For “special processes” that cannot be readily inspected or tested, some aerospace manufacturing processes must be accredited to Nadcap, which previously stood for the National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program. This accreditation requires specialized audits against specific Nadcap requirements for individual processes, not the company’s quality system; however, Nadcap process accreditation requires the company’s quality system itself to be certified to AS9100 (or equivalent) before Nadcap auditing can be conducted. Therefore, Oxebridge typically provides AS9100 implementation first (which can be done along a Rapid Implementation track), and then “adds on” Nadcap requirements for the affected processes (which, due to built-in Nadcap requirements, typically cannot be done in a rapid timescale.)
Nadcap process accreditation is a mandatory requirement for suppliers to Airbus, Honeywell, Rolls Royce, Boeing and others. Nadcap accreditation is solely administered by the Performance Review Institute (PRI). Their website provides in-depth information on the Nadcap audit and accreditation process.
Nadcap audits are process-specific and very detailed. They are far more stringent than quality system audits such as AS9100. Oxebridge can help ready your company for its particular Nadcap audit. Because of the wide variety of Nadcap audits and eligible processes, the Nadcap implementation plan for each company must be uniquely developed.
No honest consulting company should offer to provide adequate service for every single Nadcap accreditation scheme, unless they have a massive team of experts. As a result, Oxebridge only offers Nadcap consulting for a limited number of processes:
- AC7102 – Heat Treat
- AC7108 – Chemical processing (including anodize, passivation, etching)
- AC7109 – Coatings (including plating, heat treating, vapor deposition, paint & dry film)
- AC7118 – Composites
- AC7119 / AC7120 – Electronics (including circuit boards manufacture and assembly, cable assemblies)
For a quotation on Nadcap implementation services, click here. To learn more about Oxebridge and Nadcap, you can also contact us directly.