Incoming and Specification Inspection
An incoming inspection
station should be established to immediately detect any transit damage. This
will eliminate further damage to otherwise useable glass.
If a specification
inspection station is in use, care should be taken to ensure that glass is
handled properly on carpeted or otherwise protected surfaces.
Glass Handling
Care must be taken when
removing lites of glass from the crate. Removal that requires a lite to be
slid across the face of another is not an acceptable handling
practice to Cameron Glass. This practice creates susceptibility to damage
from the edge of one lite of glass scraping against the surface of the part
behind it.
Acceptable handling requires
a system for glass removal in which the glass is pulled from the crate from
the front. The lite should be tilted forward, moved away from the lite
directly behind it, and then slid forward to remove it. If paper is being
used as a separation medium between the individual pieces of glass, it is
important to make sure the paper is properly in place after other pieces of
glass are removed from the crate.
Precautions must be taken to
ensure that the glass is handled very carefully whenever it is slid
vertically in the storage and assembly areas.
If any additional
extruded/assembled materials (frames, hinges, door handles, wipers, bolts,
etc.) or primers/adhesives are to be attached or applied to the glass, a
carpeted work bench arrangement should be established to accommodate this
process. Special care should be taken to keep all materials from touching
any part of the glass prior to their installation and/or application to the
glass. Also, any tools or materials used in preparing the glass for
installation must not be placed on the glass prior to or during their use.
The glass itself must not be used as a workbench or for other similar
utilitarian purposes.
Cleaning
Immediately upon removal
from the crate, the glass should be cleaned if necessary. A carpeted bench
should be available on which to set the glass for cleaning purposes. Care
should be taken to remove any noticeably abrasive dust or metallic material
from the glass prior to any spray-and-wipe type cleaning.
Once properly cleaned, the
glass should be inspected.
Glass Inspection
Possibly the most important
part of a glass inspection program is the education of all involved
personnel. This education should include both the standard inspection method
and a thorough explanation of allowable defects.
To properly inspect glass,
hold the lite out at arm's length (approximately three feet) and at a
ninety- (90) degree angle. Then look through (not at) the glass under normal
plant lighting. If the defect is not visible using these criteria and does
not exceed the defect specifications outlined on the attached Standard, it
is considered acceptable.
Alternatively, an inspection
station consisting of two fluorescent bulbs mounted horizontally twenty-four
inches (24") apart on a black background can be constructed. This creates a
standard environment against which to judge all glass defects.
Action should be taken to
protect rejected glass until the appropriate personnel review it. A
dedicated area of the assembly area or plant should be designated as a
reject station. It is imperative that the damage be marked and that the
rejected glass be stacked with a proper separation medium such as paper or
cardboard in order to eliminate any additional damage to the glass. This
helps the inspecting party to adequately identify the original damage.
Glass Storage and Transfer
Prior to removal to the
assembly area, under no circumstances should glass be placed in a crate
other than the crate it arrived in for storage purposes.
Glass that is unused and
left in the storage area should be properly secured within its crate. This
glass must also be properly covered in order to avoid any foreign materials,
such as metal shavings, water or an inordinate amount of dust, from entering
the crate and contaminating the glass.
Caution must be used to
ensure that the glass is properly secured as it is transported to and from
the storage area to and from the assembly area. Failure to support and
secure parts during transit invites the introduction of scratches and other
damage.
If the glass is being taken
to the assembly area by hand, only one piece at a time should be transferred
in this manner. This will eliminate the possibility of glass being stacked
for transit, scratching due to two pieces of glass in close proximity, and
the obvious hazard of too much material for one person to adequately
man-handle.
Under no circumstances
should glass be stored outside. Water seeping into crates has the tendency
to permanently etch glass once it has found its way between two lites.
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