Apex Inspections

Precision, accuracy, and reliability are paramount in the aerospace component manufacturing space. Even the smallest defects or malfunctions can have catastrophic consequences, and manufacturers must ensure the highest-quality products.

To ensure defect-free manufacturing, companies have long relied on non-destructive testing (NDT), a method for product evaluation without damaging the materials, components, and systems. However, the ongoing shortage of skilled professionals is a significant barrier to establishing a proficient in-house team capable of carrying out complex testing operations.

Driven by a mission to offer clients access to a large pool of professionally performed NDT services is Apex Inspections, an FAA Repair Station and an AS9100- and EASA-certified and ISO/IEC 17025-accredited fullservice NDT/NDI lab.

“We offer clients skilled and certified NDT professionals for aircraft, aerospace, and industrial components testing. They can use our professionals as their in-house counterparts for long-term, regular internal inspections or short-term special testing needs,” says Eric Shaw, president and owner of Apex Inspections.

The firm deploys efficient and customer-driven teams within the U.S., Asia, and Europe, providing NDT testing using methods like eddy current, ultrasound, magneticparticle, radiography, and liquid penetrant. Apex also conducts regular training sessions to keep its workforce updated with the latest innovations in NDT, ensuring superior service quality.

A Roster of First-Rate NDT Method

Apex plays a vital role in fulfilling a wide range of testing requirements for the ever-evolving aerospace and industrial sectors. Its streamlined approach ensures cost-effective, oneon-one quality inspections and swift turnaround times, empowering clients to efficiently manufacture aircraft structures and components.

It utilizes the eddy current method to meet the stringent inspection demands of commercial and defence aircraft. This method ensures exceptional surface and subsurface crack detection as well as metal sorting. Apex employs various liquid penetrant testing methods to detect surface flaws such as cracks, porosity, and gouges in solid materials and structures.

Fluorescent penetrant testing is used to ensure the highest detectability for very fine fatigue cracks. Additionally, NDT methods like magnetic particle inspection are used to identify defects on the surface of ferromagnetic materials, or just below the surface.

Apex also excels in cutting-edge inspection methodologies, like infrared thermography of composite materials used in Airbus and Boeing products. It deploys phased array ultrasonic testing (PAUT) to inspect aircraft and complex welds in rail yards. These advanced inspection methods ensure exceptional quality control.

Fostering Trust in Every Engagement

“While every lab uses similar methods and equipment to serve clients, it’s our ability to build trust that sets us apart,” says Shaw. “Leveraging extensive expertise in diverse NDT methods, our team excels in identifying and deploying the right methods to meet the client’s testing needs and foster lasting relationships through exceptional customer service.”

Apex has people with experience in different domains—from industrial to aerospace and even museum. Knowledge of testing diverse materials like ceramics, metals, and steel. This allows them to delve deep into a client’s operations and testing requirements and deliver the best-suited, boutique-type service. It deploys the right testing methods for different materials in every engagement.

For example, Apex once assisted an aerospace component manufacturer in minimizing its failure rate while building landing gear components with a specific metal. The team meticulously tested thousands of gear components for the client and discovered that 23 percent of failure was due to an incorrect manufacturing process for the specific metal. They worked with the client to change the manufacturing process, lowering the failure rate to 0.1.

In another instance, it helped a Dallas-based aircraft charter company implement an alternative testing method for identifying surface flaws on their planes. The client was using liquid penetrate testing, which required paint removal from the aircraft prior to inspection. Since its flight cycles were high, the method was not costand time-efficient. Apex proposed and carried out the eddy current approach as a solution, allowing the testing to be performed without removing the paint. This saved the client substantial time and money.

Apex also holds many certifications, such as Textron Beechcraft SIRM, Textron Cessna Citation, Gulfstream approved, and one of the few NDT Labs with Dassault-Falcon inspectors.

Offering Training Sessions to Create Capable NDT Professionals

A reputed name in the space, Apex strives to assist clients in cultivating a skilled workforce to fulfill their inspection demands and tackle talent shortages. Adhering to ASNT-TC1A and NAS-410 requirements, it offers comprehensive NDT training in five fundamental NDT methods through one- and two-week courses. Training is provided by Certified Level 3’s. It also provides practical sessions and post-course certification. Clients’ quality managers can verify the acquired skills and confidently deploy individuals for equipment NDT inspections.

This service has been instrumental in helping a large aircraft manufacturer acquire skilled NDT personnel at their location. Apex assigned a technician to perform routine inspection duties for the client and conducted comprehensive training sessions to help the manufacturer cultivate a team of proficient NDT professionals in their own workforce.

“Beyond offering training, I am passionate about addressing the lack of skilled NDT professionals and fostering a future with superior NDT operators,” says Shaw.

He understands the importance of technical and soft skills in performing top-notch inspections and serves as a member of the NDT advisory boards in a local college and an insurance company, helping to develop the next generation of professionals with the right skill set.

Evolving to Meet the Modern World

The NDT landscape is undergoing constant transformation, propelled by advancements in technology.

Engineers once relied on CAD drawings and dynamic and static load methods to identify areas requiring inspections within the structures. Today, AI is revolutionizing this process by enabling engineers to anticipate and pinpoint potential defects. Keeping a keen eye on these developments, Apex is proactively enhancing its NDT capabilities leveraging probability of detection (POD) studies to locate the smallest defects and track down where the defects will occur. The company is also developing an AI-powered application for fault detection and quality control, faster. By detecting issues at an early stage, corrective actions can be taken promptly, preventing them from escalating into more severe and costly problems.

Apex also has strategic plans for broadening its operations, with a new office in Houston and a laboratory in Fort Worth.

A robust service portfolio, commitment to being an extension of clients, and dedication to constantly expand its capabilities make Apex a trusted choice for all NDT/NDI requirements.