Manufacturing and supplying products to the aerospace industry demands a lot more than just good craftsmanship. In addition to a comprehensive quality system, such as ISO9001 and other accreditations, Nadcap certification is a must.
Pronexos is Nadcap-certified for specific high-temperature vacuum heat treatments and vacuum brazing of up to 1350°C. We have also achieved Nadcap certification for both Brinell and Rockwell hardness testing and Pyrometry, the practice of measuring and testing very high temperature furnaces.
Who are Nadcap?
Nadcap is a conformity assessment body that brings together technical experts from industry and government in order to accredit suppliers and define operational programme requirements.
“Nadcap’s aim is to set up a standardised quality assurance system and reduce redundant auditing in the entire supply chain” explains Vera Krijgsman, Technical Project Leader at Pronexos. “They implement a strict regime for resolving all findings and provide lots of instructions for following the correct process procedure.”
What does Nadcap certification involve?
Nadcap auditors have extensive technical knowledge of standards from years of experience, making this process both rigorous and thorough. Manufacturers must follow several steps to become certified:
- Using a matrix
Ahead of applying for Nadcap certification, a compliance matrix should be utilised. Using this matrix to assess all the standards systematically, with process specifications, calibration instructions and drawings, reveals what needs to be done to fulfil Nadcap’s requirements.
- Pre-audit
Initially, a type of pre-audit is conducted over the course of a few days. This stage is designed to provide an overview of all the points that need resolving ahead of the real audit. This presents an opportunity to resolve any obvious issues.
- Real audit
Over the following months, the real audit takes place. At this stage the Nadcap auditor needs to witness real, physical orders being processed, and to see a range of different orders in different materials being fulfilled.
- The aftermath
This stage looks at issue resolution. An independent engineer from the Performance Review Institute (PRI) assesses whether the investigation into the cause of the finding, and its resolution, have been carried out properly.
- Silver and gold status
After being accredited for the first time, the Nadcap audit is repeated annually. If a company performs well for three years in a row, with few major findings, the audit is then only conducted once every 18 months.
Pronexos has already achieved silver Nadcap status and is aiming to achieve gold status by completing six successful Nadcap audits. To find out more about Pronexos Nadcap certification and capabilities, please contact us.
