Making the standard

Making the standard
Making the standard

Nadcap celebrated its 25th anniversary last year. Joseph Pinto, executive vice-president and COO at the Performance Review Institute (PRI), which organises the aerospace supply chain oversight programme discusses its developments

Nadcap celebrated its 25th anniversary last year. Joseph Pinto, executive vice-president and COO at the Performance Review Institute (PRI), which organises the aerospace supply chain oversight programme discusses its development with Ed Hill. The aerospace industry demands tough standards from its manufacturers, but in such as safety regulated sector that's only to be expected. A consistent and reliable supply chain is critical to produce the high quality components demanded by the latest aircraft.

Launched in 1990, the National Aerospace and Defence Contractors Accreditation Programme (Nadcap) was an attempt by the Prime contractors to coordinate the supply chain and develop industry-wide criteria for processes and products.

Twenty five years on and Nadcap approval has become an important benchmark that companies seek if they want to win business in the competitive aerospace sector.

“Nadcap is an intense, objective, technically focused audit that validates compliance to customer requirements,” Joseph Pinto begins. “It is not a general quality audit such as ISO9000 or AS9100; they are systems assessment audits. Receiving Nadcap accreditation is a significant achievement, and represents a milestone for many companies around the world because it demonstrates a company has attained a level of technical process capability that is internationally recognised by industry peers.

“We have made definite progress since I started at PRI in 2010. At that time the focus of the organisation had been mainly on the prime contractors; after all, they are the ones who mandate Nadcap accreditation throughout the supply chain. My aim was also to focus on the suppliers. We can learn from their expertise just as much as they can learn from the Primes. While there is still some way to go, there have been great strides in this direction.” Developing collaboration So in an industry that can be secretive and full of non-disclosure agreements between OEMs and suppliers, has Nadcap improved communication down the supply chain? “A number of industry representatives who are actively involved with the programme agree that Nadcap has helped foster just such an environment,” states Pinto. “The current Nadcap management council chairperson, Jeff Lott, manager, special processes at Boeing commented, ‘As a customer I feel the partnership of the suppliers and subscribers in the Nadcap Programme raises the quality of services for air vehicles and ensures better compliance to the design, ultimately contributing to safer air travel for everyone'.

“Pascal Blondet, head of supplier approval and qualification at Airbus, stated, ‘In my experience Nadcap has added value by unifying the global industry. It provides an open forum where experts from around the world work together to put quality above competition, consistently identifying opportunities to minimise error and contributing to the improvement of end product quality'.”

Over 25 years the landscape of the aerospace supply chain has significantly changed becoming more global in nature, so how does Nadcap ensure it is reaching all those global suppliers?

“The consistency that Nadcap offers means that suppliers are evaluated according to the same requirements, whether they are in Birmingham, Boston or Beijing. For the prime contractors, this is incredibly valuable,” Pinto states.

“Since 2012 when the first Asian prime contractor, COMAC in China, subscribed to Nadcap, the number of non-North American or European prime contractor subscribers has grown to four, with the addition of Embraer in Brazil, Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation/Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan and Singapore Aerospace Technologies last year.

“As we did in Europe, PRI has established regional offices in Asia – one in China and one in Japan – to ensure our local customers have staff they can liaise with in their own language and time zone. In addition, we have relationships with local industry associations.

“In collaboration with them, we continue to offer training and educational symposia in the local languages, as well as making various documents and websites available in multiple languages. We have also held a number of technical symposia in China and Japan which have been very well received. These symposia have been supported by regional Primes, including Boeing and Rolls-Royce.”

Pinto says Nadcap's next big initiative will be directing its focus on several areas of the industry including measurement and inspection and metallic and composite materials.

“The Nadcap Management Council (NMC), which comprises representatives from all of the subscribing primes, regularly assesses areas where the Nadcap programme may bring additional value. Nadcap is about to launch an effort in measurement and inspection which may become the largest commodity area in the entire programme. It will address areas such as airflow, articulated arms, laser trackers, and coordinate measuring machines. The NMC is also launching an effort in metallic materials manufacturing with the goal of addressing forgings, castings, and raw materials. A little further down the road we will be looking at how Nadcap could be used to support assembly practices such as sealant application and fastener installation.

“In general, Nadcap focuses on special processes such as chemical processing, heat treatment, and non-destructive testing to name a few. Special process accreditation is probably what Nadcap is most recognised for. However, Nadcap is much broader in its scope. Nadcap already accredits some raw materials such as carbon fibre, resins and adhesives, prepreg materials and honeycomb core.”

Getting on board

So how can companies participate in Nadcap and how are they guided through the process?

“Three Nadcap meetings are held around the world each year, comprising predominantly of technical discussions about Nadcap audit checklist content. The meetings are free to attend and with anywhere from 600 – 1,000 industry experts in attendance, represent an excellent opportunity to network as well as learn more about Nadcap. In addition, free Nadcap-oriented training is offered through eQuaLearn at every Nadcap meeting. Topics include Root Cause Corrective Action, Pyrometry, and Nadcap Audit Preparation. The next two meetings in Europe are in Madrid in February and London in June.

“Of course, not everyone can travel to the meetings. As a result, PRI has recently begun to hold free regional technical symposia throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia to offer companies the opportunity to gain technical information/knowledge that will help them better prepare for a Nadcap audit.

“Last year, we held symposia in Detroit, Torrance and Hartford in the USA, and in Paris, France and Birmingham. In total, 330 delegates attended these five symposia, of which 80% had not previously attended a Nadcap meeting.

“As well as technical content, such as audit preparation, a number of Nadcap subscribers presented their policies on Nadcap, including Airbus, BAE Systems, GE, Northrop Grumman, Rolls-Royce, Safran and UTC Aerospace. Additional symposia will be scheduled in 2016 around the world.”

Pinto concludes: “In addition, the Nadcap Supplier Support Committee operates a mentoring programme. Companies new to Nadcap can be partnered up with more experienced companies who can help guide them through the process.”

www.p-r-i.org

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