Quality & Compliance
7 articles
- Who Owns Lockout/Tagout When a Contractor Services Your Equipment?
OSHA's lockout/tagout standard doesn't pick a winner when an outside technician services your equipment. It makes the host and the contractor tell each other their procedures, and each employer remains responsible for protecting its own people. This guide covers what the rule requires, how group lockout works with mixed crews, and where host plants get cited.
Oct 15, 2026
- A Supplier Audit Checklist That Starts With Corrective Action
Customer auditors write up the same clauses year after year. This week-by-week supplier audit checklist for tier-2 plants puts corrective action, control plans, calibration and traceability ahead of cleaning up binders.
Oct 12, 2026
- Does a Job Shop Entering Aerospace Need AS9100 or ISO 9001?
The purchase order decides, not the standard. What AS9100 Rev D adds to ISO 9001 on the shop floor, why OASIS listing matters, when ISO 9001 still wins work, and what certification costs in time and auditor days.
Oct 1, 2026
- The 45X Credit, Explained for Plant Finance Teams
Section 45X pays on units shipped, not capital deployed, and it converts to cash through direct pay or a transfer at roughly 92 cents on the dollar. Here is how the eligibility tests, the 2025 statutory changes and the foreign entity rules land on a plant finance team.
Sep 17, 2026
- What R15.06-2025 Changes on a Robot Cell You Already Own
The robot safety standard was rewritten in 2025 and the US adoption landed in the autumn. Nothing on your floor became illegal on a date, but several documents in your risk assessment file went out of date. Here is the re-document list, the re-assessment triggers, and the small number of items that can cost hardware.
Sep 7, 2026
- What a Machine Shop Has to Rewrite for ISO 9001:2026
The sixth edition of ISO 9001 publishes 16 September 2026, and the committee that owns the standard has confirmed it. Almost everything else you have been told about the transition — including the deadline — is anticipated rather than published. For a machine shop, the real work is three procedures deep.
Sep 3, 2026
- 38 Days to a 100% Pharma Tariff — and the Only Off-Ramp Closed in June
The default 100% Section 232 rate on patented pharmaceuticals reaches all remaining importers on September 29, 2026. The BIS onshoring-agreement window that would have cut it to 20% shut on June 12 — leaving classification, entry posture and qualification timelines as the only variables left to move.
Aug 22, 2026