What we do

Aero Excellence & SC21

Assessment readiness and improvement planning, helping you meet the standards your customers expect.

Click the link above to find out more information.

FAI Backlog Support

Dedicated support to review, recover and complete First Article Inspections efficiently and accurately -delivered remotely or on-site.

NPI qualification & interim quality support.

Hands-on support for new product introduction and quality leadership where resource challenges arise.

Our approach

Practical, partnership-led, hands-on. With extensive industry experience, we work directly with clients to improve compliance, strengthen quality systems and achieve lasting performance improvement.

Practical

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Partnership-led

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Hands-on

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Get in Touch

Tackling a FAI backlog, preparing for an audit, or working towards long-term performance improvement - we'd love to have a conversation.

Aero Excellence / SC21

  • Aero Excellence is a structured maturity framework designed to help aerospace and defence organisations strengthen capability and improve performance across key areas such as leadership, culture, quality, delivery and operational excellence. It provides a consistent way to assess where a business is today, identify gaps, and build a clear improvement roadmap, helping organisations embed sustainable best practice and demonstrate credibility and confidence to customers across the supply chain.

  • Aero Excellence matters because it helps aerospace and defence organisations move from reactive firefighting to consistent, reliable performance. By providing a clear maturity benchmark and improvement roadmap, it strengthens the fundamentals customers care about most — predictable delivery, right-first-time quality, and strong leadership and governance. It also improves supply chain resilience, reduces repeat issues and escapes, and gives businesses a credible way to evidence capability and continuous improvement, helping them win trust, protect contracts, and compete more effectively in a demanding industry

  • Clients choose NQ Aero Group for Aero Excellence because we combine deep aerospace quality expertise with practical, on-the-ground delivery. We don’t just complete an assessment — we become your improvement partner, helping you translate the framework into real, measurable progress. From readiness reviews and evidence gathering to gap analysis, action planning, coaching and implementation support, we provide true end-to-end guidance that fits your business and your resources. With a clear, structured approach and a focus on outcomes, we help you build capability, strengthen customer confidence, and achieve sustainable performance improvement across quality, delivery and operational excellence

    • Initial call – align goals, scope, and timeline

    • Kick-off meeting + self-assessment – complete baseline review and gather evidence

    • ~3 months later – follow-up readiness check and confirm assessment dates

    • 4-day assessment

      • Day 1 (virtual) – document review + leadership/governance discussions

      • Days 2–4 (on-site) – 4 assessors validate evidence, interview teams, observe processes

    • Outcome – assessment is consolidated and you receive your final Aero Excellence score

  • Contact us directly to learn more about the process, suitability, and next steps.

FAI Backlog Support

Clear FAI backlogs faster — with compliant, submission-ready packs.
NQ Aero Group supports OEMs, Tier 1s and key suppliers with end-to-end

First Article Inspection (FAI) pack completion and backlog recovery. We can deliver remotely worldwide (paperwork/evidence review and pack close-out), with on-site support available where measurement access is required.

When FAIs need hands-on support - first builds, measurement activity, evidence capture, or cross-functional coordination - NQ can deploy experienced Quality professionals to your site to compile and close FAI packs in real time.

This service is ideal for:

  • NPI / first-off builds where evidence must be captured correctly first time

  • FAIs requiring shop-floor access, inspection coordination, or CMM support

  • High priority parts where delivery risk is increasing

  • Teams needing an extra pair of hands to keep production moving while FAIs are completed

What We do on Site

  • Lead the FAI process from kick-off to submission-ready pack

  • Confirm revision control and applicable customer requirements

  • Create/verify ballooned drawings and characteristic accountability

  • Coordinate measurements (including CMM reports where applicable)

  • Capture and organise objective evidence as it is generated

  • Verify traceability (material/process certs, heat/lot linkage, special process evidence)

  • Maintain a live FAI tracker and manage actions/blocks daily

  • Apply an internal review gate before submission to reduce rework and rejections

Request a fai backlog review