FAQ Page

FAQ

1. Why are some mixtures sent out long after certification date, sometimes close to the expiry date?: Some MTO mixtures have been made stock items to cater for customer demand. If the usage becomes less than expected, the stock does not turn fast enough and the shelf life runs out.

2. What is being done to prevent this from happening?: The customer expects to have the full shelf life when he receives the mixture.

If a customer’s requirement for a stock item decreases, so should the stock level. Sales personnel should let the Product Manager know. Shelf life on all mixtures is 1 year as default. This will change over time, and some mixtures’ shelf life has already been extended to two years.

All mixtures sent from stock : Check label for expiry date, and request a new label from the lab at GOC, before sending to a customer.

GOC will also check all mixtures sent from stock.

As a guideline, shelf life is as follows:

Pures - 5 years
Air Gas Mixtures - 2 years
Reactive Mixtures - 1 year
SpectraSeal Mixtures - 1-2 years

A request can be sent to Technical Service Manager (Hans Strydom) for shelf life of a mixture to be reviewed.

3. Can a mixture be re-certified remotely?: Some stable mixtures are suitable for remote re-certification. Full cylinders containing reactive mixtures may have to be returned to GOC for re-analysis.

Cylinders that have expired and still contain some product, should be sent back as empties, and a new mixture ordered. Re-certification is only intended for a mixture when much of the shelf life has expired by the time it reaches the customer, or when the label was lost in transport.

4. Sometimes a customer reports that a cylinder arrived without a label. What is the procedure to follow?: Send an email to the Technical Service Manager at Special.markets@afrox.linde.com Make sure to include the following information:

- Batch number / unique cylinder number
- Colour or description of cylinder
The analysis can be extracted from SAP using this information. A duplicate label/certificate will be printed and sent by courier or Afrox truck to the branch.The results of analysis is also available in ZM09 using cylinder number or batch number. This can be typed into a certificate template (available from Hans), printed and given to the customer.