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MillCert Reader

Turn Every Mill Certificate into Usable Data.

AI extracts, validates, and links certificate data automatically, eliminating manual entry and creating a complete digital audit trail from day one.

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50% off your first month · Workshop tier · No credit card required

GoSmarter MillCert Reader extracting heat number, grade, and mechanical properties from a mill certificate PDF

What It Does

AI Certificate Reading

Extract heat numbers, grades, chemical composition, mechanical properties, and more from PDFs, scans, or photos.

Automatically Linked

Certificate data connects directly to the correct inventory record and ERP.

End-to-End Traceability

Every certificate, heat number, stock item, and order is digitally connected from goods-in to despatch.

Bulk PDF Renaming

Automatically rename certificates using heat numbers or your preferred naming convention, making documents easy to find and share.

Search & Find in Seconds

Search instantly by heat number, grade, supplier, certificate number, order, or customer to retrieve any certificate in seconds.

Review & Validate

Review, edit, and approve extracted data before it's committed to your records, ensuring accuracy with a complete audit history.

Midland Steel logo

What our customers say

"GoSmarter saves us hours every month — it pulls the key data out of mill certificates automatically and renames the files straight away. That whole process used to be painfully manual. Now it just happens."

— Padraig Bourke, Production Manager, Midland Steel UK

How it works

How It Works

The result is a complete, searchable digital record that's ready for production, compliance, and audits in seconds. Built and refined in partnership with metals manufacturers around the world.

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Step 01 · Upload Mill Certs

Upload Mill Certs

Drag in a PDF or a scanned image, one at a time or in bulk. No formatting, no template setup, no per-mill configuration.

Your Audit Trail Starts at Goods-In

Every mill certificate that isn’t linked to inventory creates a gap in your audit trail. That’s not just an administrative issue—it’s a compliance risk.

A wrong heat number, a missing certificate, or an unlinked stock record can break traceability, delay audits, and trigger costly investigations.

Common causes of non-conformances include:

  • Wrong material issued
  • Missing heat traceability
  • Lost or unlinked certificates
  • Incorrect document revisions
  • Manual data entry errors

Compliance starts the moment material arrives. Every piece of material is audit-ready before it reaches production.

APIs Available, No Extra Cost

Every paid plan includes a REST API at no extra cost, so you can connect GoSmarter to your Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, Quality Management System (QMS), or other business systems.

API capabilities:

  • Upload mill certificates automatically
  • Retrieve extracted certificate data in real time
  • Bulk import historical certificates

Prefer to start simple? Export data as CSV today and connect via the API whenever you’re ready — no reimplementation required. Full endpoint reference and integration patterns live in the integration strategy guide.

No complex IT project. Integrate when it suits your business.

The Full Journey—From Received Cert to Complete Digital Audit Trail

Every step from PDF arriving in your inbox to EN 10204-compliant audit trail is handled in one system. Here’s what that looks like end to end.
  1. 1

    Cert Arrives

    A PDF lands in your inbox or supplier portal. Drag it in, or upload a batch. No preparation required, even for a photo or a handwritten cert.
  2. 2

    AI Extracts in Seconds

    Heat number, grade, chemistry, mechanical properties, mill name — pulled automatically. Spot a misread value? Make a tracked amendment.
  3. 3

    Review and Amend

    Your team checks every field before approval. Every change is logged with who, what, and when. Low-confidence extractions get flagged for a closer look.
  4. 4

    Certificate Approved

    QA signs off and values lock. No accidental edits to an approved cert. Unapproved certs carry a DRAFT watermark until then.
  5. 5

    Clean Data Lands in Stock

    Confirmed values match to the stock item. Search by heat number, grade, or spec. Reserve stock so the cert travels with the material.
  6. 6

    Material Auto-Linked to Jobs

    GoSmarter knows your grades. Job needs S355JR? The right certs link to the right stock automatically, ready for Cutting Plans.
  7. 7

    Cert Pack Ships with the Order

    Generate a branded MTC or a full Certificate Pack in one click. Every step is recorded and retrievable — your EN 10204 audit trail is complete.

From PDF in the inbox to cert pack in the customer’s hands: one system, no gaps.

What the AI Actually Extracts

From a typical EN 10204 Type 3.1 certificate, the system reads:

Heat & Traceability

Heat numbers, cast numbers, batch IDs, bundle references.

Material Details

Grade, dimensions, product type, specifications.

Chemical Composition

Carbon, manganese, silicon, CEV, and all alloying elements.

Mechanical Properties

Yield, tensile, elongation, impact values, hardness.

Mill & Order Information

Mill, certificate number, purchase order, delivery references.

Origin & Compliance

Melt & pour country, EN 10204 type, standards, approvals.

Bulk PDF Renaming That Saves Hours

Why are skilled people wasting time searching for the right certificate?

GoSmarter automatically splits and renames bulk mill certificates using the heat number, so every PDF is easy to find and linked to the right material.

One production manager saved 120+ hours a year by eliminating manual certificate filing and search. No more “cert1.pdf” or “copy (3).pdf”—just the right certificate, ready to send with every order.

From Filing Cabinet to Searchable, Compliant Database — in a Day

Got a pile of PDFs? Still typing heat numbers by hand? The audit trail gap starts the moment a cert arrives unlinked. Fix that today. No IT project. No consultant fees.

Step 1 — Sign up and log in. Browser-based, nothing to install. New customers get 50% off their first month — no credit card required.

Step 2 — Upload your first batch of certificates. Drag and drop a folder of PDFs — scanned paper certs, digital certs from mills, anything you’ve got. The AI extracts your data and renames your PDFs within seconds.

Step 3 — Build your archive (optional). Upload your historical certificates to build a fully searchable archive. Search by heat number, grade, mill, or date — without opening a single PDF.

Step 4 — Connect to Metals Manager (optional). If you use Metals Manager, certificate data links to stock items automatically as material is received. Compliance by default — no manual entry.

Step 5 — Feed cert data into your ERP or Quality Management System (QMS) — optional. Export via CSV or use the REST API to push heat number data straight into your ERP or quality management system. See the integration strategy — from standalone use to full ERP sync.

From cert to cut plan in one system. GoSmarter extracts your cert data and links it to your stock records. It knows exactly what material you have, what grade it is, and which jobs it can fill. Feed that into Cutting Plans. Your cut list runs on verified material. Not a guess. See how Cutting Plans works →

The Business Case for GoSmarter

120 hrs

Saved a year

ÂŁ30

Loaded cost / hour

ÂŁ3,600

Saved every year

At a loaded labour cost of ÂŁ30 per hour, saving 120 hours equates to ÂŁ3,600 a year. Many high-volume teams recover the cost of their subscription within the first month. Actual savings depend on certificate volumes, labour costs, and existing workflows.

Not sure what the savings look like for your business? Use our Business Case Calculator to estimate your return—no account required.

Many customers start with MillCert Reader because it’s the quickest way to see value. Upload your first batch of certificates, extract the data in seconds, and demonstrate ROI from day one. As you grow, your certificate data connects seamlessly to inventory, traceability, and production workflows.

Why GoSmarter Beats Generic Compliance Systems

Metals-specific from day one — not a generic tool bent into shape.

CapabilityGeneric compliance / QMS softwareMillCert Reader
Certificate data captureManual upload into generic document fields — no cert-specific parsingAI reads heat number, grade, chemistry, and mechanical properties automatically
Setup and configurationWeeks to months of consultant-led configuration to model your workflowsLive the same day — no configuration required
Metals industry fitBuilt for generic document control, with no concept of EN 10204 types, heat numbers, or gradesPurpose-built for metals — EN 10204, heat traceability, and chemistry built in
Pricing modelPer-user licensing that scales with headcountPer site, one flat fee, unlimited users
Link to inventory and productionStandalone document control, disconnected from stock and ordersCerts link straight to inventory, orders, and cutting plans
Integration effortRequires an IT project or consultant to connect to your ERP or production systemsREST API and CSV export included, no extra cost

Why GoSmarter Beats Manual Cert Handling

The same six problems, solved automatically.

CapabilityManual / spreadsheet processMillCert Reader
Certificate data entry5-10 minutes of manual typing per certificate, copying heat numbers and chemistry off a photocopySeconds — AI extracts every field automatically, from a PDF or a scanned paper cert
Finding the right certHunting through "cert1.pdf", "cert2.pdf", "cert (1) copy.pdf" in a shared folderEvery PDF renamed by heat number in bulk — the right cert, every time
Grade and property checkingRelies on someone remembering to check the cert against the orderLow-confidence extractions flagged automatically for review before they reach stock
Audit trailAssembled in a rush from filing cabinets the week before an inspectionBuilt as you work — every cert linked to stock and orders from goods-in
Format coverageDifferent templates from every mill mean re-keying by hand each timeTrained on real certificates from mills worldwide — no per-mill template setup
ERP / QMS integrationRe-typing the same data into a second systemREST API and CSV export included on every paid plan, no extra charge

Every cert linked. Every trace complete.

GoSmarter reads each certificate, links it to the right stock, and builds the audit trail automatically. Compliance that holds up when it matters.

Try It Free Book a Demo See the real ROI numbers

ÂŁ295/month Rolling. ÂŁ235/month Paid Annually.

Mill Certificate AI extraction is in the Workshop tier at ÂŁ295/month (or ÂŁ235/month billed annually). Workshop includes 500 AI credits per month. New customers get 50% off their first month.

One site subscription: your whole team, unlimited users, no per-seat surprises as your operation grows.

What you get on the Workshop tier:

  • Compliance by default — every cert linked to every item automatically
  • 500 AI credits per month included
  • Audit trail starts at receipt — every incoming material traceable before it hits the floor
  • Audit? You’re already ready
  • Heat-code-named PDFs, bulk processed

After your first month:

  • ÂŁ295/month, billed monthly — cancel any time
  • ÂŁ235/month, billed annually — save ÂŁ720 a year
  • See the full pricing page for plan comparison and volume options

Upload a certificate and see what comes back. If a human can read it, the AI can read it faster.

Your data stays in Europe. GoSmarter runs on UK and EU servers only, complies with GDPR, and you can export everything as CSV at any time. No exit fees, no lock-in.

Try It Free Book a Demo

50% off your first month · Workshop tier · No credit card required

Get Up and Running Fast

50% off your first month. Workshop tier. No IT project. No consultant fees. No credit card. See what implementation looks like →

Documentation

Step-by-step guides to get you started and keep you moving.

Read the Docs

Pricing

Free to start. Pay-as-you-go. No enterprise sales theatre required.

See Pricing

Support

Real humans who know metals manufacturing, not a bot.

Get Help

Common Questions

Does GoSmarter keep an immutable audit trail of certificate changes?
Yes. Every amendment to an extracted certificate value is logged with the original value, the corrected value, who made the change, and a server-side timestamp that cannot be edited after the fact. This is true of the cert reader itself and extends across inventory and orders. GoSmarter’s permanent log covers mill certificates (MTRs), inventory items, orders and order lines, scrap log, and reference data. Deleted items are tracked and recoverable. That covers ISO 9001 Clause 8.5.2, International Automotive Task Force (IATF) 16949, and AS9100. Read the full announcement → — or see why audit trails matter in metals manufacturing.
What types of mill certificates does it support?
It works with paper scans and digital PDFs from all major steel mills worldwide. If a human can read it, our AI can read it.
Does it handle formats from different suppliers reliably?
Yes. We train the AI against certificate templates from mills around the world including European, US, and Asian producers. It handles every major format: single-heat certs, multi-heat documents, CE-marked certificates, and bespoke mill layouts. If a format trips it up on the first upload, our team tunes the extraction at no extra charge.
What if the AI cannot read one of our certificates?
Two things happen. First, you can create a manual entry — upload the document, fill in the supplier and cert details, and add heats and test results by hand. No certificate gets excluded because the original was awkward or arrived as a phone photo. Second, if a format consistently trips up the AI, our team tunes the extraction at no extra charge. You will know within your first month whether GoSmarter handles your suppliers’ formats — before you spend the full price.
What data does it extract?
Heat numbers, material grades, chemical composition, mechanical properties, and test results i.e. everything you’d normally type in by hand.
What happens when a certificate has missing or incomplete data?
GoSmarter surfaces missing fields at the point of upload rather than leaving them buried in a folder. If a required field is absent, the system flags it so your team can chase the supplier before the gap causes a production or audit problem. The approval workflow also acts as a final check: a certificate cannot be formally signed off until your QA team is satisfied it is complete.
How does it handle values that look wrong or uncertain?
The AI flags low-confidence extractions for human review rather than silently writing uncertain values to your records. Any extracted field can be corrected with a tracked amendment that logs the original value, the corrected value, who made the change, and when. Nothing enters your inventory record without going through the approval workflow. You stay in control of what gets accepted.
How quickly can I digitise a backlog of historical certificates?
Fast. You can use the API to upload hundreds of PDFs in one go. A typical backlog of a few thousand certificates is ingested, extracted, and searchable within a single working day. You do not need to prepare or rename the files beforehand.
Does GoSmarter MillCert Reader work alongside our existing ERP or Quality Management System (QMS)?
Yes. GoSmarter MillCert Reader connects to any Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or Quality Management System via CSV export or REST API. No dedicated connector or middleware required. The most common setup: process your certificates in GoSmarter, then export structured cert data as a CSV and import it into your ERP. Infor, Epicor, Microsoft Dynamics, Sage, SAP Business One, and similar platforms all handle this natively. For teams wanting a live connection, the REST API pushes heat number, grade, and mechanical property data directly to your ERP or quality management system in real time, triggering goods-in receipts or populating quality inspection records automatically. Many teams also run GoSmarter as a standalone searchable cert archive and export only when needed. See the integration strategy guide for ERP-specific connection patterns and common data flows.
How long does it take to process a certificate?
Seconds to minutes depending on the quality of the mill certificate and if we’ve seen the supplier before. Upload the file and get your data back faster than you can make a coffee.
How can we standardise mill cert data coming from different mills and formats globally?
GoSmarter’s AI is trained on certificate templates from mills across Europe, North America, Asia, and beyond. These include mills in Germany, France, Spain, Poland, Turkey, China, and South Korea. You do not need to map or configure each supplier’s format manually. Upload a cert from any mill and the extraction runs automatically. The output is always a consistent, structured data set: the same fields, the same format, regardless of which mill produced the original document. That consistent output is what lets you compare material properties across suppliers, feed data into your ERP, and pass audits confidently.
Which solutions address the pain of missing or incomplete mill certs arriving from suppliers?
MillCert Reader flags missing data at the point of upload rather than leaving it buried in a folder. If a field expected for the declared grade is absent (a missing impact test result, an incomplete chemical composition), the system surfaces it immediately so your team can chase the supplier before the gap causes a production or audit problem. You can also configure mandatory fields per grade or standard, so every cert that enters your archive meets your minimum data requirements.
Is MillCert Reader priced per user or per site?
MillCert Reader is priced per site, not per user. One subscription covers your entire team at a site: QC engineers, stock controllers, operations managers, and admin staff can all log in and process certificates under one flat fee. No per-seat charges. The cost stays flat as your team grows. It’s in the Workshop tier at ÂŁ295/month rolling or ÂŁ235/month billed annually. New customers get 50% off their first month. See the pricing page for full details.
Which software makes it easy to link mill certs to customer orders for audit trails?
GoSmarter links every mill certificate to the inventory items it covers, and from there to every order and despatch that used that material. When a customer or auditor asks for the cert for a specific delivery, you retrieve it in seconds by order number, heat number, or despatch date. From incoming certificate to outgoing order, the chain of custody is automatic and immutable. You never need to manually cross-reference a cert to an order again.
Can GoSmarter help catch quality issues with incoming material?
GoSmarter gives your QA team the tools to review every incoming certificate before accepting the data into your stock record. The AI flags low-confidence extractions for attention. Tracked amendments mean any correction is logged rather than quietly overwritten. The formal approval workflow means a QA team member must sign off the certificate before it is used in production documentation or stock allocation. You catch problems at goods-in because the process forces a review step, not because the software automatically validates values.
How quickly do quality and operations teams get productive with GoSmarter MillCert Reader?
Most teams process their first batch of mill certificates within an hour of signing up. There is no training course, no certification, and nothing to install. GoSmarter runs in your browser. The only action your team needs to learn is: upload a PDF, review the extracted data, confirm. The interface handles everything else. Quality engineers typically describe the transition as immediate. They are processing certs faster on day one than they were by hand. During the 14-day guided trial, most teams have replaced their manual cert filing process entirely before the trial period ends.
How can we reduce the time our quality team spends checking and filing mill certificates?
GoSmarter automates the three steps that consume most quality team time: data extraction (in under a minute per cert, rather than manual re-typing), filing (certificates are automatically renamed by heat code and linked to inventory), and retrieval (search by grade, heat number, or specification in seconds, rather than hunting through shared drives). Users report cutting mill cert admin from several hours per week to under 30 minutes. The approval workflow means quality sign-off happens in the system, not via email chains.
Can GoSmarter provide quick wins with mill cert automation without a long IT project?
Yes. Sign up, upload your first certificate, and GoSmarter extracts the data in under a minute. No template training, no configuration, no IT project. Most teams are processing live certificates within the first day. Our implementation team supports you during initial setup. New customers get 50% off their first month — no credit card required. For teams running on spreadsheets, the ROI case (120+ hours saved per year) typically pays back within the first year at current Workshop tier pricing.
Which platforms let us start with just mill cert automation and add scheduling or inventory features later?
GoSmarter is modular by design. You can start with MillCert Reader (just cert extraction, human review, and approval) and add Metals Manager for inventory and order management at any point. Cutting Plans (the cutting optimisation module) can be added independently of cert handling. There is no requirement to adopt all modules at once, and there is no re-implementation cost when you expand. Most customers start with mill cert automation because it delivers measurable ROI fastest, then add inventory and planning features as the team builds confidence with the platform.

Explore Other GoSmarter Features

Metals Manager

Know Exactly What Metal You Have.

Purpose-built inventory management for metals fabricators and stockholders. Track every piece of material from goods-in to despatch with live inventory and certificate-linked traceability.

Learn more

Cutting Plans

Reduce Scrap. Maximise Every Bar.

AI-powered cutting optimisation creates production-ready cut plans using your available stock and open orders.

Learn more

Free Tools

Everyday Tools for Metals Manufacturers.

Free calculators and utilities to help you make better production, sustainability, and purchasing decisions. No account required.

Learn more

Further Reading

Start with traceability. See the returns in week one.

50% off your first month. No credit card. No setup fee.

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