TPT May 2015

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Industry News
24 May 2015
New business engagement
for NDT
THE 2014 report ‘A landscape for
the future of NDT in the UK economy’
identifies the fundamental opportunities
and challenges for the non-destructive
testing community in the UK, and
recommends key enabling actions in
order to support economic growth and
increase the public’s awareness of and
safety through NDT. These actions are
listed in four primary sectors, and cover
new business engagement, people,
technology and R&D.
‘New business engagement’ is
summarised in the report as the need to
“demonstrate the value of NDT through
the life of a facility or structure. Engage
insurance companies and regulators to
maximise the benefits of NDT.”
Engaging with insurance and
regulatory sectors will help to encourage
better use of NDT. This is connected to
the need to build closer links with the
structural integrity community through
networks, businesses and professional
bodies. Tony Dunhill, current president
of the British Institute of Non-Destructive
Testing (BINDT) and chair of the NDT
working group, said, “Ideally, I would
like us all to end up in a safer place;
that is the be all and end all. I would
like the breadth of the influence of the
NDT industry to be appreciated, and I
want people and companies to consider
that whenever they are looking at the
development of a new material or
manufacturing process, they ought to
be thinking ‘Has this process generated
any defects?’”
The links with the structural integrity
community are not only required for
the improvement of structural integrity
management solutions but to also
prevent acute failures – ensuring public
safety – and to secure on-going cost-
effective operation in the future. In order
to achieve this, the preparation of a
series of case studies and demonstrator
schemes covering technical feasibility
are advised to help demonstrate how
NDT can be used to increase safety.
These case studies will also play a major
role in endorsing NDT and showing
how it can be used to secure business,
as well as encouraging an increased
take-up of new NDT technology and
the use of existing technology in new
applications.
By implementing a solid PR
programme, these case studies can
be used as promotional tools to target
businesses that are not currently
engaged in NDT, through seminars,
business publications and other media
channels.
The British Institute of
Non-Destructive Testing – UK
Email:
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