Nadcap
Nadcap (formerly NADCAP, the National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program) is a global cooperative accreditation program for aerospace engineering, defense and related industries.
History of Nadcap
The Nadcap program is administered by the Performance Review Institute (PRI). Nadcap was established in 1990 by SAE International. Nadcap's membership consists of "Prime Contractors" who coordinate with aerospace accredited Suppliers to develop industry-wide audit criteria for special processes and products. Through PRI, Nadcap provides independent certification of manufacturing processes for the industry.[1] PRI has its headquarters in Warrendale, Pennsylvania with branch offices for Nadcap located in London, Beijing, and Japan (information to be provided at a later date).[2]
Fields of Nadcap activities
The Nadcap program provides accreditation for special processes in the aerospace and defense industry.
These include:
- Aerospace Quality Systems (AQS)
- Chemical Processing (CP)
- Coatings (CT)
- Composites (COMP)
- Conventional Machining as a Special Process (CMSP)
- Elastomer Seals (SEAL)
- Electronics (ETG)
- Fluids Distribution (FLU)
- Heat Treating (HT)
- Materials Testing Laboratories (MTL)
- Measurement & Inspection (M&I)
- Metallic Materials Manufacturing (MMM)
- Nonconventional Machining and Surface Enhancement (NMSE)
- Nondestructive Testing (NDT)
- Non Metallic Materials Manufacturing (NMMM)
- Non Metallic Materials Testing (NMMT)
- Sealants (SLT)
- Welding (WLD)
The Nadcap program and industry
PRI schedules an audit and assigns an industry approved auditor who will conduct the audit using an industry agreed checklist. At the end of the audit, any non-conformity issues will be raised through a non-conformance report. PRI will administer and close out the non-conformance reports with the Supplier. Upon completion PRI will present the audit pack to a 'special process Task Group’ made up of members from industry who will review it and vote on its acceptability for approval.
The Nadcap Subscribers include:
- 309th Maintenance Wing-Hill AFB
- Aerojet Rocketdyne
- Leonardo Helicopters
- Airbus Group - Airbus
- Airbus Group - Airbus Defence and Space
- Airbus Group - Airbus Helicopters
- Airbus Group - Premium AEROTEC GmbH
- Airbus Group - Stelia
- Alenia Aermacchi S.p.A
- BAE Systems Military Air Solutions (MAS)
- BAE Systems
- Ball Aerospace & Technology Corporation
- The Boeing Company
- Bombardier Inc.
- COMAC
- Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA)
- Eaton, Aerospace Group
- Embraer S.A.
- GE Aviation
- GE Aviation - GE Avio S.r.l.
- General Dynamics
- General Dynamics - Gulfstream
- GKN Aerospace
- GKN Aerospace Sweden AB
- Heroux-Devtek Landing Gear Division Inc.
- Honeywell Aerospace
- Israel Aerospace Industries
- Latécoère
- Liebherr-Aerospace SAS
- Lockheed Martin Corporation
- Lockheed Martin - Sikorsky Aircraft
- Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation
- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries LTD
- MTU Aero Engines AG
- Northrop Grumman Corporation
- Parker Aerospace Group
- Raytheon Company
- Rockwell Collins Inc.
- Rolls-Royce
- SAFRAN Group
- Singapore Technologies Aerospace
- Sonaca
- Spirit AeroSystems
- Textron Inc. - Beechcraft
- Textron Inc. - Bell Helicopter
- Textron Inc. - Cessna Aircraft Company
- Textron Inc. - Textron Systems
- Thales
- Triumph Group Inc.
- United Technologies Corporation - Goodrich (UTC Aerospace)
- United Technologies Corporation - Hamilton Sundstrand (UTC Aerospace)
- United Technologies Corporation - Pratt & Whitney
- United Technologies Corporation - Pratt & Whitney Canada
- Zodiac Aerospace
Nadcap Meetings
Nadcap meetings are held several times a year in different locations worldwide. For example, the 2016 meetings were held in Madrid (Spain) in February; London (United Kingdom) in June; and Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania). During these meetings there are open Task Group meetings and other workshops (with participation of Primes, Suppliers, and PRI staff). These meetings are used to discuss the program development and changes to audit criteria among other topics. Agendas and minutes are posted on the PRI website.[3]
Nadcap Training
During the Nadcap meetings, free training classes are provided on different topics such as:
- Pyrometry
- Root Cause Corrective Action - RCA
- Special processes, such as, NDT, chemical processing, etc.
- Internal auditing
- AS/EN/JISQ 9100
- Problem Solving Tools
- Nadcap Audit Preparation – Chemical Processing
- Nadcap Audit Preparation – Heat Treating
- Nadcap Audit Preparation – Metallic Material Testing Laboratories
- Nadcap Audit Preparation – Non-Destructive Testing
- Nadcap Audit Preparation – Welding
References
- ↑ PRI Official Site, Nadcap Home Page, Correct as of 16 May 2013
- ↑ PRI Official Site, Contact Us Page, Correct as of 16 May 2013
- ↑ PRI Official Site, Nadcap Meetings Page, Correct as of 16 May 2013
- Boeing official site
- ADS Group official site
- Aerospace Manufacturing
- Quality Manufacturing Today
External links
- Nadcap official site