Global Fastener News

By Dick Callahan, FN Editor

April 24, 1986 FIN – The Defense Industrial Supply Center (DISC), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the largest fastener purchasing arm of the U.S. Government, has issued new specs for cadmium plating.

Spec QQ-P-416 Revision D, published November 20, 1985 and effective March 1, 1986 represents significant and substantial changes from the old spec, which was last published in 1977 (Revision C).

A fastener manufacturer told FIN that the new spec was put into effect without too much publicity or advanced warning and that it’s highly controversial.

As we understand it, the new spec is going to call for lots of new and costly baking procedures and testing, especially for parts with Rockwell harness 36C Scale and harder. This could mean that a lot of aircraft, nuclear and other high alloy parts now in inventory without the required baking and testing now called for, may not be suitable for sale to government agencies.

As a footnote we suggest that you don’t try to slip anything by DISC. That group, along with some other government agencies, now has 386 independent testing services under contract which they call upon to help them ascertain if parts peddled to the government, say like Grade 8 fasteners, are what they’re reported to be. If they’re not, the Defense Criminal Investigation Service might be knocking at your door.

We’d also like to direct your attention to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal (April 22, 1986, page 28) entitled “Changing the Rules to Fight Plunder in Procurement” which describes Senate bills S.1562 and S.1134 introduced by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. William Cohen (R-Maine) which calls for, among other things, fines of $10,000 for each false statement (say like something about chrome plating) made to a federal agency.  ©1986/2011 Fastener Industry News