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EMBRACING ETHICS AND INTEGRITY FOR
THE NEW YEAR (AND EVERY YEAR)
Welcome to Materials Evaluation’s quarterly column on ethics in nondestructive
testing (NDT). This month, we want to start the year off on a positive note and take
a moment to highlight how various companies in our industry have successfully
embraced ethical practices while still satisfying quality assurance requirements. For
this article, I had the pleasure of interviewing several key quality assurance (QA)
managers and highlight their reputations for being well-respected in their specific
industries of oil and gas, aerospace, and Department of Defense industries. The QA
and NDT personnel interviewed were:
Ñ Francis X. Clark: Aerospace NDT
Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) Repair Station, Chief Inspector,
Velocity Maintenance Solutions
Ñ David Cloak: Development,
Department of Defense, NDT
Department Manager and Alloy
Surfaces, Vice President, Quality
Assurance and Research
Ñ Allen Sanders: Prior NDT Quality
Manager and Responsible Level III in
the oil and gas industry ASNT NDT,
SNT-TC-1A Level III, and NAS 410
Level 3 in MT, PT, VT, UT, and RT
We asked our highly esteemed guests
a few key questions and their answers
follow.
Francis Clark
Q: Bailey: Please tell us a little about
Velocity Maintenance. How do
ethics play a role in establishing
QA and NDT procedures at your
company?
A: Clark: Velocity Maintenance
Solutions is a FAA-certified repair
station providing maintenance,
repair, and overhaul on many
corporate aircraft. As such,
we understand our moral
responsibility to and ethical
commitment to the people that
fly on the aircraft we inspect and
work on. Having highly trained
and qualified NDT technicians and
the latest equipment is an integral
part of our quality control when
we supply NDT services to our
customers.
Q: Bailey: Can you give us an example
of a time where a customer asked
your company to do something
unethical and tell us how you
handled that situation?
A: Clark: There are times when
a customer does not like the
outcome of an NDT inspection
on their aircraft, due mostly to
cost and downtime to repair. We
will not be persuaded to deviate
from our findings and are always
willing to have another qualified
NDT technician perform the same
inspection to confirm our findings.
David Cloak
Q: Bailey: Please tell us a little about
Alloy Surfaces. How critical is QA
and adherence to procedural
practices to your company?
A: Cloak: Alloy Surfaces designs and
manufactures products that aid in
the defeat of heat-seeking missiles
from acquiring aircraft. Adherence
to procedural practices is critical.
Therefore, QA is the tool by which
Alloy ensures our products meet
performance requirements.
Q: Bailey: Does QA have a significant
impact on business and company
growth?
A: Cloak: QA within our company
drives business and company
growth by ensuring overall
customer expectations are met.
QA drives business and company
growth by assuring that product
performance is consistent, and
NDTETHICS
|
SCOPE
Velocity Maintenance Solutions is a FAA-certified repair station providing maintenance, repair,
and overhaul on many corporate aircraft.
J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 4 • M A T E R I A L S E V A L U A T I O N 101
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