Sumitomo Bakelite North America (SBNA) AS9100 Certification Acquisition

November 2, 2020

Tokyo, Japan – November 2, 2020　Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd. (TOKYO: 4203 HQ: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, President and Representative Director: Kazuhiko Fujiwara) has acquired AS9100 certification for its production and quality management system related to aircraft-related materials at the Sumitomo Bakelite North America (SBNA) Manchester CT plant, which made it the fourth domestic and overseas plastic material plant to hold the qualification.

Overview of Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd. aircraft-related materials

Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd. has identified the aircraft market as a growth market and is promoting activities for business expansion with our various divisions, including Vaupell (Subsidiary of Sumitomo Bakelite in aero business).

Production and quality control in the aircraft-related market is special and different from our traditional applications of electronic components and automobiles.

We believe that it is necessary to maintain and certify material development, production, and quality assurance based on the production and quality management systems required by the aircraft industry, so that the superior plastic materials of Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd. can be used by aircraft industry companies with the synergistic effect with Vaupell. For this reason, we have been promoting the acquisition of AS9100^*1 certification at material factories in Japan and overseas.

The Shizuoka Plant (Japan), Durez Corporation (North America) Niagara Falls Plant, and SNC Industrial Laminates (Malaysia), which already produce phenolic resins, prepregs, and panel-related materials, have obtained this certification.

SBNA (North America), which has obtained the certification this time, produces long and short fiber reinforced thermosetting molding materials. These have excellent strength, high heat resistance, impact resistance, dimensional accuracy, etc., and reduces the weight of aircraft parts all at once, and will contribute to the reduction of the number of parts and cost reduction by molding. SBNA also produce a range of short fiber materials for aircraft connectors and electronics.

Sumitomo Bakelite North America Manchester plant

Many people at aircraft manufacturers and aircraft parts manufacturers (Tier 1) have already been interested, and the products have been highly evaluated and have been well received. We will further promote marketing activities and aim to build a business with sales of Multiple billion yen in FY2023 plus time frame double the Aero related business in 5 years.

^※１ AS9100 certification
An international standard for quality management systems in the aerospace industry, which adds requirements specific to the aerospace industry (such as ensuring functions, performance, and safety) to ISO9001.

Long Fiber Material Characteristics

1.	Net shape molding with part count reduction via integration.
2.	Hybrid molding with other composites and metallic elements to optimize part performance.
3.	Elimination of Hand Lay Up operations and autoclave processes by compression/transfer molding. Therefore a faster and more robust, cheaper and environmentally agreeable solution.
4.	A long and successful history in Aircraft engine applications.

Main related products Application examples: Aircraft interior parts, mechanical parts, etc.

Long fiber type molding compound

AS9100 Certification Acquisition Plants

Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd. and its affiliates believe that the company’s wide acquisition of AS9100 will increase our presence in the aircraft-related industry. We believe that we can promote marketing activities for each material and contribute to the aircraft-related industry, so please feel free to contact us if you have any of our materials that you are interested in.

Sumitomo Bakelite North America (SBNA) AS9100 Certification Acquisition（PDF 557KB）