🔥 NADCAP
NADCAP Accredited Special Processes for Concord, NH Manufacturers
Most precision parts that leave Concord for an aircraft or a defense platform don't get finished in Concord; the special processes that make them flight-worthy happen at accredited houses elsewhere in New England. NADCAP accreditation is what tells a buyer those special processes meet aerospace requirements, and understanding it means understanding the routing, not just a single supplier. This page covers how NADCAP fits into central New Hampshire's machining supply chain and how buyers verify it.
NADCAPAS9100ISO 9001
What NADCAP accredits and how it differs from AS9100
NADCAP, the National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program administered by the Performance Review Institute, accredits special processes and products rather than a company's overall quality system. Where AS9100 certifies that a manufacturer's quality management system meets aerospace requirements, NADCAP accredits specific special processes such as heat treating, chemical processing, coatings, welding, nondestructive testing, materials testing, and surface enhancement, each evaluated against detailed industry checklists.
The distinction matters when you read a supplier's credentials. A machining shop holds AS9100 for its quality system; a heat-treat house holds NADCAP for heat treating. A single NADCAP accreditation is process-specific, so a processor accredited for heat treat is not thereby accredited for coatings. Always match the accreditation to the exact process your part routes through.
NADCAP audits are notably rigorous and recurring, using consensus checklists developed by the prime contractors themselves. That industry ownership is why primes accept NADCAP as evidence a special process is under control, and why it's effectively mandatory for flight-critical special processes.
How Concord parts route through accredited processes
A typical aerospace part from a Concord machining shop follows a multi-stop routing. It's machined and inspected in Concord, then shipped to a NADCAP-accredited special-process house for heat treat, plating, anodizing, or NDT, and often returns to Concord for final inspection and documentation before delivery to the customer. The machining shop's AS9100 system is responsible for managing those outside processors as part of its supply chain.
Because central New Hampshire's shops are concentrated in machining and inspection rather than special processing, the accredited steps usually happen at regional houses across New England. Short freight legs keep this practical, but the routing introduces handoffs that a buyer should map deliberately. Each special-process stop should be a named, accredited supplier on the machining shop's approved-supplier list, with the accreditation matched to the specific process performed.
The upside of this network model is access: a Concord buyer can tap a regional ecosystem of accredited processors without building it in-house. The discipline required is making sure the routing is fully accredited end to end, with no special-process step quietly performed by an unaccredited vendor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Usually not, because NADCAP accredits special processes, and most Concord shops are precision CNC machining and inspection houses rather than special-process providers. Machining itself isn't a NADCAP special process. What the machining shop needs is AS9100 for its quality system and a managed set of NADCAP-accredited subcontractors for the special processes its parts route through, such as heat treat, plating, coating, welding, or NDT. The shop holds NADCAP only if it performs one of those special processes in-house, which is uncommon in central New Hampshire's machining base. So when you evaluate a Concord supplier for aerospace work, expect AS9100 from the machining shop and NADCAP from the special-process houses in the routing, not NADCAP from the machinist. The shop's responsibility is to qualify, monitor, and control those accredited processors as part of its AS9100 supply-chain management. Ask to see the approved-supplier list and confirm each special-process node is accredited for the specific process your part requires.
NADCAP accreditation is tracked in eAuditNet, the database maintained by the Performance Review Institute, which administers the program. Ask the special-process supplier for its accreditation details and confirm in eAuditNet that the specific process is currently accredited, rather than assuming a company that appears in the system is accredited for everything it does. Accreditations are process-specific and often method- or material-specific, so a house accredited for heat treating is not automatically accredited for coatings, and a processor accredited for one NDT method such as penetrant inspection isn't accredited for magnetic particle by extension. Read the accredited scope against your part's exact requirement. Also check the accreditation is active for your production window, since NADCAP accreditations run on an audit cycle and can lapse or be suspended. For a Concord-machined part, the practical move is to have the machining shop document, in its approved-supplier list, each special-process node, the accredited process, and the current accreditation status, so the entire routing is verifiably accredited end to end.
NADCAP audits use detailed, consensus-based checklists developed and owned by the aerospace prime contractors and engine makers themselves through the Performance Review Institute, which makes them far more prescriptive and technically deep than a general quality-system audit. Rather than evaluating whether a company has a quality system in the abstract, a NADCAP audit drills into the specific special process: the actual furnace surveys and pyrometry for heat treat, the bath chemistry and process controls for plating, the technique and equipment qualification for NDT. Auditors examine real jobs against the checklist, and findings must be closed before accreditation is granted or maintained. Because the primes built and maintain the checklists, they trust NADCAP as direct evidence that a special process is genuinely under control, which is why it's effectively required for flight-critical special processing. For a buyer sourcing through Concord, this rigor is the reason you insist the special-process steps in your routing carry current NADCAP accreditation rather than relying on the processor's general quality certification alone.
It depends on the part and material, but the special processes that most frequently appear in a Concord aerospace routing are heat treating, surface coatings and plating, chemical processing such as passivation or anodizing, nondestructive testing, welding, and sometimes materials testing or surface enhancement like shot peening. A machined aluminum bracket might route through anodizing; a steel or titanium structural part might need heat treat plus an NDT inspection such as penetrant or magnetic particle to confirm no surface cracks; a fastener-bearing part might need a specific plating. Each of those steps must be performed at a supplier holding NADCAP accreditation for that exact process. Because Concord's shops focus on machining and inspection, these steps are typically subcontracted to accredited houses around New England, then the part often returns to Concord for final inspection. When you quote a part, ask the machining shop to lay out the full routing so you can see which special processes are involved and confirm each is going to a NADCAP-accredited supplier for the specific process and method your drawing calls out.
Last updated: July 2026
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