Nadcap (formerly NADCAP, the National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program) is a global cooperative accreditation program for aerospace engineering, defense and related industries.
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. PRI has its headquarters in Warrendale, Pennsylvania with branch offices for Nadcap located in London, Beijing, and Nagoya.
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
Leonardo Aircraft
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 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.
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
