Technical Fibre Products (TFP) has earned the AS 9100 (BS EN 9100) global aerospace quality certification. AS 9100 is the industry-recognized quality standard, and achieving compliance to this demonstrates that TFP has the knowledge and experience necessary to satisfy the demanding requirements, processes and regulatory controls stipulated by the aerospace industry.

Martin Thompson, managing director of TFP, comments: “TFP has over 25 years experience in supplying the aerospace and defence industries and has established a global reputation as a specialist in developing nonwovens for these highly technical and challenging applications. Achieving the AS 9100 certification validates this, signifying a commitment to further develop TFP’s position and sales in these markets, as well as demonstrating the company’s focus on quality and continuous improvement.” 

The AS 9100C (BS EN 9100:2009) certification represents the latest step in an accelerated program of capacity and capability improvements for the company. This has included the installation of the world’s first commercial nanocoating line at its U.S. manufacturing facility and, most recently, the addition of a third state of the art manufacturing line to double production capacity in the U.K. The new line incorporates a number of advanced control features, including a high resolution fault detection system, designed to ensure both the consistency and quality of TFP’s advanced nonwovens. 

The new quality certification extends across all stages of the process; ranging from product development to nonwoven manufacturing and post-production processing. The design and manufacture of custom nonwovens to meet specific performance, aesthetic or processing requirements is a key part of TFP’s approach; it is recognized that in many cases a standard material will not suffice. The scope of the product development process encompasses everything from the initial concept development phase in the lab, to material testing & optimization and then progression to full scale manufacture. Product development is facilitated by the company’s purpose built pilot line facility which is dedicated to the development of new materials and provides the opportunity to trial new products or validate a concept, without the associated raw material costs of a full scale production run.