In 1985, a conference in the USA brought together government and industry to discuss supplier quality. They recommended a more efficient, consensus solution to eliminate the duplication that existed in the sytem. Five years later, the Performance Review Institute was incorporated as a not-for-profit trade association affiliated with the standards development agency SAE International, then the Society of Automotive Engineers. PRI is the organisation that administers the industry-managed Nadcap program. Nadcap launched the same year, in 1990. At that time it was known as NADCAP – an acronym for National Aerospace and Defence Contractors’ Accreditation Program but as it became clear that there was an international need for the program, it was changed to Nadcap, a brand name and rolled out internationally ten years later in 2000. Around the same time, the number of Nadcap audits conducted annually exceeded one thousand for the first time, and continued to grow. This globalisation and rapid growth meant that some kind of electronic system was now needed: mailing paper reports around was no longer an acceptable solution. In 2002, having looked around and found nothing that met industry needs, PRI developed eAuditNet – a customized software program that houses Nadcap procedures, processes Nadcap audits and enables industry to oversee every step of every audit. Having a centralised data system opened further doors: for the first time, PRI was able to efficiently analyse the data (now in excess of 30,000 audits worth!) and work with industry to identify some common issues for consideration. Based on this – as well as customer surveys – PRI’s training arm eQuaLearn was established in 2008. Offering quality courses, such as root cause corrective action and Nadcap audit preparation, and special process focused training in key areas such as chemical processing, heat treating, NDT and welding, sessions are now held around the world in multiple languages.

In just over ten years, from 2001 to 2012, the number of audits conducted annually has more than quadrupled. This is due to the growth of Nadcap internationally from 2002 onwards.

As this timeline shows, Nadcap began in 1990 with US aerospace prime contractors as subscribers. Within 5 years, European companies were signing up and in 2012, the first Asian subscriber – COMAC in China – became a member. Today, practically every major global player, is involved in Nadcap.

Over time, the PRI structure has evolved to this point: there is a Board of Directors for PRI (the not-for-profit organisation that administers Nadcap and other programs). Nadcap is overseen by a Management Council, and the technical side is worked by the Task Groups. There is also a Supplier Support Committee which is a non-technical group. Industry representatives sit on each body and govern how PRI and Nadcap operate.