STS Defence Granted Nadcap Merit Status

STS Defence has now achieved Nadcap Merit Status for Electronic Circuit Card Assembly at its manufacturing site in Hampshire. Nadcap is a worldwide co-operative programme of major companies, which allows industry oversight of the quality control of specific manufacturing processes and products within the aerospace sector, from coatings and composites to electronics and heat treatments. It promotes continuous improvement and process control which in turn enhances product quality by focusing on overall supplier performance.

The Nadcap merit programme exists to reward superior performance in Nadcap audits. Suppliers on merit may reduce their audit frequency from every 12 months to every 18 and then 24 months, generating a significant saving in time, cost and resources.

“The Nadcap audit is a stringent process designed to highlight members of the aerospace supply chain with outstanding quality and engineering processes. Entry into the merit programme represents an industry wide recognition for those suppliers who really are the crème de la crème”, states Arshad Hafzee, Executive Director of Global Business Development and Corporate Strategies at the Performance Review Institute.

The Performance Review Institute revealed that suppliers on merit;

• Typically receive three times fewer major non-conformances in their Nadcap audits
• Receive approximately two times fewer total non-conformances in the Nadcap audits

Managing Director Richard Papanicolaou commented: “The award of Merit status for STS Defence is reward for their continued commitment to Nadcap and manufacturing excellence, and reinforces our position as the primary Nadcap Electronics manufacturer in Europe. To date STS Defence are the only supplier in Europe with AC7120 (CCA) and AC7121 (CHA) and the next goal is to achieve meritstatus for Cable and Harness Assembly, in early 2013.”