Pushing Boundaries in NDT An Interview with AWS International Agent, Advanced Technology Group

Pushing Boundaries in NDT

An Interview with AWS International Agent, Advanced Technology Group

By Dr Payel Dutta Chowdhury, Marketing and Communications Content Specialist (Asia, Africa & Oceania) for the American Welding Society

AWS International Agent, Advanced Technology Group (ATG), headquartered at Prague, Czech Republic, is a privately-owned company that specialize in NDT products and services. Established in 1992 by Zbynek Zavadil, ATG has grown leaps and bounds in the last three decades to become one of the largest NDT-oriented companies worldwide with its presence in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. In the last year ATG also actively entered the regions of Oceania. ATG comprises ATG Ltd. in Prague, LA Composite in Prague, ATG Slovakia in Trencin and with numerous partners all over the world. With over 30 years’ history in the field of testing, it has achieved success especially by providing a complete solution for Non-Destructive Testing for its customers, i.e. by providing both equipment and services, in all standard NDT methods and other related special processes.

In an exclusive interview with Payel Dutta Chowdhury, the Founder and General Director of ATG, Zbynek Zavadil, and the Deputy Director of ATG, Dr Tomáš Zavadil, shared their insights on the strengths and future of ATG and their perspectives on enhancing the collaboration with American Welding Society.

PDC: How do your products address the recent trends in NDT?

TZ: Recent trends in NDT showcase growing affinity with automation. In line with this current shift, ATG is also well-prepared with automation, machine learning, and deep learning techniques. Being adapted to recent trends in NDT helps us minimize problems related to human factors, primarily in quality assurance. We have set up an R&D unit at ATG that focuses on dealing with specific applications for full automation or robotization or even ADR (automated defect recognition) as most markets find this important. Adapting to recent technology does not create any challenge for job displacement for humans; rather, it assists humans in working more efficiently, resulting in enhanced customer service.  

PDC: What are the most prominent strengths of ATG?

ZZ: Right from the beginning of ATG, we have always focused on a good vision and creating strong brand value. Maintaining a loyal customer base, creating an innovative and strong product and service portfolio, steadily building and sustaining skilled employees, focusing on efficient operations, and creating a positive company culture have been our primary objectives, all contributing to sustainable growth and success.

PDC: Can you highlight details of the custom-made niche equipment that you produce for your clients?

ZZ & TZ: ATG has one of the best facilities for developing NDT products. ATG also delivers its own FPI (Fluorescent Penetrant Inspection) lines for high quality testing of surface defects, especially for the aerospace industry (acc. to ASTM E1417) and high capacity, fully automated lines for the automotive industry. We design and manufacture a complete range of MPI (Magnetic Particle Inspection) systems and equipment for all industrial sectors and in all requested magnetization combinations: AC, HWDC, FWDC. We also develop and manufacture a range of customized automated UT systems (lines, manipulators) for rotational or longitudinal products (including specialized parts for railways, automotive and aerospace industry). ATG Group integrates UT systems with other NDT methods, e.g. MPI (for bearing rings inspection), or Eddy Current (bar/tube inspection). We design and produce our own scanning manipulators (mechanics + motion control) as well as data acquisition and post processing software for all industrial applications.

PDC: You mentioned that ATG has its own research division. Can you highlight any important activity of that unit?

ZZ: Yes, ATG has its own R&D division. The R&D team is engaged in several important research and development initiatives. One of the principal activities of the team is developing ADR (Automatic Defect Recognition) systems for automatic illumination, capture, and indication (defect) detection and classification for methods VT, MT and PT. These ADR systems are delivered on a customer’s request also with manipulation including bin picking.

PDC: Usually, we find academic institutions and industries working in silos. But I understand that ATG has a strong academic connection. How are you bridging the gap between academia and industry?

TZ: The prevailing problem that can be seen because of the academia-industry gap is the lack of an efficient workforce, particularly the new joiners. Due to over-emphasis on textbook specific knowledge, graduates lack skills that are required in the real-life job scenarios. It is important to train individuals even before they step into the professional world.

To bridge this gap between academia and industry, ATG has stepped into the education process to train individuals and make them job ready. We have established connections with several top universities in Czech Republic and designed tailor-made courses on NDT for their students. For example, we support in running a fully accredited course at Czech Technological University in Prague. We also support summer internships or even internships for longer duration, and mentoring students for their bachelor’s and master’s degree thesis topics. Some of the universities and institutions that we work closely with in Czech Republic are Czech Technological University (CTU) in Prague, Brno University of Technology (BUT), Technical University of Ostrava (VSB-TUO), and Technical University of Liberec. We also collaborate with academic institutions internationally. At present we have tie-ups with institutions in Germany, France, Spain, Slovakia, South Korea, and Taiwan. We conduct one-day seminars on specific topics and offer internships to students. We are open to receiving students from India and other South Asian countries.

PDC: Do you conduct in-house training at ATG?

ZZ: Yes, we do. ATG Group has several training centers that are focused on personnel qualification in NDT as one of the major sources of company revenue. These centers are supported through local partner organizations in Europe, Africa and Asia. We have our own in-house trainers who train individuals on NDT processes. There is a strong requirement for training and the primary goal is to prepare an efficient workforce for NDT.

PDC: What are your plans for enhancing the existing collaboration between AWS and ATG?

ZZ & TZ: We are looking forward to working more closely with AWS. AWS representatives are visiting us more frequently now. We plan to visit our existing clients and some prospective ones as well together. We are already deliberating on region-specific marketing and enhancing AWS’ presence in the European market. Educating prospective customers about various AWS products and solutions is the need of the hour and we feel our joint efforts and conducive policies from AWS would make the difference.

PDC: What is your vision for the future of ATG?

ZZ: To be the best at whatever we do and to serve our customers flawlessly.

ATG Group Product Portfolio

1. Production of Equipment – Custom-made solutions, Standardized equipment, Consumables, and Supplemental processes

2. Qualification and Certification – Training and examination, ISO 9712, SNT-TC-1A, EN4179 / NAS410 standard, and Structured collection of experience

3. Testing and Inspection – Testing acc. EASA Part 145 (approved by Federal Aviation Authority of USA), On-site inspections, Special Process House, and Cleaning and cleanliness verification

4. Consultancy – NDT Level 3 services, Design of the QMS, Support for NADCAP / EASA / TPG / ASME audits, and Proficiency Testing

Products and Services Provided by ATG

 1. Responsible person (services of NDT Level 3)

 2. Consultancy (services of NDT Level 3)

 3. Personnel qualification and certification (EN4179/NAS410, ISO9712, SNT-TC-1A, UIC 960, ANDE-1 (in preparation), AWS QC-1, IAB-041/EWF-450)

 4. Providing NDT personnel (services of NDT Level 2)

 5. NDT hardware and consumables (production and distribution)

 6. NDT process QMS (Written Practice, Written Procedures, Instructions)

 7. Support in approval processes (customer, NADCAP, EASA, TPG, ASME audits)

 8. Inter-laboratory proficiency testing (accredited acc. to ISO 17043)

ATG Industry Coverage Structure

Aerospace – 55%

Transportation – 20%

Power – 15%

Others – 10%

AWS International Agents

American Welding Society provides support to welding professionals throughout the world. Since 1919, AWS standards, services, and programs have supported welding professionals in the United States. Over the years, this influence has spanned the globe, and today AWS supports thousands of welding professionals worldwide. To assist international members, AWS contracts with organizations in countries throughout the globe to facilitate certification exams.

AWS has International Agents in the following countries:

Argentina                            Australia             Bangladesh                Bolivia                   Brazil

Chile                                      China                   Colombia                    Costa Rica            Czech Republic

Dominican Republic      Ecuador              Egypt                             Germany              India

Indonesia                            Iraq                       Italy                               Japan                    Jordan

Kazakhstan                        Kuwait                 Malaysia                       Mexico                  Netherlands

New Zealand                     Nizeria                Panama                         Peru                       Philippines

Qatar                                    Saudi Arabia     Slovak Republic        South Africa        South Korea

Taiwan                                 Thailand             Trinidad & Tobago   Turkey                   UAE

Vietnam

To know more about AWS International Agents, International Program Applications, and International Agents Exam Schedule, please check https://www.aws.org/certification-and-education/professional-certification/international-agents/#agents