McIver Engineering machines and fabricates precision components for Australian aerospace and defence programmes from our Smithfield workshop, with the tolerance control, traceability and confidentiality this work demands.
Aerospace and defence parts are rarely difficult because of one dimension. They are difficult because a set of features has to be held together, on the same part, batch after batch, and proven afterwards. We machine to the datum scheme on the drawing rather than to whatever face is convenient, fixture repeat batches so part ten measures the same as part one, and inspect in process on the features that carry function rather than only at final check.
Traceability sits alongside that. Material is bought to specification, kept identified through the job, and supplied with mill certificates on request so the metal in the part can be tied back to a batch. Where a drawing calls up a first article inspection, we produce and report the first part before the balance of the batch is cut, so a disagreement about interpretation costs one component and not a delivery.
Our published quality process, including inspection and measurement, tolerance capability, material certificates and first article inspection, is set out in full on our quality and certification page.
In aluminium we machine 6061, 6060 extrusion, 5083, 5052 and 5005, the alloys most often specified where strength to weight governs. In steel we machine mild steel, tool steel and 304, 316, 431, 630 (17-4 PH) and 2205 duplex stainless. We also machine titanium, Inconel, brass, bronze, copper and engineering plastics including Delrin, nylon and PEEK, which turn up constantly in insulating, wear and non magnetic applications.
Typical components include machined housings and enclosures for electronic assemblies, brackets, mounts and adaptor plates, shafts, spindles, bushings and pins, ground support and test equipment parts, jigs and fixtures used in assembly, and replacement parts for equipment that is no longer supported by its original manufacturer.
Fabricated and welded work sits alongside the machining, so a frame, enclosure or guard can be laser cut, folded, welded and then machined where a bore or a mounting face has to be accurate after welding rather than before it.
We sign customer confidentiality agreements as presented, before drawings, models or specifications are exchanged, and we are comfortable quoting work where the end use is deliberately not disclosed to us. Drawings are held for the job they were supplied for, shared internally only with the people machining, inspecting and packing the part, and not used as examples of our work without written permission.
Nothing on this website identifies a customer or a programme. The project examples we publish are anonymised for exactly this reason, and we would treat your work the same way.
If your programme carries obligations beyond a standard NDA, raise them at enquiry stage so they are agreed in writing before anything technical is sent. To be clear about the limits: we are not a Defence Industry Security Program member, no staff member holds a security clearance, and we do not accept export controlled technical data, so work carrying those requirements should go to a supplier who holds them.
We are straightforward about our position. McIver Engineering does not currently hold a company level AS9100 or ISO 9001 certification, and we do not imply one. Our CNC machinists and mechanical fabricators are certified tradespeople, and quality is controlled through inspection, documented traceability and first article inspection rather than through a certificate we have not earned.
Parts are checked against the drawing during machining and again before dispatch, dimensional reports are supplied where the drawing or the purchase order asks for them, and any non conformance is raised with you before the part ships rather than found by your goods inwards.
The full detail, including our measurement equipment, tolerance capability, material certificates and first article process, is on our quality and certification page.
McIver Engineering has manufactured in Sydney since 1947 and is Australian owned and operated. For defence and aerospace buyers that means onshore control of the drawing, the material and the people who handle the part, with a workshop in Smithfield you can visit rather than a supplier you can only email.
It also means sovereign capability in a practical sense. When an imported component becomes unobtainable or a lead time stretches past what a programme can absorb, the part can be reverse engineered and made here, in small quantity, without waiting on sea freight or an overseas production slot.
Where a component genuinely is better sourced offshore, our sister company Global Supply Network handles managed overseas sourcing, so a mixed bill of materials can still sit under one relationship.
No. McIver Engineering does not currently hold a company level AS9100 or ISO 9001 certification and we do not claim one. Our CNC machinists and mechanical fabricators are certified tradespeople, and our inspection, traceability and first article process is set out on our quality page.
We routinely hold tolerances as tight as 0.01 mm on critical features. Tighter features are reviewed against the drawing before we quote, so the inspection method and the datum scheme are agreed rather than assumed.
No. McIver Engineering is not a member of the Defence Industry Security Program, no staff member holds a security clearance, and we do not handle export controlled technical data. We are also not a publicly named approved supplier to any prime contractor. Work that requires any of those things needs to go to a supplier who holds them, and we would rather say so up front.
Yes. We sign customer confidentiality agreements as presented, before drawings, models or specifications are shared, and we are used to working with programmes where the end use is not disclosed to us. Send the agreement with your enquiry and we will return it before any technical discussion starts.
Yes. We supply material test certificates and full batch traceability on request, so material provenance can be verified against your specification. Ask for certification at order stage so the correct certified stock is allocated from the outset.
Yes. There is no minimum order quantity, so a single spare, a first article or a batch of ten is quoted the same way as a production run. Much of our aerospace and defence work is small batch work with repeat call off over several years.
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