Advanced Precision Machining achieves AS9100 certification

Burnsides Advanced Precision Ltd. recently became the first machining company in Nova Scotia to achieve certification to the AS9100B quality management system.

Stephen Hilchey, marketing manager for Advanced Precision, says, This is an internationally renowned certification in the aerospace industry. Were a supplier of precision machined components and now were qualified to do contract manufacturing directly for such prime aerospace companies as Boeing, Bombardier and Airbus.

Hilchey says Advanced Precision Ltd., which is also ISO 9001:2000 certified, used to do work for those companies through subcontractors. Being able to work for them directly means moving up the supply chain to being able to offer more value-added work.

Its going to attract more business, says Hilchey. We know theres a shortage of suppliers in the industry due to the upswing in aircraft production. The industry is booming. We wanted to be proactive and meet this demand head-on. Our goal is job creation and growth through increased value-added services.

Doing value-added work, he says, may mean doing additional processes that can increase the value of the product to the end user.

Advanced Precision does a lot of structural work for the aerospace industry, manufacturing pieces that give strength to the body of the plane, landing gear, fuel application systems, engine fittings, communication systems and even cockpit consoles, Hilchey says.

In October 2007, an AS9100 registrar came from Montreal to audit Advanced Precision.

It was an extensive audit that intensely studied the manufacturing process throughout our facility from start to finish, says Hilchey. An auditors job is to look for any possible holes in our procedures and protocols that could potentially compromise the quality and traceability of a finished product. We were very pleased because we knew it was going to be a tremendous amount of work and, in most instances, companies have to go through an audit several times before they can be approved. We passed with flying colours the first time.

Hilchey says the company had the help of Brent Annesty of ISO Atlantic Consulting Inc. to help prepare.

Our employees did a fantastic job, says Hilchey. Their hard work has really paid off. We can all take pride in the fact were raising the profile of Nova Scotia and Atlantic Canada in the aerospace community and giving larger aerospace contractors reason to do business here. We know this is going to open up a lot of doors.

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