We have built a world class business beginning with hiring quality people, challenging and fostering a competitive work ethic and a need to excel in what we do. On going training is a part of the job at Composites USA. We have routinely sent our people for additional training at local educational institutions (University of DE, University of MD and Delaware Tech), held vendor and consultant seminars on site, and participate in industry conferences (SPI, CFA, NACE, SAMPE, ASCE).

The Composites USA Quality Assurance effort is managed by Rick Van Name, P.E., Manager of Engineering and Quality Assurance. As such, it is fully independent of manufacturing, reporting directly to the company President. The Quality Assurance manual has been developed to meet the requirements of Factory Mutual, ASME RTP-1, as well as the U.S. Government requirements for MIL-I-45208. A copy of the this manual is available upon request.

The Quality Program has been audited and approved by Factory Mutual and to MIL-I-45208, allowing Composites USA to participate in Air Force, Army, Navy and Coast Guard programs.

To provide support to the Quality Assurance effort, Composites USA has a separate, in house dedicated laboratory for consolidation of Quality Assurance files and related test equipment. Key to our ability to design and recommend solutions to customer problems is our ability to run physical tests on sample laminates proposed for use to demonstrate required physical properties.

The Composites USA QC Lab is equipped with a 160,000 lb. tensile tester for determining laminate strengths, a burn out oven for testing % and type of reinforcement. We also have Barcol impressers for testing laminate hardness, an indicator of laminate cure, viscometers for testing resin cure cycles, electrical meters for testing resistance on electrically conductive systems and leakage on dual laminate systems. We have recently added environmental exposure testing for evaluation of experimental resins. This investment in test equipment, which exceeds most of our competitors, assures our customers the most economical laminate for the application, as well as insuring that your laminate is built as designed !

Use of the engineering design tools described in the preceding engineering section, along with the check points built into the QA process, helps ensure that our products are designed right and built right - the first time. Wall thicknesses are checked on all sub assemblies, and if out of tolerance brought to the attention of the QA manager and the Production manager for corrective action. This up front emphasis on engineering design with in process check points helps maintain production schedules with a minimum amount of disruption.