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Guide to selecting an aerospace welding company.
If you are in the market for an aerospace welding company, you should consider a few key items to make sure that you are selecting the best welder.
NADCAP Approval
- Nadcap Approval is a requirement from most major Aerospace companies. If you are looking to have your aerospace components welded, make sure the welding vendor is a NADCAP approved welding facility.
Mil-Spec Approved weld services
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If you are looking for a Mil-Spec welder make sure they can comply to military welding specifications such as Mil-Std-2219 or Mil-Std-1595. Mil-Spec welding is a US military welding standard and is used as the guideline for quality, qualification, and inspection of welds on military hardware
AWS Approved Welding
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Some of the most common aerospace welding standards are welding per AWS D17.1 and welding per AWS D17.2. If you are looking for an AWS D17.2 approved welder for example, you should ask to see the welder and machine qualifications that are required per AWS D17.2. If the welding vendor cannot quickly furnish these documents, you should beware.
CWI (Certified Welding Inspector)
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The Welding vendor should have Certified Welding Inspectors on site. Welding per AWS D17.1 will require the weld joints to inspected by a qualified welding inspector such as a CWI. CWI’s are commissioned by the AWS (American Welding Society) and they undergo extensive training and testing to prove their competency.
Prime Approvals
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When selecting a certified welding company, you should pay attention to their approvals. If the company only has 3 or 4 approvals, they are most likely a small shop with limited experience. If the certified welding company has 15 or more welding approvals this means they are established, and the primes have more faith in them.
Quality Approvals
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Make sure the Aerospace Welding company has an approved quality system such as AS9100. This quality standard puts systems in place to make sure the Aerospace Welding company is following all your and your customer’s quality requirements.
Clean Facility
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If possible, you should visit the welding vendor before making your final selection. The facility should be air conditioned, clean, and organized.
Number of Welders
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The bigger the staff the better your experience will be. Often smaller Aerospace Welding companies tend to get overloaded with work and there are not enough people to keep up with the customer service aspect or the quality requirements. An Aerospace Welding company with at least 10 welders will give you peace of mind to ensure your orders do not sit around without the attention they deserve.
Flexibility
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Your certified welding shop should be able to work with you in any situation. You should get price reductions as the qty goes up. You should get rolling deliveries or split lots on larger orders. Lastly, your certified welding company should provide expedited deliveries if you are in a time crunch.
Lynn Welding is an Aerospace Welding company that also provides Mil-Spec Welding services throughout the United States. If you have an aerospace welding application or a military welding application please contact Sales@lynnwelding.com to get more information about our welding services.
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