Safety, quality, and reliability are critical principles in
the aerospace industry. Anything that goes wrong with a
product or service can result in serious consequences,
and severely damage a company’s reputation and ability
to sell its product. Customers in the aerospace industry
want to be reassured that their business partners will
continue to meet their needs for sustainable quality
throughout the supply chain. The AS9100 family
of
aerospace quality management system (AQMS) standards
addresses these challenges and provides a framework for
sustaining and improving quality.
These AQMS standards were revised in 2009. Key changes are outlined on our webpage entitled 2009 Aerospace Quality Management Standard Revisions.
Maintained by the International Aerospace
Quality Group (IAQG), AS9100 is the international aerospace
standard for quality assurance in design, development, production,
installation, and servicing of aviation, space, and defense products
and services. It is based on ISO 9001:2008 and has been supplemented
with requirements specific to both civil and military aerospace
applications that are essential for an organization to meet customer
requirements and achieve compliance to statutory and regulatory requirements.
The intent is to ensure world-class quality with aerospace grade
reliability, without adding unnecessary costs to the aerospace
supply chain.
AS 9100 certification has been attained
by companies specializing in the design, development, manufacturing,
production, and post-delivery support of aviation, space, and
defense products and equipment; aircraft accessories; airport
and airline operations; flight operations; cargo handling; and
other organizations at all levels of the aerospace supply chain
Similar aerospace quality standards have
been developed for organizations whose primary business
is the maintenance, repair, and overhaul of aviation industry products
and for aerospace distributors:
AS9110 for maintenance, repair, and
overhaul of aerospace parts
AS9120 for companies that warehouse
and distribute aerospace parts
STAT-A-MATRIX has the background, experience, resources, and
both consulting and training services to ensure that your company
prospers in this complex and demanding environment.
Why is AS9100
important?
Introduced in 1999 by the SAE International
in the US and the European Association of Aerospace Industries
in Europe, AS9100 provides a framework for the harmonization of
different requirements within the industry. AS9100 is now globally
recognized and has been adopted by almost every major aerospace
manufacturer in the world. In addition, an increasing number of
these aerospace contractors are now requiring the use of AS9100
by their supply chains. AS9100 registration is encouraged for
suppliers of Boeing, Rolls-Royce, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin,
General Electric Aircraft Engines (GEAE), Honeywell, and many
others.
The Federal Aviation Administration has determined that AS9100
is "a comprehensive quality standard containing the basic
quality control/assurance elements required by the current Code
of Federal Regulations (CFR), Title 14, Part 21." Both the
U.S. Department of Defense and NASA have reviewed the standard
and have published guidance material on using the standard for
contractual requirements.
Likewise NASA has endorsed the standard and approved it for contractual
requirements.
The effective implementation of this model gives your company
the great competitive advantage of having the discipline to identify,
understand, and fully meet your customers’ needs, requirements,
and expectations, and effectively drives down waste and production
costs, while providing the quality and safe products that your
customers demand. This allows you to increase your customers’
satisfaction, thus leading to increased demand and market share.
What are
the AQMS registration, auditor competency, and auditor training
requirements?
There are two sets of standards that outline requirements for the AQMS assessment and registration processes, Certification Body (CB) oversight and auditory competency and training: AS9101 and the AS9104 Trilogy.
AS9101 provides requirements for the AQMS assessment process. It includes requirements for auditor tasks and tools for each phase of the assessment process. Requirements described in AS9101 are mandatory for us in CB registration audits. This standard is in the final stages of being revised, with Revision D expected to be released during 1Q/2010. The rewrite goals are to:
Provide requirements for process-based auditing
Provide audit approaches and tools that focus not only on conformance, but also on effectiveness of the AQMS
Align the AQMS audits with the new requirements of AS9100, specifically critical items; special requirements; on-time delivery performance; risk management and project management.
The AS9104 standard defines the international requirements for AQMS registration programs, including those for auditor competency and training. AS9104 has been structured into three documents, normally described as “the trilogy.” For the US, AS9014 describes how these international requirements will be implemented by the Americas Aerospace Quality Group (AAQG—a committee of SAE International).
AS9104/1 outlines the rules, roles, responsibilities, and requirements of AQMS registration programs and certification bodies
AS9104/2 describes AQMS registration program oversight
AS9103/3 defines aerospace auditor competency and training requirements
AS9104/3 is now the prime source of all auditor training requirements. STAT-A-MATRIX is pleased to report that our aerospace courses are in compliance with these stringent AS9104/3 requirements. A summary of aerospace auditor accreditation requirements can be found on our website page entitled Aerospace Auditor Requirements.
AS9104/2 became effective January 2008. AS9104/3 became effective June 2008. AS9104/1 is scheduled for release in 1Q, 2010. AS9104/1 is expected to have a new Audit Days Table for CBs.
Transitioning And Registration To The 2009 AQMS Standards
To date, organizations have been free to implement the changes in the these AQMS standards, but they have not been able to become registered to the 2009 versions. Registration is dependent upon the release and implementation of AS9101 and AS9104/1, as well as the availability of the IAQG sanctioned auditor transition training. In addition, CBs will need to demonstrate the effective implementation of the revised assessment process and tools and be reaccredited before registration activities can actually start. Aerospace certified auditors will need to successfully complete the transition training to retain their certification. These requirements have been the driving force behind the 30 month transition schedule recently published by the IAQG. This schedule anticipates registrations to the 2009 AQMS standards starting during 2Q/2010 and completing July 1, 2012. A more complete view of the schedule and requirements are outlined on 2009 AQMS Transition webpage. (make this a hyperlink to a new page)
Since aerospace organizations do not have to wait to begin implementation of the revised AQMS requirements, this registration transition schedule, can, in fact, provide a bit of a buffer to ensure absolute readiness for the CB audit. STAT-A-MATRIX is prepared to be your enabler and guide on this transition path with both training and consulting services aimed at ensuring a successful implementation of the 2009 AQMS standards.
The new requirement calls for planning and managing product realization in a structured and controlled way to meet requirements at acceptable risk and within resource and schedule constraints. Most aviation, space, and defense products are highly complex and often involve multi-tier partners and suppliers. The intent of this new clause is to provide additional focus on upfront planning and management of project plans through all phases of product realization.
Does your organization have a process to manage product realization
planning to ensure that product quality and realization schedules
are not compromised? How do you use project plans to manage the
success completion of projects?
STAT-A-MATRIX, in partnership with Boston University's Corporate
Education Center, offers a range of consulting and training services
for organizations that want to find out more about how project
management can improve their processes, their staff, and their
products or services. The discipline of project management helps
those products and services reach the market on a timely basis
while reducing costs, improving quality, and meeting customers'
high expectations. To satisfy the AS9100 requirement for project
management and help your organization employ the methodology to
its fullest capabilities, turn to STAT-A-MATRIX and our roster
of expert consultants. Click on our Project
Management Page for details on our services.
There’s a trend in the aerospace industry to outsource
internal auditing to consultants. Companies have found that outsourcing
internal audits can be productive and cost-effective. In-house,
part-time internal auditors often don’t perform audits frequently
enough to be totally effective. And they don’t have the
advantage of diverse field exposure conducting process-oriented
audits. NASA is a good example of an organization that has embraced
this trend.
Without an effective audit program, a company is at higher risk
for nonconformances, poor product quality, loss of certification,
increased product liability, and a suboptimized process improvement
system. Many of our clients request that we conduct audits of
their system to ensure compliance with a number of standards,
including AS 9100. Although most of these clients have the skilled
resources to conduct audits internally; they report that we add
value by providing an independent view of their systems as well
as advice on how to remediate any findings. Click on our
Audit Services Page for details on our offerings.
If achieving certification to AS9100, AS9110, or AS9120 is part
of your strategic objectives, STAT-A-MATRIX offers a comprehensive
set of consulting services to help you through the AQMS development
and implementation process. Using our 14-Step
Implementation Process, we have assisted hundreds of companies
with AQMS implementation and training, gaining significant knowledge
of how registration can benefit companies and their missions.
We have a full range of consulting and training services to not
only assist in your registration efforts, but also use the AQMS
implementation to help focus on opportunities to reduce costs,
increase efficiencies, and reduce cycle time. In addition, our
significant expertise with other quality methods enables STAT-A-MATRIX
to help you harmonize your AQMS approach with programs such as
Six
Sigma and Lean. The result gives your organization a larger
cadre of tools, enhancing the value of your aerospace quality
management system.
To cope with the inherent challenges and evolving requirements
of the highly regulated aerospace industry, it is essential to
maintain an experienced, skillful staff trained to perform at
their best. After all, while performance creates profits, people
create performance.
It has been announced that the IAQG is developing
a set of sanctioned aerospace auditor training courses to ensure
consistency across the industry. It is anticipated that the sanctioned
training will not be available until late 2009 or early 2010.
This will
provide auditors, including internal auditors, with a good background
of AS9100C, ensure that companies do not have to wait for needed
AS9100 training, and facilitate the transition to AS9100C for
organizations.
STAT-A-MATRIX offers AS9100 training throughout North America,
China, Japan, and South Korea. Our experienced training staff
includes instructors with extensive aerospace experience, many
with RABQSA Auditor Certification in accordance with requirements
set forth by the AAQG. Our courses satisfy the stringent requirements
set forth by the AAQG in AS9014 and AS9104/3.
In the last year, participants in STAT-A-MATRIX AS9100 training
courses have validated the excellence of our instructors with
a 6.6 satisfaction rating, while rating the quality of our courses
as 6.2 (on a 7-point scale).
While we offer both our Auditor/Lead Auditor and Internal Auditor
courses as public seminars, all of our core training material
can be customized for on-site deliveries based on your specific
needs. Our three-day internal auditor training for AS9100 can
include a hands-on “Audit Lab” in which the instructor
remains on-site after the training, to assist/coach students in
conducting actual audits of selected processes. Click on our Training
Page for details on course descriptions and schedules.
Want more information on AS9100 offerings? Need an on-site course
or specialty support? Need assistance with AS9100, AS9110, or
AS9120 implementation? Call 800-472-6477. For additional information,
click below.
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