Aeromet secures UK first in measurement and inspection

Aeromet International has become the first UK company to gain a new global aerospace certification which could mean new contracts and customers for the Worcester-based castings specialist.

The company’s Worcester site is the first in the UK to achieve Nadcap accreditation for Measurement and Inspection (M&I) which puts it in the first five in Europe and first 50 in the world to attain this standard.

Nadcap (National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program) is an industry-managed approach to assess conformity of 'special processes' set by a group of technical experts from prime customers, suppliers and NPL, the UK’s National Measurement Institute. The new Nadcap M&I accreditation standard has been adopted by aerospace prime customers including Airbus, Boeing, GE and Safran.

Aeromet specialises in aluminium sand and investment casting,employing 260 staff in foundries in Worcester, Rochester and Sittingbourne. The company supplies aerospace and defence customers with a range of airframe and aero engine components including fuel system components,wing tips, doors and heat exchangers. As part of its ambitious growth plans, the company is working with Sharing in Growth (SiG), the government-backed programme to raise the productivity and competitiveness of the UK aerospace supply chain.

Aeromet already holds a number of global accreditations including AS9100, ISO9001 and Nadcap for Heat Treatment, Non Destructive Testing and Welding.

Aeromet’s managing director Simon Holliday said: “At Aeromet we make it our business to lead from the front in order to provide the best possible service to customers. With over 30 years’ experience we are continuously developing techniques and processes that enable us to form unique and lasting partnerships with the biggest names in the industry.“

The Nadcap Measurement and Inspection accreditation demonstrates our leadership in ensuring the quality of our products. It will not only improve our offer to existing customers, it will provide new customers with the confidence to work with us in the production of sand and investment castings.”

As part of the Product Verification element of the Sharing in Growth programme,The National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the UK's National Measurement Institute, supported Aeromet to attain the new standard.

Said Andy Page, CEO of Sharing in Growth: “Product verification is a key part of the Sharing in Growth programme as measurement and inspection is critical to effective and productive high value manufacturing. So SiG is delighted that, with our support, Aeromet is the first UK company to achieve this new global industry standard.”Said Lisa Leonard, NPL’s Head of Regional Ventures: “Due to the vital role good measurement practice plays in transforming businesses, NPL worked closely with key aerospace companies in the Nadcap team to establish the M&I standard. Today, firms increasingly see standards achievement as route to increasing business or as an entry to market. We are happy to see Aeromet achieving this success.”

Nadcap M&I chair Simon Gough-Rundle,Rolls-Royce assistant Chief Metrologist, said:“We have been working with PRI and aerospace key companies since 2011 to form the Nadcap M&I process and have achieved a very pragmatic accreditation process for measurement technologies. The programme takes its source data from many prime standards and is fully balloted to achieve a common set of acceptance criteria that represent best practice in manufacturing measurement. “To achieve accreditation to the Nadcap programme is a signal of real quality in a company. To be the first in the U.K. and one of the first in Europe shows the company off as a leading light, and demonstrates the value of SiG and the Nadcap program.”

Boeing supported the Nadcap M&I standard development and is one of Aeromet’s key customers. Jeffrey Luckey, vice president of Supplier Performance for Europe, Middle East and India for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said: “Aeromet is a long standing supplier to Boeing so we are pleased to see them continuing to embrace Nadcap and we congratulate them on being first in the UK to achieve the standard.”