AS9100 Certification: Who Does It Apply To & Why?

AS9100 is the industry-specific standard defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and the European Association of Aerospace Industries. AS9100 certification is meant for organizations in the aviation, space, and defensive industry, and is considered the benchmark for the quality management system (QMS). It provides these organizations with a set of conditions that helps them deliver safe and quality products.

Who Need AS9100 Certification?

This certification applies to any organization in the aerospace and defense sector, including:

• Manufacturers of spacecraft, aircraft parts, and materials,
• Designers and assemblers of aerospace parts or components,
• Manufacturers of defense equipment, parts or assemblies,
• Quality management organizations that work to support aircraft and defense engineers,
• Other various services providers to aerospace and defense manufacturers.

Apart from ensuring quality management, the certification is needed by organizations as a validation to be a part of the aerospace or defense supply chain and get access to any leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

Why Aerospace and Defense Organizations Need AS9100 Certification?

You may already know why different organizations in the defense and aerospace sector need certification, but here are the reasons explained in detail.

Advanced Quality Planning and Control

This certification is based on ISO 9001 certification with some necessitated changes. ISO 9001 addresses the aspects of quality planning and control in general businesses by specifying the requirements of the QMS. Therefore, the AS9100 certification will help aerospace and defense organizations have advanced quality management by adhering to its specifications and requirements for the QMS.

This approach to quality management is based on the structure of the ISO 9001 standard. So, the AS9100 standard defines quality management in the aerospace/defense organization with the same structured principles: Context of the organization, leadership, planning, implementation, operation, performance assessment, and continual improvement.

Product Safety

Safety should be the primary concern in aerospace and defense products, parts, or materials. Operational risks, injuries, and fatalities are resultant effects of defective products. Thus, the implementation of a robust QMS with requirements to address the safety aspects throughout the entire product lifecycle is needed. The AS9100 standard leads to the implementation of the QMS, which takes care of product safety and promotes practices for the prevention of risks in counterfeit parts. The QMS establishes strict procedures to assess possible threats of fraudulent/defective counterfeit, supplier non-compliance to statutory regulations of the AS9100 standard, and other quality requirements. Thus, it helps manufacturers correct mistakes in their products, make suppliers accountable, and minimize risks as much as possible.

Employee Participation

The specific AS9100 standard makes the employees of manufacturing organizations aware of their roles in the development of the products. They are the ones that contribute to the safety and quality of the products or parts. They should ensure their conformity to the standard, and if there are nonconformities, they need to find the reasons for root-cause analysis and improve them. In other words, certification will make the employees responsible for the production processes, and help them perform rigorous auditing of the processes and products to ensure no risks.

Undeniably, AS9100 certification is the key to aerospace and defense to achieve assured quality management. It helps them meet with the rapidly changing quality, safety, and regulatory requirements of the industry. This has an impact on customer satisfaction and their reputation in the global markets. By following the requirements of an acclaimed QMS standard, the manufacturers can address the evolving customer expectations and achieve shorter delivery timelines. This also helps with effective supplier management. The manufacturers need to channel the quality and safety requirements to each player in the supply chain and keep a close eye on them when mitigating the risks of integrity in the supply chain. All these have a major beneficial impact: global associations like outsourcing from top material providers and distributing products to defense, aviation, or space institutions.