Steelhead Composites earns AS9100 certification

Steelhead Composites (Golden, CO, US), a provider of composite-overwrapped pressure vessels and composite structures, announced on Dec. 18 that its Quality Management System has been assessed and approved to the standard of AS9100:2016 (Rev. D) for design, manufacture, selling and distribution of composite-overwrapped pressure vessels for aviation, space and defense activities.

With their internally developed manufacturing execution system, Steelhead is now running a fully integrated quality management system. Aerospace products can be routed through the AS9100 system and non-aerospace products can be produced with the same quality but at a lower cost under the ISO 9001:2015 quality system.

"We are excited to offer our solutions to the aerospace industry with the option of products manufactured under the rigorous AS9100 quality standard," says Andrew Coors, CEO of Steelhead Composites. "Steelhead's vision was to advance the technology and offerings of composite pressure vessels and with these certifications our customers can be assured that our products and services will meet or exceed the rigorous statutory and regulatory requirements needed."

AS9100 is an international management system standard for the aircraft, space and defense industries. The standard provides suppliers with a comprehensive quality system for providing safe and reliable products to the aerospace industry and contains the requirements an organization must meet to become AS9100 registered.

"Steelhead has taken a different approach when designing and implementing a quality management system," says Curt Honcharik, director of quality. "We designed our system so every conceivable data point that could be captured, is captured, and with our facility being completely digital, it allows for real-time data input and analysis." Included in the integrated quality management system are paperless travelers, digital work instructions and real-time traceability across the life of the part.

"The dual certifications provide a whole new level of opportunities for Steelhead," states Marisa Sundy, director of business development. "We have always had the capabilities and know-how. Now, we have the most stringent of quality management procedures in place to take-on any complex program."

Steelhead Composites designs, manufactures and tests specialty, lightweight hydraulic components and composite pressure vessels to be used for weight-sensitive energy and fuel storage applications. Specialties include lightweight bladder, diaphragm and piston accumulators, hydrogen storage vessels for fuel cells, gas storage and transport, and other composite structures. Services include vessel design, metal spinforming, filament winding, prototyping and testing of high-pressure vessels.