all kinds of information.
- The format should make it easy to render great looking PDF documents following established practices.
The data format in the next chapters tries to perform the balancing act to meet this to some extend contradictory objectives.
# Components
To simplify design and maintance components to be used multiple times in the schema defining the structure of the JSON format are defined.
# Chemical Element
EN 10168 defines that in fields C71 to C92 the share of chemical elements has to be provided, but it does not map chemical elements to fields. The solution is to require both the Symbol and Actual value.
| Attribute | Description | Mandatory | Visible |
|---|---|---|---|
| Symbol | The symbol of the element | Yes | Yes |
| Actual | The measured part of the element in percentage. | Yes | Yes |
| Minimum | The minimum if defined by the product specification, otherwise the element must not provided. | No | Yes |
| Maximum | The maximum as defined by the product specification, otherwise the element must not provided. | No | Yes |
# Company
| Attribute | Description | Mandatory | Visible |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | The name of the company | Yes | Yes |
| Street | The address, a string or an array of up to three strings line | Yes | Yes |
| ZipCode | The ZIP code | Yes | Yes |
| City | The city | Yes | Yes |
| Country | The two-letter ISO country code according to ISO 3166 (opens new window). | Yes | Yes |
| The email address to be used to send certificates to the company. | No | Yes | |
| Identifier | One or more unique company identifiers. Currently, VAT (opens new window), DUNS (opens new window), and Cage Codes (opens new window) are supported. One of VAT or DUNS is required. | Yes | No |
| AdditionalInformation | An array of additional free text information on the company. | No | Yes |
# Key Value Object
EN 10168 implements flexibility by defining plenty of supplementary information fields to add any kind of information. To structure the information for easier processing and rendering a key value object is used. For proper rendering it is extened with additional parameters.
| Attribute | Description | Mandatory | Visible |
|---|---|---|---|
| Key | A key | Yes | Yes |
| Value | A value, type string | Yes | Yes |
| Unit | Unit of value | No | Yes |
| Interpretation | An interpretation of the value, e.g. "compliant" to a requirement given in the key | No | Yes |
| Type | The data type of the value, so that numbers can be rendered according language conventions. | No | No |
# Measurement
| Attribute | Description | Mandatory | Visible |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property | Property measured | Yes | Yes |
| Value | Measured or calculated Value (e.g. mean of individual measurements). | Yes | Yes |
| Unit | Unit of value | No | Yes |
| Minimum | Minimum if defined by the product specification, otherwise the element must not provided. | No | Yes |
| Maximum | Maximum as defined by the product specification, otherwise the element must not provided. | No | Yes |
# Product Description
The field B02 contains all product releated information which can be a lot. To improve readability and simplify processing a structure is introduced as described bewlo.
| Attribute | Description | Mandatory | Visible |
|---|---|---|---|
| ProductNorm | Array of product norm designations. | Yes | Yes |
| MaterialNorm | Array of material norms. | Yes | Yes |
| MassNorm | Array of mass norms. | No | Yes |
| SteelDesignation | Array of steel designations. | No | Yes |
# Product Shape
The field B09 contains the information on the product form and dimensions. To improve readability and simplify processing a structures for products and its dimensions are defined.
| Shape | Dimensions |
|---|---|
| Tube | OuterDiameter, WallThickness |
| Rectangular Tube | Width, Height, WallThinkness |
| QuadraticT ube | SideLength, WallThickness |
| Pipe | SideLength, WallThickness |
| Rectangular Pipe | Width, Height, WallThinkness |
| Coil | Width, WallThinkness |
| Round Bar | Diameter |
| Hexagonal Bar | Diameter |
| Flat Bar | Width, WallThinkness |
| Sheet | Width, WallThinkness |
| Slab | Width, WallThinkness |
| Plate | Width, WallThinkness |
| Scroll | Width, WallThinkness |
| Strip | Width, WallThinkness |
| Other | Free text describing the form |
Remark: the length of a product has to be provided in B10.
# Schema
The JSON schema is structured as illustrated in the diagram.
In the following chapters the defined components are applied to each information group forming a well defined data structure still matching the definitions of EN 10168.
# Commercial transaction
| Field | Description | Mandatory | Visible |
|---|---|---|---|
| A01 | The manufacturer's works which delivers the certificate | Yes | Yes |
| A02 | The type of inspection document, e.g. 'EN 10204 3.1 Certificate' | Yes | Yes |
| A03 | The document number of the certifcate | Yes | Yes |
| A04 | The mark of the manufacturer as base64 png file. | Yes | Yes |
| A05 | The originator of the document, not necessarily equal to A01 | Yes | Yes |
| A06 | The purchaser of the product and receiver of the certificate | No | Yes |
| A06.1 | The purchaser of the product if A06 is not provided. | No | Yes |
| A06.2 | The consignee of the product only if A06.1 is provided. | No | Yes |
| A06.3 | The consignee of the certificate only if A06.1 is provided | No | Yes |
| A07 | Purchase number | Yes | Yes |
| A08 | Manufacturer's work number | No | Yes |
| A09 | The article number used by the purchaser | No | Yes |
| A10 - A96 | Supplementary information | No | Yes |
| A97 | A designated field for the position number in the order | No | Yes |
| A98 | A designated field for the delivery note number | No | Yes |
| A99 | A designated field for the aviso document number | No | Yes |
# Product
| Field | Description | Mandatory | Visible |
|---|---|---|---|
| B01 | The product | Yes | Yes |
| B02 | Product properties | Yes | Yes |
| B03 | Any supplementary requirements | No | Yes |
| B04 | The delivery conditions for the product | No | Yes |
| B05 | Reference heat treatment of samples | No | Yes |
| B06 | Marking of the product | Yes | Yes |
| B07 | Identification of the product, usually batch, charge or lot number | No | Yes |
| B08 | Number of pieces of the product. | No | Yes |
| B09 | Objects describing different forms | Yes | Yes |
| B10 | Product dimensions - length of the product | No | Yes |
| B11 | Product dimensions | No | Yes |
| B12 | Theoretical mass | No | Yes |
| B13 | Acutal mass | No | Yes |
| B14 - B98 | Product description Supplementary information | No | Yes |
| B99 | A designated field for the CO₂ equivalent | No | Yes |
# Analysis
| Field | Description | Mandatory | Visible |
|---|---|---|---|
| C00 | Heat or melt number defining the chemical properties | Yes | Yes |
| C01 | Location of the sample | No | Yes |
| C02 | Direction of the test pieces | No | Yes |
| C03 | Test temperature | No | Yes |
| C04 - C09 | Supplementary information | No | Yes |
| C10 | Tensile test - shape of the test piece | No | Yes |
| C11 | Tensile test - yield or proof strength | No | Yes |
| C12 | Tensile test - tensile strength | No | Yes |
| C13 | Tensile test - elongation after fracture | No | Yes |
| C14 | A designated field for vertical anisotropy (r-value) | No | Yes |
| C15 | A designated field for vertical anisotropy (r-value) | No | Yes |
| C16 - C29 | Tensile test supplementary information | No | Yes |
| C30 | Hardness test - method | No | Yes |
| C31 | Hardness test - array of individual values | No | Yes |
| C32 | Hardness test - the average value of the individual values measured | No | Yes |
| C33 - C39 | Hardness test supplementary information | No | Yes |
| C40 | Notched bar impact test - type of test piece | No | Yes |
| C41 | Notched bar impact test - width of test piece | No | Yes |
| C42 | Notched bar impact test - array of individual values | No | Yes |
| C43 | Notched bar impact test - mean value | No | Yes |
| C44 - C49 | Notched bar impact test supplementary information | No | Yes |
| C50 - C69 | Other mechanical tests | No | Yes |
| C70 | The metallurgic process: Y = Basic oxygen process, E = Electric furnace | No | Yes |
| C71 - C109 | Share of chemical element | No | Yes |
| C110 - C120 | Chemical analysis supplementary information | No | Yes |
Remarks
- EN 10168 assigns fields C71 to C92 to the chemical analysis. Many certificates contain the share of many more elements so the list of fields was extended to C109.
# Other Tests
| Field | Description | Mandatory | Visible |
|---|---|---|---|
| D01 | Marking and identification, surface appearance, shape and dimensional properties | No | Yes |
| D02 | A designated field for zinc coating on the top surface | No | Yes |
| D03 | A designated field for zinc coating on the bottom surface | No | Yes |
| D04 | A designated field for roughness | No | Yes |
| D05 - D49 | Non-desctructive tests | No | Yes |
| D50 - D99 | Other product tests | No | Yes |
# Validation
| Field | Description | Mandatory | Visible |
|---|---|---|---|
| Z01 | Statement of compliance | Yes | Yes |
| Z02 | Date of issue and validation | Yes | Yes |
| Z03 | Stamp of the inspection representative | No | Yes |
| Z04 | CE marking with properties CE image, the identification number of the notified body, year of issueing and document number | No | Yes |
| Z05 - Z99 | Supplementary Information | No | Yes |
# Features
Additional features complement the JSON Schema increasing its utility for the industry.
# Standardization of layout
# Current practice
Currently, all market participants provide certificates in an individual layout driven by the following parameters:
- The data available in their ERP and QM systems which varies a lot.
- The corporate identity and design guidelines.
- The technologies and their capabilities to define layouts and renderings of PDF documents.
In addition, all vendors might use slightly different wording for the same fields on certificates. This leads to a situation in which the variety of layouts and wordings results in difficulties and errors in processing inbound certificates. Furthermore, all attempts to use OCR to automate processing fail because of the variance of designs - even with a lot of effort to automate recognition and mapping, humans are required to review the results as the error rates are simply unacceptable.
# Objectives
The objectives for a new layout are
- Standardized and well-defined document structure.
- Easy to read for humans.
It should be mentioned that a standardized layout of PDF and HTML renderings is well appreciated by receivers of certificates.
# Sample rendering
# Layout rules
The layout of PDF and HTML renderings are divided into the sections as illustrated.
| Section | Rule |
|---|---|
| Logo | The logo must be provided as Base64 (opens new window) encoded PNG file (opens new window). It will be rendered 150 pixel wide. |
| Information group a - parties | The parties A01, A06 or A06.1, A06.2 and A06.3 |
| Information group a | The commercial transaction data |
| Information group b | |
| Information group c and d | The inspection results which can be multiple ones, for each processing step and test with a specfic identifier for a probe. |
| Information group z | The validation information including an optional CE marking. |
# Rendering in one or two languages
# Observations
In many cases, customers want to get certificates in multiple languages. In one example below English and French are configured: French could be addressing the headquarters and English to help shop floor operators without knowledge to read and understand the contents of certificates. Furthermore, most current implementations of certificate renderings do not or only partially comply with the conventions to localize number and date formats of the target language, possibly leading to misinterpretations.
The objectives for an implementation are the
- Standardization of translations for the terms used on PDF renderings for a large set of languages.
- Automation of localization of number and date formats.
- Enabling the addition of new languages simply.
# Example English certificate
In the example (opens new window) the language EN was specified for rendering.
# Cutout from JSON
{
"Certificate": {
"CertificateLanguages": [
"EN"
],
# Cutout from PDF
# Example English and French certificate
In the example (opens new window) the languages EN and FR were specified for rendering.
# Cutout from JSON
{
"Certificate": {
"CertificateLanguages": [
"EN",
"FR"
],
# Cutout from PDF
# Additional languages
Additional languages can be easily added by the following steps:
- Add the ISO code for the new language to CertificateLanguages (opens new window).
- Add translations for all field names in
<ISO Code>.jsonto the repository root. - Add new fixtures in
test/fixturesand then totest/validate.spec.jsandtest/render.spec.js. - Release a new version of the schema.
# Fixing errors
Translation errors can be reported by submitting a bug report on Github (opens new window).
# Tools
Tools supporting the validation, testing, and rendering as PDF and HTML are available at https://www.npmjs.com/org/s1seven (opens new window). These tools implement the features described in the following for easy adoption by users and developers. The source code and documentation can be found at https://github.com/s1seven/schema-tools (opens new window).
# Licensing
The format definition, examples, translation, and the documentation on this site are published under GNU Affero General Public License (opens new window).