It’s tough for me to hear about accidents in the news caused by faulty parts and materials.
Take, for example, the most recent SpaceX dilemma that caused Elon Musk’s rocket company to cut ties with PMI Industries. Because of falsified metal tests, faulty parts were shipped to SpaceX in order to build their Falcon 9 and other Falcon Heavy rockets.
"Failure to comply with quality control measures undermines the integrity of essential equipment and technology." - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr.
It’s possible that as many as 10 of SpaceX’s government missions have been impacted by the defective materials, including those with NASA, the Air Force, and NOAA.
That’s a preventable blunder with a huge impact. PMI Industries is now out of business.
Luckily, SpaceX had multiple points in the supply chain where PMI testing took place. They were able to identify at 76 individual parts that were rejected before making it to the final mission. Well done, SpaceX.

via Unsplash
With the right positive material identification (PMI) testing in place, fatal disasters can be avoided.
That’s why I’ve dedicated this series of The Manufacturing Show to #MastersofPMI.