Datum Technologies Receives Quality Control Certification

The precision machine shop Datum Technologies of Santa Rosa, Calif., has received its AS9100C quality-control certification for aerospace manufacturing, after a year of careful documentation and other qualifying measures, a Sonoma County newspaper has reported.

 

The certification comes about a year and a half after the company received ISO certification, allowing it to work for many government and defense suppliers, but not at the level Datum has achieved with the new certificate. The AS9100 standard incorporates and expands upon the ISO 9001 standard.

 

“This is a relatively new process required just within the last couple of years,” says Richard Hunt, company president and co-founder. “The first question we’ve been getting from aerospace giants like Lockheed and Northrop Grumman has been, ‘Are you AS9100C yet?’ If you’re not they don’t want to talk with you. Now that we are, we can continue the conversation.”

 

At only nine employees, Datum Tech is the one of the smallest companies to hold the qualification.

In anticipation of new aerospace contracts, Datum has built a new R&D lab at its expanded facilit and also invested in a brand new 5-axis milling machine.

 

“We make components for the semiconductor industry, medical device makers and now flight components for aerospace,” Hunt told a reporter. “Successful precision manufacturers aim for a moving target. You have to stay flexible and ready always to move in new directions.”