Customer demanding NADCAP certification for CMM Measurement

[fraktion]

Hello All.

I work for a manufacturer who is a tier 1 supplier to one of the primes. They are asking us to obtain NADCAP certification for CMM Measurement as they deem it a special process.

We are a small company, I have 2 engineers and 2 CMM's. The auditor from our AS9100 certifying body warned me off getting NADCAP as it's a pain, and even suggested I look for another job before having to implement it! This, of course, hardly fills me with joy.

Realistically, am I going to need to employ another person who's sole purpose it is to implement this? My team are stacked out with work as it is (as am I), but I need to get back to the customer with a timeline for implementation. I have an old issue A version AC7130, but that's all I can seem to get hold off to see what's involved.

Can anyone help me? Please?

 

[ChrisM]

Although CMM measurement is a process, it does not involve altering the part in any way, it is purely for measurement purposes. I'm no expert in NADCAP but I would find it hard to believe that you would need special certification purely because you use a CMM for measurement. If you do not use the CMM to inspect the part(s) in question, would you still be subjected to having to obtain NADCAP certification?

 

[Quality-Nation]

The easiest thing to do it check with PRI and see if there actually IS such a thing. Customers are sometimes confused.

 

[Cari Spears]

Boeing required it for CMMs and Laser Trackers for a couple of years. We had Nadcap for both for 2 years, but dropped it as soon as Boeing published that they were no longer requiring it.

 

[fraktion]

Boeing required it for CMMs and Laser Trackers for a couple of years. We had Nadcap for both for 2 years, but dropped it as soon as Boeing published that they were no longer requiring it.

Thanks for this, Carl. Were you part of the implementation process for NADCAP for the 2 years you had it? How much of pain was it?

 

[Cari Spears]

Yes - and yes, it was a pain. We make tooling - the first auditor insisted on things that make sense for production parts or high volume production processes, but not for one-off tools. We struggled through it and got the accreditation. The second year, I called PRI and asked for someone with a tooling background - we lucked out and got a retired Boeing tooling guy, so it went much smoother. I have to say, the most frustrating part about Nadcap is, PRI is the only place that does it, and there is no recourse if you disagree with them. Oh, and one thing that really sucks: every time we got a nonconformance, they would issue another nonconformance for how it got past your internal audits. Ridiculous.

Which prime is requiring it now? And is it in their supplier requirements manual - or quality clauses - or whatever? We work with all the big guys, and no one is requiring it of us.

 

[fraktion]

Hi Carl.

Sorry for the late response. It's one of the big Prime's. I'm not sure if I can name them. Either way, I've had their QM on site who tried to get us a deviation from the requirement but they've come back adamant we need to have it.
I've now sent 4 emails to PRI as I need to understand the costs but have had nothing back.

I don't know the amount of days required, the frequency of audit and days required, amount of auditors, pre-assessment requirements etc...and of course my MD is chasing me for costs!

 

[Kronos147]

I've now sent 4 emails to PRI as I need to understand the costs but have had nothing back.

[/sarcasm]Not PRi! The premier monopoly on monetizing MIL specs? THAT PRi?[/end sarcasm]

Sorry mods, I know, no politics.....

 

[outdoorsNW]

Could you outsource parts for this one customer to an outside CMM service that is Nadcap?
Or are there practical reasons (cost, time, customer volume, etc.) that make outsourcing not feasible?

 

[Quality-Nation]

Have you check3d to see f there is an actual NADCAP audit checklist for cmm? Because you have someone asking for it, doesn’t mean it’s a “thing”…