Patent ID: 7363957

Claim:
A method for manufacturing castings, comprising: manufacturing at least one casting, each of said at least one casting manufactured under a respective set of conditions and having a unique identifier marked thereon; constructing a corresponding profile for each of said at least one manufactured casting, said corresponding profile describing said respective set of conditions under which said casting was manufactured and including said unique identifier for said casting; inspecting each of said at least one manufactured casting for defects; using said unique identifier to associate each casting determined to have one or more defects with said corresponding profile; classifying said corresponding profile as a defective casting profile; and discarding a casting manufactured subsequent to said classifying of said corresponding profile as a defective casting profile if said subsequently manufactured casting was manufactured under said set of conditions described in one of said defective casting profiles; wherein discarding a casting manufactured subsequent to said classifying of corresponding profiles as defective casting profiles if said subsequently manufactured casting was manufactured under said conditions described in one of said defective casting profiles further comprises: manufacturing at least one casting subsequent to said classifying of said corresponding profile as a defective casting profile; constructing a corresponding profile for each of said at least one subsequently manufactured casting, said corresponding profile for each of said at least one subsequently manufactured casting describing conditions under which said subsequently manufactured casting was manufactured; determining if said corresponding profile for each of said at least one subsequently manufactured casting matches one of said defective casting profiles; and discarding each of said at least one subsequently manufactured casting for which said corresponding profile thereof matches one of said defective casting profiles.