Overview:
For a tier-1 aerospace manufacturer supporting U.S. defense programs, precision is more than a requirement, it’s the backbone of every part they manufacture. Their FAA-approved components and engineered systems support aircraft that fly rescue missions, protect national security, and keep commercial and government fleets ready for service. Every measurement and certification must be accurate, traceable, and delivered on time.
But behind the scenes, their calibration program was struggling to keep up with the pace of production. Instruments sat in long queues for months. Certificates went missing. Compliance became a moving target. And technicians spent hours each week manually managing overdue equipment.
“With SIMCO, our team gained visibility and speed we didn’t think was possible.”
They needed a calibration partner who could restore reliability and bring predictability back into a high-stakes environment.
The Challenge:
By the time the organization began exploring alternatives, their calibration workflow had reached a breaking point. Turnaround times had stretched to 8-10 weeks, especially for electronic equipment. Production teams started to build workarounds, because critical tools simply weren’t coming back.
Quality teams braced themselves for each audit, searching for certificates that their previous provider hadn’t delivered and limitations of the local calibration provider. With technicians manually tracking equipment in the quality management software, hours of internal time were lost every week.
The tipping point came when a new leader took ownership of the calibration program. What he saw was a system that no longer matched the pace or scale of the company’s growing production workload. If nothing changed, delays, costs, and compliance exposure would only escalate.
“It became clear we couldn’t go into the next year with the same process.”
The Solution:
As they evaluated calibration partners, the team quickly realized what they needed was not just a vendor, but a capable partner who could be an extension of their organization.
“SIMCO wasn’t just another vendor. They were the only partner who could meet all our critical needs.”
Local electronics calibration capability was essential. Faster turnaround time was non-negotiable. Accreditation had to meet stringent FAA and AS9100 requirements. And they needed a system that gave them better visibility than the existing quality management software, something that would reduce the technician’s workload, rather than add to it.
When they compared options, SIMCO stood apart. The company’s accredited local lab could take on the large electronics volume that had been causing months-long delays. SIMCO’s CMMS software, CERDAAC, provided the digital workflow visibility their team had been missing. And SIMCO’s ability to structure predictable pickup, delivery, and onsite cycles brought a level of order that had been absent for years.
“SIMCO showed us that turnaround times could be reduced not by days, but by weeks.”
Implementation:
Transitioning to SIMCO was smoother than the aerospace team expected. SIMCO began with a clear onboarding plan: CERDAAC training for the quality and technician groups, introductions to the SIMCO support team, and a defined calibration schedule.
“The system clicked into place much faster than expected.”
Within the first month, the internal teams were already comfortable with the new workflows. Certificates were accessible from CERDAAC automatically. The constant back-and-forth they had been used to with their previous provider simply disappeared.
“Within 30 days, our teams were fully comfortable with the new workflow.”
Results:
The impact was almost immediate. Turnaround times, once measured in months, dropped down to less than a week. Tools returned quickly enough that production no longer needed to reshuffle schedules. Third-party outsourcing, one of their largest cost drains, fell by 30-40%.
Technicians were no longer spending hours each week manually tracking equipment; CERDAAC made cert retrieval a matter of seconds instead of days. Audit readiness, once a source of tension, became a point of confidence. Now when an auditor asked for a certificate, they were able to pull it up instantly.
“Our teams aren’t waiting on tools anymore. Production moves without delays.”
“Certs are instant now. Audits no longer send us scrambling”
Quality / Operations Leader, U.S. Aerospace Manufacturer: “The turnaround improvements made an immediate impact. Our teams aren’t waiting on tools anymore, and our quality group can access certs instantly. The entire calibration program is now predictable and under control.”