FITNESS FOR USE
Fitness For Use is a concept developed to meet our
customers' expectations regarding sheet products ordered for a specific intended end use application. U. S. Steel Sheet Products are produced to meet our customers' specified product quality requirements for the intended application within the framework of the
Fitness For Use concept, the related Partnerships For Performance standard and other considerations as described below.
Fitness For Use is not intended to mean freedom of imperfections, but reflects instead a cooperative approach to problem solving in the context of steel product specifications, production and application. Under this concept, the mutual objective of U. S. Steel and our customers is
"Will The Specified Product Satisfy The End Part?". It will be the responsibility of our Customer Technical Service Representative to judge when
Fitness For Use has not been achieved and this judgment will be made in the context of the
Partnerships For Performance standard and other considerations as described below.
This claim policy for coils is another related issue that applies. Our customers can expect 98% satisfactory product in coil shipments of Carbon Sheet Products and 97% satisfactory product in coil shipment of High Strength Sheet shipments. If, because of coil ends or mill related imperfections, these standards are not met, a claim will be honored. The claim will only be for the value of the material tosses exceeding these standards and
must be reviewed/approved by appropriate U. S. Steel personnel. Other considerations are as reflected in this claim policy.
Surface quality of sheet products shall be suitable to provide the specified appearance and finish that is required for the specific end use consistent with the specifications for the steel ordered. Such products shall be paintable using accepted industry standard practices and appropriate paint systems and are weldable using accepted industry practices consistent with steel grade and specified product. Formability will be provided consistent with the quality designator as specified in customer orders. Tolerances for thickness, width, flatness, and camber, which are detailed in the appropriate sections of this Directory, shall likewise be part of the total product quality matrix.
PARTNERSHIPS FOR PERFORMANCE
U. S. Steel is committed to a Partnership For Performance standard with our customers. It is our intention and obligation to assure that the processes we use for manufacture and the products we sell meet our customers' specified needs and expectations. Inherent in this partnership commitment is the expectation that our customers will have the same commitment relative to clearly specifying product quality requirements in individual orders and their use of the material that we provide consistent therewith. The essence of this concept is to focus our respective expertise in mutually beneficial cooperative efforts to minimize steel conversion costs. Our service approach will be to treat the steel we provide and the customer's conversion process as a single integrated system where the primary role of problem solving will be to quickly identify root causes and to implement
cost-effective corrective actions. It is within this framework that the Fitness For Use
concept will be applied. This policy is consistent with our APEX quality philosophy.
Rejectable material for mill related causes:
Steel determined to be unusable because of mill related responsibility should be set aside for review with the appropriate U. S. Steel personnel. This includes blanks, cut lengths, coils or slit mults from coils. When an individual coil or slit mult contains an apparent high frequency of mill imperfections, it should be set aside only after a minimum of 10% of the coil has been processed.
Exceptions
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Hot rolled sheet
non-temper rolled product which, by definition, is shipped without further processing is an exception to our standard coil policy. The customer must accept, without claim, a maximum of 15' on either end of a coil that exceeds thickness or width tolerance.
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Full Hard Cold Rolled is provided directly off the cold reduction mill with residual cold mill oil on the strip surface. This product includes off gage coil ends unless further processing is stipulated by the customer. Unprocessed CR full hard is not subject to the usable product standards established for other sheet mill products.
Definitive shape standards for full hard cold rolled have not been established. However, when tension leveling (special flatness requirement) is ordered, improved shape (normally within standard ASTM flatness tolerances
- See Table page 23) can be expected.
Performance Allowances
Some customers statistically evaluate production line performance, e.g., breakage and line scrap. When negotiated prior to order acceptance, U.S. Steel will recognize fair and reasonable line performance standards such as SAE J424.
