ISO 9001 quality management systems is one of globally well-known standards developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). It is widely implemented in different organisations, regardless of their size class and sector of activity. The aim of this study is to collect and analyse information on mechanical engineering enterprises by size classes in Latvia that have been certified in conformity with ISO 9001 requirements. This study presents findings from the research focused on mechanical engineering. Therefore, an overview of the most popular management system standard in the mechanical engineering sector has been done. A comparative analysis has been applied in order to determine the proportion of enterprises with quality management systems certified in accordance with the ISO 9001 standard by industrial sector in Latvia and worldwide. The expected research outcome is a distribution of mechanical engineering enterprises by size classes (micro-, small-, medium-sized and large-scale enterprises) in Latvia certified with ISO 9001.

In this study, the relationship between advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs) and ISO 9001 certification was analyzed. The purpose was to examine the most used AMTs in enterprises of mechanical engineering and metalworking (MEM) sector in Latvia. A literature review was conducted first to determine what technologies are currently considered to be advanced in manufacturing. This article gives detailed information of six types of AMTs, which according to the survey are most frequently applied by MEM sector enterprises in Latvia. The information for this analysis is obtained from the database collected by the Latvian Association of Mechanical Engineering and Metalworking Industries (MASOC). Paper also presents the usage of these technologies by enterprise size class (micro, small, medium and large size). The results of the comparative analysis are discussed, taking into account ISO 9001 Quality Management System (QMS) certification and non-certification factor, respectively. The data sample is based on more than 100 enterprises from MEM sector where the use of AMTs was identified. The findings showed that the most often a computer numerical control (CNC) and computer-aided design (CAD) are used by enterprises of MEM in Latvia. The hypothesised relationship was supported by results which showed that in enterprises that do not have ISO 9001 certification CAD technologies are used in 13 % of cases, while enterprises with ISO 9001 in 20 % of cases, respectively. The CNC is used in 62 % of cases by enterprises without ISO 9001 and in 76 % of cases having ISO 9001 certificate. From above, it could be concluded that in enterprises in which a QMS certified according to the ISO 9001 is introduced, these two above mentioned technologies are used more frequently (7-8 % points more).

This paper presents a study of 3D surface texture measurements and analysis of several surface texture parameters. A stylus measuring instrument was used to measure 3D surface topographies. In experimental part of this study, two coated gas turbine blades used in aerospace industry were chosen to examine surface of the coatings in nano-scale. Surface texture parameters of Ti-Al coating and Ti-Al-N coating were measured and compared to each other. The aim of the research is to analyze the surface of these coatings in an areal (3D) manner. The results indicate slight differences between these two surface textures despite the fact that both are Titanium-based coatings, and the surface of base material for both samples was prepared in the same way before deposition. Further study with repeated measurements of surface texture for deposed coatings has to be made after erosion tests.

Ceramic Nanostructured Superlattice Coatings (NSC) have broad applicability to improve the parts’ and assemblies’ tribological and mechanical properties for the needs of the automotive and aerospace industries. Improving the material properties using nanocoatings for such a widely used material as, for example, bearing steel 100Cr6 makes it possible to improve the service life of machine parts. In this paper, the correlation dependence between tribological and mechanical properties of the NSC and its surface texture are considered to determine how much surface texture will affect the tribological performance of the coated workpieces, as well as the measuring and evaluation procedure of the nanocoatings, are presented. Three different NSC described by a general empirical formula {TiMe1Me2-CN/TiAlSi-N}n and based on the modified carbonitride/nitride non-stoichiometric chemical composition were created, and their tribological and mechanical properties measured and analyzed in the context with surface texture. NSC deposited by the advanced PVD (Physical vapor deposition) technique demonstrated significantly higher wear resistance (up to 28 times), reasonably lower friction coefficient (CoF) (up to 4 times), and significantly higher hardness of the coated workpieces (up to 7 times) versus substrate material. A strong correlation between the steady-state dry sliding friction, CoF, and the amplitude and functional surface texture parameters of tribo-track were observed. The first results of the initiated research regarding the correlation analysis of the tribological and mechanical properties, on the one hand, and surface texture, on the other hand, of the NSC are reported here.

ISO 9001 (2000 and 2008), Quality management systems – Requirements are globally most used standards. The total number of issued certificates tends to increase year by year, according to the annual surveys of International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The situation in Latvia is similar – the total number of the standard user organizations grows every year only in much smaller amounts. However, the information on issued certificates is insufficient for realizing an in-depth analysis of standard user organizations. This study is important for providing detailed information on enterprises according to their size class and for information on the proportion of certified enterprises to overall number of enterprises to observe the most active scale group of business for ISO 9001 certification. The expected outcome of the research – the number of certified enterprises and their distribution by size class (micro, small, medium- sized and large scale enterprises) in Latvia.