Record Retention - Raw Material (Steel Certs)

Hi, all - I went through a bunch of past threads on the subject and saw a lot of discussion about what needs to be included in material certs for incoming steel... but I am currently being asked about record retention for those documents. I recently took over for the ISO/IATF Manager and have been going through his documents, but his record matrix does not address material certs. What's the best practice for length of time to retain material certs? If I scan them, can I just toss them because they are stored electronically forever? Our storage area is starting to get pretty packed.

Thanks!

EmilyJ said:

ments. I recently took over for the ISO/IATF Manager and have been going through his documents, but his record matrix does not address material certs. What's the best practice for length of time to retain material certs?
Thanks!

Click to expand...

Good day @EmilyJ ;
IATF 16949 requires length of production + service + 1 year. (that is the MINIMUM requirement). Please also note that any regulatory or customer requirements supersede these minimums and may require even longer retention. (clause 7.5.3.2.1)

In regard to "hard" or "digital" copies, IATF does specify any particular method, (as long as they are controlled, preserved, retrievable, etc..)

Hope this helps.
Be well.

Hello Emily,
John already answered your question...but I thought I might share one of my IT mantra's.....

Space is expensive.
Not having what you need is expensive.
Storage is cheap. (meaning electronic data storage)

Scan it all, store it all (in a manner via which you can find it again later)...get your room back.

We are required to include material certs as part of our inspection package, so we retain the certs for as long as our customer requires we retain quality records.