XRF is The Best Way to Identify Unknown Material
Every shop accumulates it.
Unmarked bar stock left over from a job three years ago. Plate cut from a remnant pile with no tag. Fittings from a supplier lot that got separated from its paperwork. Material that someone swears is 316 but can't prove.
Unknown material is a productivity and liability problem. Using it without verification is a gamble. Scrapping it without testing it is expensive. Sending it out for laboratory analysis takes days and costs money for material that might be perfectly usable.
Handheld XRF analyzers resolve unknown material in seconds. Point the instrument at the piece and the exact alloy grade and elemental composition appear on screen. What was an unmarked remnant becomes a confirmed, identified, usable material. Or a confirmed non-conforming piece that gets removed from the floor before it causes a problem, and that can be costly to your business.
For shops with large remnant inventories, XRF creates value that was previously sitting idle.
Material that couldn't be used because its identity was uncertain becomes usable inventory once it's verified? That's recovered material cost with no additional purchasing required.
Unknown material identification also protects shops from the liability of using unverified material in customer work. If a question ever arises about what went into a part, the XRF record answers it definitively with elemental data, a timestamp, and an alloy match, with zero ambiguity.
The alternative is assuming based on appearance, color, or taking someone's word for it. That's how mix-ups happen.
XRF eliminates the assumption entirely and replaces it with a confirmed answer in the time it takes to walk across the shop floor.
Turn unknown remnants into verified, usable inventory.
Shop handheld PMI XRF analyzers at Alloy Geek
More XRF Resources for PMI
There are a lot of ways to save money and time with XRF analysis, especially in industries that deal in PMI. Learn more about the uses and benefits of XRF analysis for your business from an XRF professional.
- Verifying Incoming and Outgoing Materials with XRF
- Handheld XRF for Quality Assurance and Quality Control
- How to Identify Stainless Steel Alloys with XRF
- How Machine Shops Prevent Material Mix-Ups with XRF
- Manufacturers Prevent Costly Internal Material Mix-Ups With XRF
- How to Verify Outgoing Materials with XRF
- Verifying Raw Materials as They Come In with XRF
- Uses of XRF for Industrial Metal Identification
- Uses of XRF for PMI, or Positive Material Identification