Northwest Aerospace News June | July 2019 Issue No. 9 | Page 46

NEW RULES For Apex Anodizing, which had thus far been concerned with delivering fancy finishes for first-class cabins, achieving NADCAP certification was going to be a huge challenge. “Our stuff was good, but it wasn’t good enough,” said Olson. “To become certified, we had to spend a year meeting the standards before we could even undertake our first audit. That meant changing out some of our equipment and doing a complete overhaul of how we track parts as they move through our shop.” As Apex struggled with the process, it was buoyed by a powerful but unexpected ally — Boeing. “That was a big boost for our confidence,” Roberts said. 46 NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS