We’re excited to share a major milestone achieved at CGY3—on May 15, 2025, the Drivmatic 1070 autoriveter was officially qualified for production use. This achievement is a huge leap forward in the production of the DHC-515, and it reflects the tremendous collaboration, and persistence of our team over the past year.
So, what does qualifying the Drivmatic mean? In essence, it’s now fully approved to be used on actual production parts for the DHC-515. The machine has successfully met all criteria set by our Quality and Material and Process Engineering (MPE) teams, including extensive testing and rigorous documentation. With this qualification, we can now rely on the Drivmatic to install thousands of rivets in the wing skins—one of the earliest and most critical stages of wing assembly.
The journey to qualification began in June 2024. Over the last 12 months, the team has faced and overcome numerous hurdles. “This was the first time an autoriveter machine was qualified under the DHC name, and there was little to no historical documentation to fall back on,” says Niv Panchendrabose – Supervisor, Industrialization. “The Drivmatic had previously been used at Bombardier but adapting it for the DHC-515 required deep analysis, new procedures, and a lot of learning along the way.”
One of the toughest aspects of the process was troubleshooting the unexpected. From aligning the machine’s programming with the new aircraft model to resolving error codes, the team had to develop creative solutions in real time. In some cases, validation tests had to be repeated when results were just a fraction off, forcing a complete redo. Through it all, the team stayed focused and flexible, continuously improving the process with every iteration.
Behind the scenes, collaboration was the key to success. Weekly discussions between Production, Methods Engineering, Industrialization, Victoria and Calgary Quality, and MPE helped ensure alignment across functions. “When things didn’t go as planned, the team worked together quickly to adjust and find better paths forward. Each failure turned into an opportunity to improve and strengthen our operation,” says Niv Panchendrabose.
Now that the Drivmatic is qualified, the next steps include training more operators and putting the machine to work on actual DHC-515 production parts. The foundation is in place, and we’re ready to move into full-scale wing manufacturing.
This success is the result of a collective effort, and we want to recognize a few key contributors. Yhoisadaq “Joey” Quiceno (Production), Bernardo Lopez (Methods), and Jordan Capinpin (Production) were instrumental on the ground, and a special shoutout goes to Kaemin Blacquiere from the Victoria Tooling team, who initiated the qualification process and supported training. Every team involved played a vital role in reaching this milestone, and a strong spirit of collaboration made it all possible.
Congratulations to everyone involved! This is a big step forward for the DHC-515, and we couldn’t have done it without your dedication.
Team: News
