Meggitt Safety Systems - smart engineering for extreme environments

Quality assurance

Following is a brief summary of Meggitt Safety Systems' (MSSI) Quality Assurance (QA) organization and capabilities.

QA organization

The quality assurance organization is structured to comply with ISO 9001:1994(E), FAR Part 21 subparts K and O, Boeing D1-9000 Rev. A, ASME NQA-1 and 10CFR50, Appendix B, and is comprised of a staff consisting of quality engineers, quality inspectors, quality technicians, quality supervisors and secretarial support. The quality assurance organization interfaces with organizations that are both customer and approval agencies such as the United States Armed Services, Coast Guard, Royal air Force (UK), as well as numerous civilian customers. Internal audits, DCMC, FAA and prime customers such as Boeing continually monitor this structure. The QA reporting structure is as follows:

Quality assurance director:	reports directly to the division president
Quality assurance engineers:	report to the QA director
In-process inspectors:	report directly to QA supervisor(s)
Receiving inspectors:	report to QA supervisor(s)
Quality assurance technicians:	report directly to QA supervisor(s)
Calibration technician:	reports directly to the QA director

QA responsibilities

It is the responsibility of the QA organization to verify that all products and materials conform to MSSI specifications, customer specifications, government regulatory requirements and that required quality has been manufactured into the product. These requirements are verified through a comprehensive quality program consisting of QA planning, inspection, testing, audit and analysis.

QA capabilities

Meggitt Safety Systems' quality assurance personnel have extensive experience in the inspection, test and qualification of fire/overheat detection and suppression systems for aerospace and commercial applications, gas analyzer assemblies and durable high temperature, high performance mineral insulated cables and assemblies for nuclear applications.

Quality assurance personnel consist of inspectors, test technicians, calibration technicians, FAA certified repairmen and certified operators, all of which are identified via quality assurance organization charts, personnel records and certification records. Quality engineers provide the requisite oversight to monitor the effectiveness of the QA program in all areas. All QA personnel are given independent authority to assure compliance to the quality assurance program.

Meggitt Safety Systems is approved by the FAA for the manufacture of TSO C11e, TSO C1c and Parts Manufacturing Authority (PMA) for fire detection devices and holds numerous Supplemental Type Certificates (STC) for replacement aircraft fire detectors. In addition MSSI is an Authorized Repair Station (WL3R949L), ISO 9001 compliant (3rd party registered, UL Registration A2249) and has FAA Designated Manufacturing Inspection Representatives (DMIR) within the quality assurance staff. We have also received product approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Factory Mutual Research (FM), Underwriters Laboratories (UL), and Canadian Standards Association (CSA).

QA support of manufacturing

The Quality Assurance department supports the manufacturing department by providing the following services:

Receiving:
Receiving inspection performs visual, mechanical, electrical inspections and test per drawings and specifications using equipment that is calibrated in accordance with ISO 10012-1 and ANSI/NCSL Z540-1. All inspection processes are documented and approved by quality Engineering prior to inspection. Receiving inspection sample inspects per in-house Quality Assurance Procedure (QAP) QAP 5-008 which is derived from the requirements of ANSI/ASQC Z1.4 and Boeing document D1-8007. All documentation and certifications are maintained for a period of seven years unless otherwise specified.
Manufacturing:
In-Process inspection supports manufacturing production by performing visual, mechanical and electrical inspections using drawings, documented procedures and equipment calibrated in accordance with ISO 10012-1 and ANSI/NCSL Z540-1. When required, inspectors and QA technicians are trained and certified to process and standards such as IPC-A-610 and Meggitt Safety Systems' QAPs for gas tungsten arc welding, brazing and resistance spot welding. Quality assurance technicians perform acceptance test, burn-in and analysis of all final assemblies to quality engineering approved procedures and drawings. Quality assurance audits and verifies conformance of manufacturing process and procedures.
Shipping:
Quality assurance inspects and verifies for correctness and conformance to drawings, sales orders and other specifications using industry standards and/or customer specifications as required.