Keighley Laboratories gains Materials Testing Laboratory Nadcap status, with Merit

The West Yorkshire Company also gained a Merit grade, which rewards superior performance in Nadcap audits and reduces subsequent audit frequency. Accreditation has also prompted affirmation and prolongation of its Airbus approval, the aircraft manufacturer having adopted the Nadcap programme for its global supply chain. As one of the few Nadcap-accredited MTL facilities in the UK, Keighley Labs has been successfully assessed for the evaluation of aerospace welds, tensile, impact and bend testing, metallographic and micro indentation hardness procedures, and specimen preparation and machining. Combined with UKAS accredited testing and certification to many international standards and Civil Aviation Authority approval of in-house weld specimen supervisors, this, it is claimed, confirms the company as a centre of excellence for weld testing, at a time when there is a Europe-wide shortage of the necessary expertise. Says Joe Pinto, executive vice president and chief operating officer at the Performance Review Institute, which administers the Nadcap programme: "Achieving Nadcap accreditation is not easy; it is one of the ways in which the aerospace industry identifies those who excel in superior special processes. Companies such as Keighley Laboratories go above and beyond achieving Nadcap accreditation, to obtain Merit status, and they should be justifiably proud of that. We are determined to support continual improvement in the aerospace industry, by helping companies such as Keighley Labs become even more successful." Keighley Labs' managing director, Debbie Mellor, offers: "This is an important breakthrough for the company, since it raises our profile and reputation within the aerospace industry and enables us to obtain greater recognition for our expertise in weld and materials testing. It helps us to retain existing customers within the Northwest Aerospace Alliance and beyond, establishes our technical credentials for fresh market opportunities in other industries and paves the way for further export business in weld testing and other special processes." Image: L to R - Keighley Labs' MD, Debbie Mellor, with Tim Clegg, Peter Hanson and Matthew Mellor