Questions
Twelve questions we get asked before a first programme
Answered here rather than in a first call, because a supplier’s answers to these twelve tell you more than any brochure. Where the honest answer is “not yet”, that is what it says.
Are you a factory?
No. We are the manufacturing partner that sits between the holder and the shop floor: we select and qualify the process, own the routing and the programme, and carry the record discipline. Production runs at partner facilities whose certificates you can audit. What we do not do is call somebody else’s plant our own.
What quality system do you work to?
The system is built to the AS9120 and AS9100 discipline the programmes require, and certification is in progress. Partner facilities hold their own certifications and those certificates are provided in their name. We do not describe our certification as held, and we do not present a partner’s certificate as ours.
How is first article inspection handled?
The inspection plan is written against the drawing before the first part is cut. Every characteristic is ballooned and numbered, dimensional results are recorded as actual values, material certificates are checked against the callout, and process records are attached where the drawing calls for them. The report is issued in AS9102 format and submitted for your approval — not for information.
What is your traceability granularity?
Five levels: the heat or lot behind the material certificate, the process card for every operation with parameters and date, the operator who signed each operation, the unit serial carried onto the paperwork, and the retention period stated in the quality agreement. If an auditor pulls one unit out of a fleet, the file has to close on that unit.
Who signs the release documents?
You do. A release document is issued under an approval, so it can only be signed by the holder of that approval. We supply the production records, the first article and the certificate of conformity that support the signature. A manufacturing partner offering to sign a release for you is offering something it cannot lawfully give.
Can parts built under your partner’s China approval be installed on our aircraft?
Sometimes, and often not. Acceptance of a foreign release document is decided by the State of Registry: some authorities accept it under a bilateral arrangement, others require the part to be released under a local approval or an approved modification. We check the position for the specific part number and registry, in writing, before you order. The answer can be no, and when it is, we say so.
What is the minimum order quantity?
One unit for a first article — a first article cannot be amortised across a batch. Production quantities are quoted per part family and per process, because set-up, tooling life and material minimums differ. Tooling is quoted separately so that the per-unit price stays honest.
We have a sample but no drawing. Can you work from it?
We carry out engineering and process development from a sample or an OEM reference part: material identification, dimensional survey, routing, fixtures and process trials, then a first article. What that produces is an engineering draft and a manufacturing process, not approved design data. Design compliance verification and the approval submission remain with you, or with a DER you appoint.
Who owns the drawings and the tooling?
You own what you supply, and you own what is built specifically for your part. Tooling is listed in a schedule annexed to the agreement, marked as your property, kept separable from other work, and returnable at the end of the term. It is not used to produce parts for anyone else, including under a different part number.
Do you sell parts or hold stock?
No. Output is produced against a programme and belongs to the customer who ordered it. There is no stock list, no exchange pool and no availability page on this site. If you need parts from stock, this is the wrong site — the answer is a distributor, not a manufacturer.
Can we take delivery at an intermediate process stage instead of a finished heat sink?
Yes, for carbon brake discs. The agreement names one of four handover points: a disc at the density stated in your specification, a disc machined to your drawing, a disc after the specified treatment, or a riveted stack with the metallic hardware used in that riveting. You pick the point that matches what your own line does next. Stage names and delivered forms are published; the parameters behind them stay with the qualified facility and the technical agreement.
What paperwork comes with an intermediate-stage shipment?
A certificate of conformity against the drawing revision used, dimensional and treatment records for the operations performed, material and lot traceability, and a process traveller signed at each operation. What does not come with it is an airworthiness release tag: output at an intermediate stage is not a finished, released part. Final inspection and the release signature remain with you.
If one of these answers has ruled us out, that is a result for both sides — it just happened before anybody spent a week on a quotation.
Anything not covered here, ask directly: the manufacturing desk answers in writing within two working days.
Tell us what you are building. We will tell you what it takes.
Send a drawing status, a part family and a state of registry. If the release path does not work, you will hear that in the first reply — not after the tooling is cut.