AS9100 Quality Management System in aviation, space and defense organizations

AS9100 Rev D is an aerospace standard (AS) that was declare by the International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG) based on the internationally recognized standard ISO 9001. AS 9100 and ISO 9001 are standards that contain requirements for executing a Quality Management System (QMS) in organization; though, AS 9100 is improved for aviation, space, and defense organizations. AS 9100 is based on the ISO 9001 necessities, so it is easiest to talk about this standard first. ISO 9001 is an internationally recognized standard for Quality Management Systems. The necessities are known around the world as an acceptable basis for executing a Quality Management System.

What is an AS 9100 Quality Management System?

A Quality Management System is a collection of the company’s policies, procedures, documented measures, and records that describe how the organization will operate in order to deliver products and services to consumers. The Quality Management System is much more than just quality assurance. Modify the Quality Management System to the requirements of organization, and the AS9100 standard provides a set of guidelines to assure that organization don’t miss any significant elements so that aerospace Quality Management System can be successful.

Why AS 9100 is Important?

The aerospace community has precise requirements that essential to be taken into account, and the QMS needs to incorporate these critical requirements. AS 9100 is for aerospace providers, and consumers want to know that organization are taking the steps required not only to meet these aerospace-specific requirements, but to improve the quality of products and services and to improve consumers satisfaction, and executing a Quality management system according to the requirements of AS 9100 can do just that. By managing, controlling, and auditing own processes, as well as taking an outside certification body verifying that organization QMS meets the requirements, customers can know that everything is well in hand. As the internationally recognized AS 9100 standards for aerospace Quality Management Systems, it is based on seven quality management principles that are recognized as being essential to make a Quality Management System work.

One of the major benefits of AS9100 certification is that every certified company must be contained within the Online Aerospace Supplier Information System (OASIS) maintained by the IAQG. This is a searchable database that is obtainable to any organization in the aerospace industry that is looking at supplier selection and surveillance, and contains not only information about each company, but also communication information for purchasing. Since OASIS is used by the industry to find suppliers, it is like a free marketing tool for organization, used all over the aerospace industry.

What is an AS 9100 Audit?

The AS 9100 audit is a critical part of the Quality Management System procedures. Generally, an audit is collecting evidence of what is happening in the procedures, and then comparing this to the planned arrangements for the process. The purpose of the audit is to verify conformance when the actual activities match the planned activities; however, if processes are not happening as planned, this is identified. The audit procedure uses interviews, observation, and review of documentation to collect audit evidence.

The Quality Management System contain internal audits, where the organization hires people to conduct this audit of the procedures and report back to the organization how well the procedures are performing against the plans. Many organizations will also hire independent third-party certification auditors to equivalence their processes against the AS 9100 standard and issue a certification that all the standard requirements are met. This is called AS 9100 certifications. Internal auditors and certification auditors require AS9100 Internal Auditor Training to learn and demonstrate the skills and knowledge required to audit the management system.