By Kari Williamson
The four-day audit of PTI's quality management system was carried out by representatives from the independent, third party registrar SAI Global.
The AS9100 is the international management system standard for the aircraft, space and defence (AS&D) industry. The standard provides manufacturing suppliers with a comprehensive quality system for providing safe and reliable products. It is managed by the International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG) and based upon ISO 9001.
The latest Quality Management System, Revision C, is a designation offered only to organisations that design, develop and produce aviation, space and defence products while demonstrating strict adherence to quality, reliability and safety standards. It is endorsed by all major aerospace regulators including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the US Department of Defense (DoD) and the National Aerospace and Space Administration (NASA).
“AS9100C Certification is a rigorous auditing system that validates our organisation’s effective quality management system while providing a measurement for critical cost and time-to-market factors,” says PTI President Neal Goldenberg. “Achieving this certification with zero findings demonstrates our commitment to excellence.”
The latest revision C builds upon the basic tenets of the previous revision B in areas such as continuous improvement, control of non-conforming product and management responsibility. Revision C also increases focus on programme and supply chain management, as well as, vendor and subcontractor performance. Additionally, the new version requires increased visibility on many types of risks that could affect programme timelines and/or part quality.
“We invested in this effort to add value to our customers and to further establish our reputation as a leading supplier of custom plastic injection, metal injection (MIM) and ceramic injection moulding (CIM) services,” Goldenberg adds. “We take very seriously the parts we produce for the aerospace industry, many of which are flight-critical on man-rated engines.”
Examples of PTI’s aerospace parts made via powder injection moulding include a Hastelloy-X component for the combustion section of a jet engine and an Inconel part for an exhaust subsystem. Additionally research and development is currently underway to replace complex metal parts with ceramic components made via CIM from Zirconia and Alumina.
“Switching to ceramic will greatly enhance thermal properties allowing for longer exposure at higher temperatures which other metal alloys could not continuously function. Also, owing to ceramics’ inherent hardness, significantly increased wear resistance offer longer life to parts that experience high levels of wear,” Goldenberg says. “The net-shaped technology of our ceramic injection moulding allows us to offer these components for a fraction of the price which machined parts would cost.”
