Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) has recently got registered with InternationalMaterialDataSystem (IMDS). This automobile spare parts and materials database was set up in 2000 with the support and inspiration from Audi, BMW, Daimler, Ford, Opel, Porsche, Volkswagen, and Volvo, who wished to have the data from the entire supplier chain systematized and united. The system now provides car manufacturers and their partners with information about all kinds of materials that are used for spare parts and car units.

The IMDS was based on the European countries’ directives that require full data on all the materials used in order to regulate the recycling process. This is a centralized, WEB-oriented database that OEMs and their suppliers can access via the Internet. At the moment, there are nineteen car manufacturers and over 50,000 suppliers from all over the world registered with the IMDS.

According to MMK’s PR Department, Polad, the Tolyatti-based car manufacturer, has requested to have their materials S355MC according to EN10149-2(ID 112520758/1) and CS60 according to ISO4960(ID113582437/1) registered with the IDMS. MMK supplies these types of steel to Polad to be used for safety system units. The units are then delivered to the corner piece manufacturers like ARB-Moravan of the Czech Republic and TRW-Automotive of Germany.

MMK supplied Polad with a sixty-ton pilot batch of hot-rolled pickled sheets last year. Polad’s German partners then asked the company to carry out an audit procedure at MMK to make sure the enterprise’s production process and quality management system comply with the ISO/TU 16949:2002 requirements. Polad’s experts arrived in January and looked into MMK’s entire quality management system, including internal audits and documentation. As a result, MMK’s system was rated ‘Excellent’ and met all of Polad and its partners’ requirements.