Barron Industries earns NADCAP Accreditation for Digital Radiography
Barron Industries has taken another step to ensure its precision investment castings meet the stringent quality standards of the aerospace industry. The Michigan-based manufacturer has achieved NADCAP Accreditation for Digital Radiography, a Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) process for aluminum, steel and stainless steel components.
NADCAP is the acronym for The National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program – a global cooperative program of major companies designed to manage a cost-effective consensus approach to special processes and products and provide continual improvement within the aerospace and defense industries. NDT is just one of the special processes that NADCAP includes in its scope of accreditation services.
Digital Radiography is becoming the preferred industrial imaging method because of ongoing technological advancements and the significant reduction in price. Computed radiography (CR) cassettes use phosphor imaging plates to capture the X-ray image, instead of traditional X-ray film. The CR cassette goes into a reader to convert the data into a digital image.
World-leading aerospace companies such as Airbus, The Boeing Company, GE Aviation and Rolls-Royce work together with industry suppliers to agree to the standard that a supplier must attain in order to become and remain NADCAP approved.
Increasingly, aerospace companies will only sub-contract with NADCAP approved suppliers, as this is a globally recognized industry-wide standard of work ensuring that a part purchased from India is of similar quality to a part originating from Detroit.
NADCAP accreditation proves Barron’s in-house radiography complies with the strict requirements of the aerospace and defense industries. Daily system performance checks ensure detection of even the slightest indications, and regular audits verify the company maintains requirements of NADCAP, as well as our aerospace customers, including GE Aviation, Boeing and others.
Barron Industries is also NADCAP Certified for Penetrant Testing, another form of Non-Destructive testing.
The Penetrant Testing process involves applying a fluorescent penetrant to the surface of the test piece. After a specified time, the excess penetrant is removed from the surface and a developer is applied to facilitate the surface inspection and pull the penetrant trapped in the flaw back to the surface. Finally, a post-inspection cleaning to protect against corrosion should be applied.
Barron’s NADCAP Accreditation for welding also increases the company’s aerospace investment casting capabilities.
Barron performs welding in conformance with the ASME Section IX of the Boiler Code, AWS D17.1, as well as requirements for Ballistic Steel Welding.
“With our newly acquired NADCAP and GE Aviation certifications, we’re prepared to meet the stringent standards of the aerospace industry,” said President and CEO Bruce Barron.
Also registered to the AS9100 aerospace quality system, the company has received GE Aviation Certification and was awarded a renewable 5-year LTA for cast and machined stainless steel components for the new GE9X high-bypass turbofan aircraft engine. The anticipated 20-year contract is valued at $30-40 million.
In 2019, Barron’s orders for aerospace investment castings increased by 20 percent, and the Michigan-based company projects an additional 20 percent growth in the aerospace industry in 2020.
Barron Industries has also achieved conformance with cybersecurity controls required for defense company suppliers that handle Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). The manufacturer received certification for compliance with 110 cybersecurity best practices outlined in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication 800-171. The certification granted by NSF Global Business Solutions applies to IT services to internal company employees and protection of company proprietary information.
The NIST 800 certification ensures Barron’s preparedness in serving its aerospace and defense customers that need to maintain information security throughout their supply chains, said company president and CEO Bruce Barron. “By safeguarding company information from attack, we are now even more competitive within the defense industry,” he said. “By obtaining outside certification of NIST compliance, we are ahead of the curve.”
Barron produces critical cast precision components used in aircraft and defense technologies for both domestic and foreign markets including the Cockpit Control Feel and Drive Actuator for the Navy’s V-22 Osprey and fuel and HVAC systems on the Boeing 767 and Apache helicopter.
Other aerospace investment castings manufactured by Barron Industries include:
Exhaust components – inlet and outlet tubes, diffusers
Hydraulic pump housings
Brackets
Door latches and hinges
Passenger seat components
Cargo securing and handling hardware
Fluid pump and control components
Instrumentation housings
Barron Industries produces precision-machined components for many of the ground vehicles manufactured by world-leading defense companies including General Dynamics Land Systems, BAE Systems and Oshkosh Defense.
Barron manufactures precision cast components for the GDLS Stryker and Abrams tank programs, the Oshkosh Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), as well as BAE’s Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV), Paladin Integrated Management (PIM) and Bradley programs.
Typical components supplied by Barron to the defense industry include mounts, instrumentation housings, power distribution chassis, towing components, antenna mounts, hatch rings, hinges, latch assemblies and exhaust components.
Barron has acquired a new 10,000 square foot manufacturing plant to increase production capacity for its precision machined castings and assemblies. The company has also grown its workforce by more than 30 percent and invested in new equipment at its existing 65,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Oxford, MI.
The investment casting company has expanded its engineering and inspection capabilities with the addition of a new FARO Quantum S 7-axis, high-definition laser probe scanner and 8th-axis rotary platform.
Certified to the latest ISO standards, the innovative portable coordinate measuring machine (PCMM) allows Barron to easily verify casting quality by performing 3D inspections, dimensional analysis, CAD comparison, and reverse engineering, while saving time and reducing scrap and rework costs.
“With the additional of our new 3D scanner, we can quickly gather key data on complex patterns and castings,” said Greg Barron, VP Engineering and Quality. “This enables us to share critical information both internally with our process engineers, as well as with our customers, within hours.”
ABOUT BARRON INDUSTRIES
Founded in 1983, Barron Industries is a unique full-service manufacturer of high-precision Investment Castings, machined components and complete assemblies. Barron offers complete turnkey product manufacturing of components for Aerospace, Defense, Automotive, Oil and Gas, Nuclear, Medical, and other commercial industries. Capabilities include CAD engineering, rapid prototyping, CNC machining, plating, painting, assembly, laser etching, and custom packaging. Ferrous and non-ferrous alloys poured include Class II armor, stainless steels, tool steels, aluminum, cobalt, and nickel-based alloys.