QUALITY

Monitoring of incoming raw materials

Internal quality controls are conducted in our laboratory:

•  organoleptic inspection, as to ensure the organoleptic neutrality of the materials
• humidity monitoring
• monitoring of the expanding agent’s viscosity to ensure conformity and an even cell structure inside the closure

Every in-coming raw material batch is registered for traceability.

Extrusion - Injection

In-process inspections are conducted by our operators.

Every two hours, 2 closures on each of our production lines are inspected by the operators for measuring of the closure’s length, diameter, weight, oval-shape and density. Cutting corks in halves allows for a visual monitoring of their internal foam bubble structure. Chamfer size is measured with a gauge.

Operators are in charge of procedures ensuring traceabilty.

Every 2 hours, they bring 6 corks for inspection within Syntek’s laboratory. Length, diameter, oval-shape, density are measured once again.

Moreover, mechanical measuring allows to evaluate compressive force, release force, compression pressure, springback, dimension recovery.

The internal foam bubble structure quality is monitored through liquid and gas leak testing, for every batch.

Only then, are our closures deemed ready to be stored for 6 days before they can be printed on.

Printing

 In-process inspections are conducted. Indeed, operators have to perform several checks:

• dimension conformity, against order specification
• printing conformity, against order specification
• straight line quality verification
• surface tension conformity every hour
• traceability monitoring

Once corks are printed, our laboratory technician conducts the following inspections:

• Visual inspection:
• The chamfer,
• The foam bubbles,
• The color
• Dimension inspection:
• Length and diameter
• Printing quality:
• Logo
• Traceability

Surface treatment

6 corks are collected after each surface treatment, and then sent to our laboratory to evaluate the compliance of the treatment with the extraction force.

Shipping

A quality technician performs a packaging control prior to each shipment.

For each dispatched parcel, a certificate of conformity is issued.

Traceability

Once parcels are ready for shipment, the quality technician collects and record every traceability elements to ensure upstream, downstream and cross-company traceability.

A counter-sample comprised of 12 corks is retained for each order.