The Nimrod Review - Official Documents

5.100
5.101
ENGINEERING RESPONSIBILITY CHAIN
FOR AVIMO COUPLINGS AND SEALS
Nimrod IPT
Project Engineer
Internal Business Agreement
Air Commodities IPT
Engineering Authority
Internal Business Agreement
Medical and General Stores IPT
Contracting Authority
General Contracting Requirements
Def Steps, Def Corto
Contractor A
Aerospace Quality Requirements
Contractor B
ISO Aerospace Quality Standards
Taunton Aerospace Ltd
(Formerly Thales, Avimo)
IPR holder
Declaration of Design and
Performance
Manufacturing Requirements
Cellular Developments Ltd
Manufacturer
Certificate of Conformity
Figure 5.11: Current Engineering Responsibility Chain
Chapter 5 – Leak from Fuel Coupling
Avimo seals are purchased by the M&GS IPT pursuant to a tri-service partnering arrangement for the supply of
general engineering hardware concluded with a defence contractor (Contractor A) in 2002 (Contract NPPO/
CB3/0002). Prior to the granting of this contract, a list of ‘air use’ items managed by the Aircraft Commodities
IPT was notified to the M&GS IPT by the Aircraft Commodities IPT, and placed on an annex to the contract’s
‘Statement of Requirements’. The ‘air use’ attributes were required to be confirmed by ‘Certificates of Conformity’
accompanying the items from the ‘True Manufacturer’ to the supplier. This was attached to the invitation to
tender for the contract, together with a list of 18 Aircraft General Spares (AGS) suppliers, known to the MOD.
Pursuant to the contract as concluded, in order to preserve the airworthiness requirements of the air use items,
M&GS IPT mandated Contractor A to use a specific company (Contractor B) for the supply of suitably certified
aviation parts. Contractor B is a competent ISO 9001:2000 and CAA accredited company fully capable of
supplying suitably certified components for fitment to MOD aircraft.
Contractor B in turn obtained the Avimo seals from Avimo/Thales (also a competent ISO 9001:2000 and CAA
accredited company) who, as explained above, sub-contracted the manufacture of the seals to Cellular. The
seals were ultimately supplied to the M&GS IPT (via Contractor B and Contractor A). The MG&S has an Internal
Business Agreement (IBA) with the Aircraft Commodities IPT, which has an IBA with the Nimrod IPT. The Nimrod
IPT then has a contract with BAE Systems, which has contracted with FRA to fit the seals on the Nimrod. The
situation is perhaps best illustrated by the following flow chart:
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