Material Control Records
Start with receiving: supplier certification, batch test data, lot number, quantity, expiration date and storage temperature on arrival. Freezer logs show continuous temperature monitoring with alarms and corrective action for excursions. For prepreg, out-time logs by roll and kit link the material to the part.
Customer-approved sources and specifications must be checked at purchase and receipt, because a wrong resin system on a certified part is a serious nonconformance. Shelf-life extension, where allowed by the customer, needs its own documented test and approval, not an informal decision.
- Supplier certificates and batch test results
- Freezer temperature charts and excursion records
- Out-time logs and kit labels by lot
- Approved source list tied to purchase orders
Process Records: Layup, Bag and Cure
The traveler or electronic work instruction should capture ply sequence verification, who laid each ply group, cleanroom conditions where required, debulk steps, bag sealing and leak check results, and the cure run reference. Cure data is covered by its own record with thermocouple traces, as detailed in your process specification. NADCAP composites audits examine whether your shop follows the revision of the specification the customer approved, so document control is also under test.
Keep tool identification and inspection status on the traveler, since a poor surface from a worn mold is a root cause that can only be found if the tool is recorded.
Personnel, Equipment and Calibration
Auditors ask who was qualified to perform each operation and when that qualification was last renewed. Keep a skills matrix tied to operations and prevent assignment of uncertified staff in the system where possible. For equipment, hold calibration records for thermocouples, pressure gauges, vacuum gauges, scales and data loggers, and pyrometry compliance records for ovens and autoclaves where required.
Missing calibration stickers and expired certificates are a very common finding because they are easy to overlook in a busy shop. A calendar or ERP maintenance schedule with alerts is cheaper than the finding.
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Nonconformance and Corrective Action
Composite defects such as porosity, delamination, wrinkles, resin starvation or dry spots, and out-of-tolerance dimensions need a disposition path: use as is, rework, repair or scrap, with engineering authority limits defined. Record each nonconformance against the part, lot and process step, then trend causes. A corrective action is more than a re-training memo; it should define the root cause and a check that the fix worked.
Customers often require notification of escapes, so know in advance how to identify all parts that share a suspect lot or cure run.
Making the Records Easy to Retrieve
The practical measure is trace time: choose a part serial number and time how long it takes to assemble material lots, process records, cure chart, calibration status and inspection results. Shops with paper binders and spreadsheets often need hours; a system with a linked genealogy can do it in minutes. You do not need a large quality platform to improve this, but you do need consistent identifiers and one place where each record can be found.
If you are small and certification is not required by your customers, scale the system to what they actually demand rather than copying a large aerospace template.
Frequently asked questions
What records does NADCAP composites audit?
Auditors review material control, process specifications and revisions, layup and cure records, equipment calibration, personnel qualification, nonconformance handling and the traceability of parts to lots. They typically sample jobs and trace backward, so the ability to retrieve complete records quickly matters as much as having them.
Do all composites shops need AS9100?
No. It is a customer requirement mainly in aerospace and defense supply chains. Marine, transportation and industrial composites firms often work under ISO 9001 or customer-specific audits. Check your contracts and flow-down clauses, and size your system to the actual requirement.
What are common audit findings for composites shops?
Frequent findings include out-of-date calibration, incomplete out-time logs, freezer excursions without documented review, travelers not matching the current specification revision and corrective actions without verified root cause. Most are record-keeping failures rather than process failures, and are preventable with scheduled checks.
Netray can index your travelers, charts, certificates and ERP lot history on-prem so quality staff can ask for a full part genealogy and get cited source records.