Hartzell Aerospace Receives Nadcap Accreditation for Composites

July 7, 2010
Nadcap accreditation is recognition of commitment to continual improvement in aerospace quality and satisfy customer requirements and industry specifications.

Perris, California, July 7, 2010 – Hartzell Aerospace’s Industrial Tube Company, LLC (ITC) division has received Nadcap accreditation for composites. The Nadcap accreditation and subsequent upgrade of the manufacturing capabilities within the facility, positions Hartzell Aerospace ready to support the OEM, Tier 1 suppliers and subcontractors on upcoming programs and requirements. The new ITC clean room facilities are already being used for composite manufacturing of the recently awarded contract for low-pressure ECS ducting components for the Embraer 450/500 Legacy program, and carbon composite development units for the Airbus A350. Nadcap accreditation is recognition of ITC’s commitment to continual improvement in aerospace quality in order to satisfy customer requirements and industry specifications. This accreditation complements the Nadcap Welding accreditation at Hartzell Aerospace’s AcousticFab LLC. location.

Doug Wulf, Vice President of Operations for ITC said “I’m very proud of the effort we made to upgrade our facility to support our customers through attaining Nadcap accreditation. We are looking forward to continuing producing high quality, complex composite parts for the aerospace market under our new accreditation. We will continue to grow and upgrade our factory to increase our capabilities to provide higher value to our customers. Nadcap approval was an important step in our growth strategy.”

Nadcap accreditation ensures that ITC will manufacture composite components to industry-supported methods and processes which result in dependable, high quality products. As ITC produces silicone and other elastomer products, Nadcap approval required complete separation of composite and silicone material storage and manufacturing. All composite manufacturing at ITC is now performed in Class 10,000 Controlled Contamination Area (CCA) clean rooms. ITC was founded in 1965 in Gardena, CA as a flexible hose manufacturer primarily to support McDonnell Douglas. Over the past 45 years, ITC has grown to serve the worldwide OEM and Tier 1 aerospace market with flexible hoses, bellows, sleeves, custom shapes, composites and hybrid composite-flexible components. ITC is AS9100(b), ISO-9001:2000 and Nadcap Composite accredited facility. ITC was purchased by Tailwind Technologies Inc. in 2004 and became a part of the Hartzell Aerospace group in 2009. ITC’s President is Mr. David Schmidt.

Hartzell Aerospace comprises a group of companies owned by Tailwind Technologies Inc and includes Industrial Tube Co., AcousticFab and Electrofilm Manufacturing Co. LLC. The companies’ products have been in service for over 40 years, providing specialized OEM and aftermarket engineered applications including: ice protection, freeze protection, and surface and air heaters; noise control for ECS and APU applications; and composite and elastomer ducting and structures. Tailwind Technologies is also parent company to Hartzell Propeller of Piqua, Ohio, Mayday Manufacturing and Hi-Tech Metal finishing, both of Denton, Texas.

About Nadcap. Created in 1990 by SAE Inc., Nadcap is administered by the not-for-profit Performance Review Institute. PRI exists to advance the interests of the mobility and related industries through development of performance standards and administration of quality assurance, accreditation, and certification programs as well as related activities for the benefit of industry, government, and the general public. PRI works closely with industry to understand their emerging needs and offers Customer Solutions & Support (CS&S) in response. Learn more at www.pri-network.org