My Nadcap Audit Experience – Canagrosa Lab & Services

PRI collaborated with Canagrosa Lab & Services – a major player in the Spanish aerospace and defense industries to provide this article. Sergio Domínguez Núñez, Technical Director at Canagrosa and active member of the Supplier Support Committee (SSC), shares his Nadcap experience.  

How did you first hear about Nadcap and why did your company decide to pursue Nadcap accreditation in the first place?

I first heard about Nadcap during my job interview at Canagrosa back in 2005. At this time, Canagrosa´s most important customer had asked the company to take part in the Nadcap program. 2005 was a period of great development for the aerospace industry in Spain. Consequently, the company made the decision to be part of this industry-managed program. Later, in 2014, the Spanish Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul (MRO) leader asked Canagrosa to extend its Nadcap accreditation in Chemical Processes and MTL to a new facility in order to become its unique supplier for testing services. Nadcap is considered to be the most demanding accreditation program in the aerospace and defense industries. Although most companies obtain Nadcap accreditation because their customers require it, after 15 years of being a Nadcap accredited company, in our opinion, there are several benefits of participating in the Nadcap program. They include improved company processes and getting a more robust Quality Management System. In addition, being a Nadcap accredited company is a good marketing tool and a competitive advantage over your competitors. Canagrosa has expanded its client portfolio thanks to its Nadcap accreditation and to its commitment to expanding the scope of its accreditation due to the requirements of potential customers.  

How easy is it to find the information you need to help you prepare for a Nadcap audit?

In our opinion, one of the great advantages of the Nadcap program over other accreditation programs is the large amount of resources available to prepare for the audits. In addition, all this information is collected on one single website: eAuditNet. Once you get used to surfing on eAuditNet and know how information and documentation is organized, you can find a lot of useful documentation such as Audit Handbooks (they can be found in eAuditNet, under Resources / Documents / Audit Criteria / and the desired commodity / Handbooks and Guides), and the most common non-conformances (NCRs) for some commodities (they can be found in eAuditNet under Resources / Documents / Public Documents / Task Groups / Top NCRs) and much more.

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Audit Handbooks’ location in eAuditNet.                                           Most common NCRs’ location in eAuditNet                                      

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To learn more about eAuditNet, it is highly recommended to attend the tutorial organized by the Supplier Support Committee (SSC) on Monday mornings during Nadcap meetings as part of the sessions for new Suppliers. This tutorial summarizes the main functions and utilities of eAuditNet and shows you how to find the information that is available to prepare for the audits. The SSC Handbook is also available on eAuditNet under Resources / Documents / Public Documents / Supplier / SSC Documents as shown, as well as on the PRI website here.  It is a key document to prepare for an audit if you are not familiar with the Nadcap program. It provides an overview of Nadcap, along with participating parties and associated groups, guiding Auditees through the preparation, undertaking and response process for Nadcap audits. Instructions for using PRI eAuditNet are also included within the SSC Handbook.  

How long before the actual audit do you start preparing and what do you do to prepare for a Nadcap audit?

At Canagrosa, audit preparation is an ongoing process. We have an internal audit plan scheduled throughout the year to cover all activities within the scope of accreditation. In these audits, we carry out a continuous evaluation of compliance with the requirements and the effectiveness of the corrective actions implemented after any NCR raising during a previous audit. We also involve all company personnel before, during and after the audit. This gets people involved in their day-to-day work. About six months before the audit, a team is formed to perform the internal audits and correct any possible findings before the actual audit. This team includes personnel from different departments. In our opinion, conducting an honest and demanding internal audit is key to prepare for a Nadcap audit. Due to the nature of our work as a laboratory, and given that we have many different customers and a wide variety of activities, contract review for each order that arrives at the company is also crucial for us. Ensuring a correct flow down of the customers' requirements in each job avoids many NCRs in subsequent audits. For Suppliers new to the Nadcap program or not having much experience, it is recommended to start the preparation one year before the actual audit, although it depends on the previous experience of preparing for other audits. In these cases, it is highly recommended to attend some of the courses offered by PRI Training. They are organized in many different places around the world and most of them are given in the local language. For us, it was interesting to attend the MTL Audit Preparation course prior to our first audit for this commodity. I also believe that everyone involved in responding to NCRs after a Nadcap audit should attend the Root Cause Corrective Action (RCCA) Nadcap Style training in order to get to know what the Nadcap Staff Engineers expect to find when an Auditee responds to findings. In addition, we realized during the PRI training courses hosted at Canagrosa last year that these training sessions are highly focused on fulfilling the requirements of Nadcap audits and give you the opportunity to meet many Nadcap Suppliers and exchange opinions and experiences with them.  

How do you find the audit scheduling process?

The audit scheduling process works fine. Communication with PRI staff is always easy during the process. Most of our audits are automatically scheduled in eAuditNet, meaning that we have to ensure the date of the audit does not fall on vacations or bank-holidays. The availability of key personnel who will participate in the audit must also be checked. If a change in audit days is needed, the re-scheduling process is quick and easy.  

Do you have much interaction with PRI staff before the Nadcap audit and how is it?

When we had to contact PRI staff before the audit, it was because of the need to change the date of the audit or a specific technical question. PRI staff was available, friendly and helpful and doubts were resolved very quickly. For any non-technical problem, Auditees who start in the Nadcap program can also contact the Supplier Support Committee (SSC) at NadcapSSC@p-r-i.org and participate in the Mentoring program. Through this program, an Auditee with extensive Nadcap experience helps you to solve non-technical questions that may arise in the process of obtaining accreditation.  

What are your expectations of the following and how do they compare with what actually happens…

…the Auditor and his/her way of conducting the audit? All Nadcap Auditors we met are experts in the jobs that were audited. They have extensive experience of the industry, a positive attitude and good communication skills. They manage their time effectively to complete the audit and job audits on time. The Auditors’ profiles always fulfilled what we expected for a program as demanding as Nadcap.   …opening session? Auditors always use the opening session to comment on how the audit will be carried out, plan the jobs audits and explain general aspects such as the types of NCRs and the cycles to respond and close them. This is very useful for personnel who are not familiar with audits. During the opening session, my recommendation would be to collaborate with the Auditor to plan the job in order to make the audit an agile process. The idea is to create an environment of trust between the Auditor and the Auditee in which both parties are benefited. A well-planned audit that unfolds smoothly allows you to have time to get to know the areas where your company can improve as well as to understand and discuss all comments and remarks from the Auditor.   …closing session? During the closing session, the Auditor explains the NCRs that may have appeared. We expect these NCRs to be described and explained well, which is what usually happens. When NCRs were raised during audits at Canagrosa, the Auditor always clearly explained the reason for writing them up so that we could understand what happened. The Auditees should make sure that the wording of the NCRs is perfectly clear before the Auditor leaves in order to respond correctly and avoid any confusion during the Nadcap Staff Engineer revision. In addition, all personnel who have been involved in the audit and who will participate in the closing of the NCRs should be present during the closing audit session. I believe it is the best way for everyone involved in the audit to understand the findings fully and implement the appropriate corrective actions.

 

What did you find was the most challenging during the audit?

There are many individuals involved in the audit at Canagrosa, and the language barrier is the biggest challenge for us. We have to ensure there are no misunderstandings during the audit due to a communication problem or in the translations of any document that is required by the Auditor. Another challenge is to try to coordinate the activities of the Auditor with those of the laboratory or shop staff. At Canagrosa, we always try to ensure the daily tasks are not affected by the Auditor's work and that all customer orders go out on time.  

What could be done to improve the experience of going through a Nadcap Audit as well as having a Nadcap Auditor on site?

We are aware PRI works on the continuous improvement of all Nadcap program processes and takes into consideration the Auditees’ opinions. We think the program works really well. If we had to indicate an improvement, we would say that sometimes the questions within the Audit Criteria (AC) should be clearer to avoid differences in interpretation. For instance, we sometimes had different opinions about the same answer since Auditors had a different interpretation of the question. Improving the writing of some questions in the Audit Criteria would also improve the Auditor consistency.  

What is the first thing you do once the Nadcap Auditor leaves?

The first thing we do when the Auditor leaves is to gather the personnel involved in the audit and comment on the results. We also share the improvement opportunities identified by the Auditor during the audit. We record these improvement opportunities to study them before even beginning to respond to the non-conformances. If necessary, the immediate actions related to the audit findings are also defined.  

What steps do you take next?

Multidisciplinary teams are then set up to respond to non-conformances and define possible root causes. We evaluate if these root causes can affect other areas outside the scope of the Nadcap audit and responsibilities are then assigned for each action to be taken. We also evaluate why we were not able to detect the non-conformance(s) during our self-audit.  

How did the outcome of the audit and your company performance compare to your expectations?

Our goal is always to receive zero findings for each audit that is performed. For us, a Nadcap audit is a tool to identify opportunities for improvement and therefore, we always see it as beneficial. It is also the best way to make sure you are meeting the requirements of your customers  

How do you go about responding to NCRs, if you have any?

We use the Root Cause Corrective Action (RCCA) process to find the cause of the non-conformance(s) and to facilitate effective corrective actions to prevent recurrence. Using RCCA often helps you gather all the information the Nadcap Staff Engineers expect to find in your answer: immediate corrective action taken, root cause of non-conformity, impact of all identified causes and related root cause, actions taken to avoid recurrence, and the effective date for each of these actions.  

What tools do you find most useful in the RCCA process e.g. fishbone, 5 why etc.?

We use the 5-Why method to find the root cause of the issue due to its simplicity and effectiveness. We identify the answer of the final “Why” as root cause and we set up corrective action(s) to avoid recurrence of this particular cause. We also consider the responses to the remaining “Why´s” as contributing causes and we define corrective actions for these causes too.  

Do you have much interaction with PRI staff after the Nadcap audit and how is it?

We had some contact with Staff Engineers to get their guidance on how to best respond to a NCR. They are very experienced and helped us to clearly define the root cause of the finding. We also contacted a Staff Engineer to clarify some misunderstanding in our response to a NCR due to a bad English translation in our response.  

What recommendations and advice would you give to other Auditees?

These would be my recommendations for other Auditees:

• Clearly understand the questions in the Audit Criteria. In case of doubt, Staff Engineers are available to resolve it.
• Perform an honest and demanding self-audit, making sure you can “touch the answer" of each question and assume nothing.
• Ensure a correct flow down of the customers’ requirements.
• Establish an effective control system of records and calibrations.
• Do an exhaustive RCCA analysis and follow up on all corrective actions to ensure effectiveness.
• Involve all departments of the company in the preparation of the audit, including Top Management. Make them aware of the benefits of the Nadcap program: process improvement, configuration control, prestige and new business opportunities.

There are a lot of documents at your disposal in eAuditNet to prepare for a Nadcap audit. You have to make sure you have enough time to prepare for the audit using all the resources available to you. In case you need help, the PRI staff and SSC are available to help you. You can contact PRI with any questions you may have.  

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About Canagrosa Lab & Services

Canagrosa Lab & Services is one of the biggest testing and calibration services providers in Spain for aerospace companies. Founded in 1985 by Salvador Alarcón de la Lastra, the company has more than 70 employees among its headquarters in Seville, Spain and the facilities in Madrid, Spain (Getafe y La Muñoza). With over 20 years of experience in the aerospace industry, the company had its first Nadcap audit in 2005, becoming the first independent laboratory to obtain the Nadcap accreditation in Spain. As of February 2020, Canagrosa holds three accreditation in two different commodities: two accreditation on 24-month Merit in Chemical Processing (Seville and La Muñoza) and one accreditation in Material Testing Laboratory (MTL) in La Muñoza (Madrid). Besides operating as a testing and calibration laboratory, Canagrosa also offers other services such as consultancy, products distribution and surface treatments, always having a strong commitment to Quality and customer service. The company also offers training services specialized in the aerospace industry. Last October, Canagrosa hosted PRI Training courses in Spain, giving the opportunity to all Spanish Suppliers to attend these courses in the local language.