Luis Acosta has worked for the Nadcap program as an Auditor since 2017. In the piece below, he describes his role, and what he enjoys about working for the Performance Review Institute.

Luis is an independent contractor, traveling from his home in Puerto Rico to conduct welding audits for the Nadcap© program, administered by PRI, anywhere in the world.

He has more than 25 years’ experience in the aerospace industry, with a particular focus on quality control and quality assurance systems. In that time, he has performed non-destructive testing (NDT) inspections using the penetrant testing, magnetic particle, eddy current, ultrasound and radiographic testing methods, and has carried out weld inspections for the airline industry and NASA. Following a spell of unemployment, he started working for us in 2017 and has done so ever since.

Luis says, “I like the opportunity to visit different companies within the aerospace sector. It’s fascinating to see the many facets of the industry and meet new people with extensive knowledge of various special processes.”

Careful planning

Like all our Nadcap auditors, Luis is free to plan his schedule to suit himself and the businesses he is assessing. He takes time to prepare each audit schedule carefully, in a way that enables both auditor and auditee to make the best use of time and get the most from the process. Before going out on a job, he gathers information from the PRI eAuditNet system and learns all the requirements for that audit.

Luis agrees a convenient arrival time with the company and gets to site punctually, because he believes setting up correctly for the opening meeting lays solid foundations for what follows. Ideally, he will make the pre-prepared PRI opening meeting presentation to set the tone for the audit. He says it is essential to make proper introductions, to familiarize himself with everyone who will assist with the audit. Afterwards, he likes to have a short, guided tour of the facility to understand the manufacturing processes and other supporting operations. During this time he pays special attention to the areas of concern so he can revisit them during the audit itself.

With the preliminaries done, the audit begins in earnest and Luis focuses methodically on those checklist questions that can be answered by watching the work, before going back to the meeting room to ask the remaining questions and gather any additional evidence that’s needed.

Subsequent audit days follow a similar pattern, and although it’s a rigorous and time-consuming process Luis says it is rewarding:

“Our audits help companies to control and standardize their processes, so they can improve quality and use the proof of accreditation to attract new customers and grow their business.

“And for me personally, it’s interesting to visit so many different aerospace companies, see so many facets of the industry and learn from knowledgeable people about different processes.”

Organization

If meticulous planning is the cornerstone of Luis’ approach, it’s similarly vital for any company undergoing assessment, he says. He has advice for any business about to open its doors for a Nadcap audit. “Read the handbooks and checklists and develop your programs based on those requirements. Make sure customers’ particular requirements are captured in the documented procedures and document any uncontrolled processes in the manufacturing area,” Luis says. “If I plan thoroughly and the auditee does too, everything can happen smoothly.”

The same advice extends to anyone considering a career as an auditor with PRI. Alongside training we provide extensive documentation to help auditors as well as information about each company undertaking the audit. “Read everything,” he says. “Talk to more experienced auditors about how they organize their work and make use of the helpful scheduling staff.

“PRI is a good company to work with. As an independent auditing contractor you can travel and work as much as you want to, get paid in line with industry norms and, if you want to develop and learn about new areas of your industry PRI will help you do that.”

For information on how to become an auditor for the Performance Review Institute please visit: https://p-r-i.org/become-a-pri-contractor/