MIRDC to acquire testing facility for locally made aerospace parts

The government will make some investments to help the country become an ASEAN hub for the production of aerospace parts with an initial R65 million for a testing facility that upgrades quality of locally made parts exported to global firms like Boeing and Airbus.

Investments in the testing facility will strengthen competitiveness of secondtier and third-tier aerospace companies – Jamco, B/E Aerospace, Moog Baguio, etc., according to state-run Metals Industry Research and Development Center (MIRDC) in a proposal for the aerospace project.

“We want to initiate investment in this testing facility because once the need increases, many will invest in it. We’ll just be the initiator so we can control the risks. We have to be in the forefront of technology to help smaller companies and not compete with them,” said Florante A. Catalan, MIRDC supervising research specialist in an interview.

The Philippines’ has huge potential to be a major parts supplier in Southeast Asia.

Its aerospace parts export reached $226.36 million in 2014. It was only $35.04 million in 2012 or a substantial growth of 545%.

It is projected that aircraft deliveries of Boeing and Airbus will reach 1,542 units by 2020 and 1,600 units by 2024 from only 1,499 as projected by the end of 2017.

By 2013, their aircraft delivery is seen to reach 1,724 units.

“This shows that the aerospace industry has increasing demand for the next two decades thereby providing a very potential market for global supply,” according to MIRDC.

Customers will be generally members of the Aerospace Industries Association of the Philippines (AIAP).

Moog, Inc. which has a plant in Baguio City, for one, supplies critical aerospace parts such as actuators to Boeing.

Catalan said Moog wants to source locally some parts of the actuators that they order from high precision shops. But such parts have to be tested first by MIRDC prior to delivery to them to ensure quality.

“We’ll have to inspect first if the parts will pass the test. The aerospace industry is stricter in quality compared to the automotive industry because lives are at stake when you mess up. Anyone liable in the supply can be traceable. We can be held liable,” he said.

The proposed program also involves necessary training and seminars to help the industry be accredited to AS 9100 (Management Requirement for Aerospace Industries). The AS 9100 is one of the requirement before local aerospace products can be allowed to supply to aerospace industries.

MIRDC will have an independent testing facility operation so as to ensure quality of the supplies.

“We maintain being third party. MIRDC will have no relationship with the company asking for testing and with the buyer of the parts to be supplied to,” he said.

Important, operation of the facility will be based on global quality level through accreditation with the NADCAP, an industry-run quality control program known previously as the National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program.

The project will further develop aerospace technical skills in the country required by global standards.

NADCAP certification requires a thorough qualification for personnel conducting nondestructive testing for aerospace products. They must pass the certification requirements of internationally recognized association doing the same inspection such as the American Society of Nondestructive Testing (ASTN), Personnel Certification Norm (PCN) of Europe of the aerospace NDT certification itself.

LIPAD The proposed “Local Intervention for Philippine Aerospace Development” or LIPAD will put up non-destructive testing or (NDT) facility to support aviation parts manufacturers.

The testing system is called “non-destructive” because it does need to destroy the parts in order to test for quality such as to test for life or endurance.

An example is the use of liquid dye penetrant that may be used in aerospace parts that need to be of high-quality material — whether made of glass, plastic or metal.

After applying the dye on the material being tested, the stained, colored liquid will identify defects in the material. The defect may be in the form of “porosity, cracks, fractures, laps, seams and other flaws that are open to the surface of the test piece and may be caused by fatigue, impact, quenching, machining, grinding, forging, bursts, shrinkage or overload,” according to Sharon M. Bentzley of Laboratory Testing, Inc. (MMA)