In the manufacture of small parts using cross-cutting or cold heading machines, high scrap rates often result from defective starting material. Testing the initial material and cutting out the defective sections of wire only leads to multiple short coils that increase changeover times and production costs for the parts manufacturer. Instead, the solution is to inspect the wire immediately before it is cut into small parts. Defective or unfinished parts are then automatically sorted as scrap and are not processed further.Thus, excessive costs of pre-tested initial material can be avoided.