An affiliate of SAE International, the Performance Review Institute (PRI) was established in 1990 and operates as a not-for-profit industry-managed organization, with offices in the UK, China and Japan as well as the headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

Through Nadcap, its principal program, PRI offers quality assurance of special processes and products to the aerospace industry. Prior to the realization of Nadcap, the major aerospace companies audited their own suppliers, some of whom were fulfilling orders to several customers. A government / industry conference sixteen years ago concluded that this constituted, in many instances, a duplication of time, effort and resource. Now, the major aerospace companies subscribe to the Nadcap program and mandate their supplier base to obtain Nadcap accreditation for specified special processes or products, such as heat treating, welding or elastomer seals.

In order to achieve Nadcap accreditation in their designated field, suppliers are audited by a technical expert with aerospace experience. This auditor is approved for the purpose by the appropriate Nadcap Task Group: a body of aerospace primes and suppliers who are active within that field in the Nadcap program. The prime members of the Task Group are also responsible for making the ultimate decision on supplier accreditation, making this a truly industry-managed program. On receipt of accreditation, suppliers are included on the Qualified Manufacturers List (QML) which is publicly available at www.eAuditNet.com for procurement purposes. Chetan Daté of Honeywell Aerospace, Nadcap Management Council Chairperson, commented: “The stakeholders in the Nadcap program work together to drive industry standards on special process control and product quality… by working together, they strive for excellence and continual improvement towards increased safety of aerospace products”. A recent development is the introduction of the NUCAP program – a system of auditing the major aerospace companies to the same standard as their suppliers to ensure excellence throughout the industry.

PRI also operates a Qualified Products Listing (QPL). Similar to the Nadcap program, its organizational structure and its QML, a QPL is a document which lists manufacturers who have received a PRI product qualification approval letter to a specific standard for specific product designations and plant locations.

To assist aerospace suppliers in their pursuit of the various accreditations that PRI offers, the organization has developed several training programs. For suppliers working towards Nadcap accreditation, there is the Nadcap Customer Support Initiative (NCSI), a free, web-based training program designed to walk suppliers through the Nadcap process. The training discusses everything from audit preparation to nonconformance responses, as well as the additional training tools provided by PRI. Also on offer is training on Root Cause Corrective Action (RCCA). This seminar, based on the flow chart utilized by Nadcap and provided during the Nadcap audit, promises a sure-fire method to improve root cause analysis and prevent the same mistakes from occurring over and over again. This hands-on and highly interactive class provides a systematic approach to effectively identify cause chains and then mistake proof the process allowing you to eliminate the sources of nonconformance