How is IMDS handled?
An IMDS entry is filed on request for parts that need one, using the material composition from the mill certificate, the declared mass, and the composition of any coating or surface treatment applied. Entries are filed against the part number and the revision the customer confirms.
What goes into the entry
- Material composition per heat, taken from the mill certificate rather than typed from memory.
- Declared mass of the finished part, which for a drawn part is not the blank weight.
- Coatings and surface treatments - plating, phosphating, passivation, electropolishing, powder or liquid coating - with their own composition data.
- Any process chemical that remains on the part, declared at the level the customer system requires.
What the customer confirms
- The IMDS node to report into and the recipient identifier.
- The part number and revision the entry must reference.
- Whether an entry is needed per component or per assembly.
- Any customer-specific declaration that sits alongside IMDS.
IMDS is filed on request rather than automatically for every part, because for many industrial parts no entry is required. Where a programme needs one, it is worth flagging it with the enquiry so it is planned with the first article rather than after it.