Material Traceability in Distribution: NP Energy’s Best Practices

Building an Unbreakable Chain of Custody from Mill to Site

In the high-stakes worlds of oil, gas, and petrochemicals, the value of a component is not just in its physical strength, but in its story. A critical service bolt without a verifiable history—without an unbroken chain of custody back to its origin—is merely a piece of steel. A bolt with complete, unimpeachable traceability, however, is a guarantee of safety, a pillar of compliance, and a cornerstone of operational integrity.

As of July 2025, global supply chains are under more scrutiny than ever before. End-users and regulators demand absolute certainty about the materials used in critical infrastructure. For a manufacturer of API 20E bolting, traceability isn’t a feature; it is the very foundation upon which trust is built.

From our manufacturing hub in Ludhiana, Punjab, NP Energy has engineered a set of best practices for material traceability that meet and exceed global standards. This isn’t just a process; it’s a culture of accountability. Let’s walk through the step-by-step journey of a fastener and explore how this unbreakable chain of custody is meticulously maintained.

Step 1: The Origin Point – The Inviolable Heat Number

Traceability begins long before any metal is forged. It starts at the steel mill with the creation of a Heat Number (also known as a heat code or melt number).

A heat number is the unique identifier assigned to a specific batch of molten steel. Every property of that steel—its precise chemical composition, its grain structure, its inherent mechanical potential—is tied to this single code. It is the material’s DNA.

NP Energy’s Best Practice: Our traceability chain begins with an uncompromising sourcing policy. We procure raw materials exclusively from globally accredited and pre-vetted steel mills. For every single batch of steel bars received, we obtain a certified Mill Test Report (MTR), also known as a Mill Test Certificate (MTC). This document, linked directly to the heat number, is the material’s birth certificate, detailing its chemical analysis and mechanical properties as certified by the manufacturer. This is the first, non-negotiable link in our chain.

Step 2: The Digital Backbone – The Integrated ERP System

In a complex manufacturing environment, manual or disparate tracking systems are prone to human error. An Excel sheet can be accidentally edited; a paper file can be misplaced. To eliminate these risks, technology must form the core of the traceability system.

NP Energy’s Best Practice: Our entire operation is managed through a state-of-the-art Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. This system acts as the central nervous system for traceability, creating a “single source of truth.”

• Digital Inwarding: When raw material arrives at our Ludhiana facility, the heat number from the steel bar and its corresponding MTR are scanned and entered into the ERP. The system then generates a unique internal Lot Number.
• Permanent Linkage: This internal lot number creates a permanent digital bridge. The scanned MTR file is electronically attached to this lot number in the ERP. From this moment on, anyone in our system can pull up the full material history with a single click.
• Physical to Digital: The physical steel bars are then tagged or marked with this internal lot number, ensuring the physical material is always identifiable and directly linked to its digital record.

Step 3: The Production Journey – Maintaining Integrity on the Floor

The greatest risk of losing traceability occurs during production, where raw material is transformed into a finished product. This is where vertical integration and strict process control become paramount.

NP Energy’s Best Practice: Our in-house manufacturing processes are designed to preserve batch integrity at every stage.

• ERP-Generated Work Orders: No production run begins without a work order from the ERP system. This order specifies the exact internal lot number of the material to be used for the job, leaving no room for ambiguity.
• Zero-Mixing Policy: It is a strict rule that materials from different heat numbers are never mixed within a single production or heat treatment batch. This ensures that every fastener in a finished batch shares the exact same material origin and processing history.
• The Physical Traveler: A physical “traveler” document, containing the work order details and the critical heat/lot number, accompanies the batch of material from one station to the next—from cutting to forging, through heat treatment, and onto threading.
• In-Process Marking: Crucially, the fasteners themselves are hard-stamped with a unique identifier linked to the heat number, as mandated by standards like API 20E. This physical mark ensures that even a single bolt can be traced back to its origin, long after it has left our facility.

Step 4: The Final Checkpoint – QC, Documentation, and Shipping

The final stage is where all the preceding steps converge to deliver a fully traceable product to the client.

NP Energy’s Best Practice:

• QC Verification: During final inspection, our Quality Control team examines the finished bolts. Using the lot number on the traveler card, they pull up the complete record in the ERP. They verify that the markings on the bolt match the MTR and all internal test records (e.g., hardness test results post-heat treatment).
• Automated Documentation Package: When an order is prepared for shipment, our ERP system automatically collates the definitive documentation package. This includes the original MTR, our Certificate of Conformance, and any other relevant test reports. This package is linked to the customer’s specific purchase order.
• Intelligent Labeling: Every box, pallet, or container is labeled with the precise details of its contents: part description, quantity, PO number, and, most importantly, the corresponding Heat/Lot Number(s). This allows the receiving team at the project site to instantly match the physical goods with the documentation, simplifying their own quality assurance process.

Step 5: Beyond Delivery – Archiving for Future Assurance

True accountability doesn’t end when the truck leaves the gate. In the energy sector, questions about components can arise years, or even decades, after installation.

NP Energy’s Best Practice: All traceability records, including MTRs, work orders, internal test results, and shipping documents, are securely archived digitally within our ERP system for a minimum of 10 years. This robust archive allows for rapid retrieval of a component’s full history for customer audits, maintenance reviews, or forensic analysis, providing ultimate peace of mind.