LAI International passes Additive Manufacturing audit on way to NADCAP accreditation
May 1, 2017
The AM cell at LAI International’s Tempe site, comprising two EBM machines and a powder removal system (Courtesy LAI)
LAI International, Inc., Tempe, Arizona, USA, has announced completion of a number of audits in its first step to become certified by NADCAP in the Additive Manufacturing process. The LAI Southwest team is the first company to undergo an audit by PRI NADCAP Welding Additive Manufacturing EBM and has successfully passed this important stage.
PRI NADCAP will present its audit results before the accreditation board at its June meeting, after which LAI expects to receive full AM accreditation. “PRI NADCAP is attended by all the Primes in Aerospace and created the checklist that was used to validate the work performed by the LAI team. The auditor was very thorough and verified every checklist item with objective evidence,” stated Joe Beauchemin, Quality Director at LAI International.
The audit was carried out at the request of Ed Carey, Tempe Site Leader, who last year expressed a desire for his team to attain NADCAP certification for his Additive Manufacturing cell, which comprises two EBM machines and a powder removal system.
The technology insertion was led by Adam Rivard and Caitlin Oswald, along with site manufacturing engineer Matthew Lewis, over eighteen months. During development the team attempted to optimise all process steps, from receipt of material and how it is managed through the life cycle, to the digital processing of customer requirements, post processing and inspection of finished goods.
LAI is certified to ISO9000 and AS9100 at all four sites and has recently been certified to ISO13485 for medical products manufacturing.
