The required standard
Name the required grade, product standard, and edition before listing permitted alternatives. Confirm that the chosen product standard covers the bar form, size, and delivery condition. Where a customer permits another designation, ask for its differences and approval requirements as a separate technical return.
Delivery condition
Separate the thermal condition from the surface process. An order can require a quenched-and-tempered bar that is subsequently peeled or ground; those terms describe different operations. Record the condition in which the bar must arrive and the state at which hardness, mechanical properties, and dimensions will be checked.
Application and downstream process
Show the processing that follows delivery: rough machining, final heat treatment, local hardening, grinding, threading, or coating preparation as applicable. Identify the section during treatment and who performs each operation. Incoming hardness used for machining control should not be presented as the final component's property requirement.
Target condition and supporting records
For each required property, specify the method, acceptance value, sample location, orientation, and lot represented. List the material inspection document and any treatment record or separate test report needed. Confirm how heat and treatment-lot identifiers remain attached to the bars after surface processing and cutting.
From design intent to delivery condition
Begin with the part drawing and determine which material state must arrive at the buyer. The grade designation, product standard, bar form, ordered diameter, ruling section, thermal condition, and surface route each answer a different question. Words such as normalized, annealed, or quenched and tempered are incomplete when the product basis, section, and subsequent processing are absent. ISO 683-1 and ISO 683-2 provide product and delivery context for covered non-alloy and alloy steels, while ISO 404 supplies general delivery rules; none chooses the condition for a particular component.
Condition wording that changes the order
| Decision | RFQ wording to fix | Evidence and review owner | Quotation risk to close |
|---|---|---|---|
| Material identity | Grade, controlling product standard, edition, product form, and allowed alternatives | Engineering approves identity; supplier returns a clause comparison | A chemistry label is quoted as though it were a complete product specification |
| Thermal state | Named delivered condition, section covered, lot definition, and responsible processor | Supplier route statement and agreed process-lot records | Condition wording is detached from the actual bar section or treatment batch |
| Surface and sequence | Hot-rolled, peeled, ground, or machined state plus straightening and later operations | Drawing review, route plan, and final inspection record | Finishing or straightening changes the material covered after recorded testing |
| Release records | Ordered inspection-document type, actual results, traceability, deviations, and review point | Quality reviews the indexed dossier before shipment approver | A certificate label is accepted without the fields needed for the purchase decision |
Process records and shipped identity
Define a traceable unit that reflects the chosen route: heat, diameter or section, delivery condition, and treatment lot as applicable. Require the inspection document and supporting process record to identify the same material and lot shown on bundle or piece marks. ISO 10474 classifies inspection documents supplied according to the order, but the buyer must still list the required actual results, issuer route, traceability depth, record links, and deviation status.
RFQ example
Item: Steel round bars for [component and drawing revision], [size and quantity]
Material: [grade] to [product standard and edition]; alternatives only in a separate clause-by-clause deviation schedule
Delivery condition: [named thermal condition] and [surface route]; ruling section and represented treatment lot to be declared
Process responsibility: Supplier performs [operations]; buyer performs [downstream operations]; straightening and stress-relief sequence to be stated
Inspection: Ordered tests, locations, lot frequency, judgment, retest, dimensions, surface, marking, and any NDT defined in the attached plan
Documents: ISO 10474 type [state], actual results, heat-to-treatment-lot-to-bundle map, process records, deviations, and subcontractor reports
Release: Written clearance of the named document and shipment hold point before dispatchQuestions buyers ask
How should buyers write heat-treatment condition in a steel RFQ?
Buyers should write the grade standard, required condition, diameter, length, quantity, application, downstream route, mechanical target if specified, inspection requirement, destination, and drawings when available.
Can JOTAIN review different delivery conditions?
JOTAIN can review buyer delivery-condition requirements such as QT, annealed, normalized, peeled, ground, or machined routes depending on grade, size, specification, inspection needs, and project requirements.
How should buyers write heat-treatment requirements?
State required condition, target hardness or mechanical properties if known, test method if required, certificate need, grade standard, size, quantity, application, and whether heat-treatment records should accompany shipment documents.
RFQ checklist
- Grade standard and acceptable equivalents
- Required condition or condition options for review
- Diameter, length, quantity, and tolerance details
- Final application and downstream processing route
- Hardness, mechanical-property, or inspection target if specified
- Certificate, MTC, traceability, and third-party inspection needs
- Packing, destination, and drawings or specifications
- Controlling grade, product standard, edition, product form, and document precedence
- Ordered section, ruling-section definition, quantity, length, and surface route
- Delivered thermal condition and every supplier or buyer downstream operation
- Treatment-lot definition, straightening sequence, route changes, and subcontractors
- Inspection methods, locations, frequency, judgment, retest, and deviation approver
- Inspection-document type, actual fields, traceability map, review point, and shipment release
References
- ISO 683-1:2016 Heat-treatable steels — Part 1: Non-alloy steels for quenching and tempering
- ISO 683-2:2016 Heat-treatable steels — Part 2: Alloy steels for quenching and tempering
- ISO 404:2013 Steel and steel products — General technical delivery requirements
- ISO 10474:2013 Steel and steel products — Inspection documents
Inquiry support
Want us to review the RFQ before quotation?
Send the drawing or RFQ with the grade, size, condition, processing, inspection, quantity, and destination. We can flag open points before quotation.