As9100 – The Revolution In Quality

By Author: nick smmith
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AS 9100 is a widely recognized and standardized quality management system for the aerospace industry. Its quality standards pertain to design, development, production, installation and servicing. It was released in October 1999 by the Society of Automotive Engineers and the European Association of Aerospace Industries. This endeavor was accomplished with the valued support of the International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG), which comprises of members of the aerospace industry from the United States, Europe, Japan, Brazil and Mexico. The AS9100 was created to achieve a truly international standard in aircraft design and development for aerospace companies worldwide.

The current version of the AS9100 has more features and encompasses many standards that give it a holistic, performance oriented and detail inspection standard. It overlaps the ISO 9001:2000 standard with its gamut of meticulous detail oriented guidelines and regulatory compliance categories that are designed to address aviation safety concerns. While setting the provisions for the new standard the Federal Aviation Association was considered that would lay ...
... greater emphasis on supplier control. The ultimate goal of AS9100 is to provide customer satisfaction by ensuring consistent high-quality standards for aerospace products while keeping the manufacturing costs at the minimum.

BENEFITS OF IMPLEMENTING AS 9100

There are various benefits of implementing the AS9100 standard. It motivates staff and helps them define their key roles and responsibilities. It accelerates cost savings by highlighting the deficiencies in production and services and expedites efficiency and productivity. With this kind of a novel standard achieved, improvements can be made and there can be better developments that may result in less wastage of resources, inappropriate or rejected work and lesser complaints. Customers will have orders that are met consistently, on time and to the correct specification. This will ensure a wide spectrum of market and opportunities. The consistency in the standardized verification process of the AS 9100 will ensure an additional benefit of reduced over-expectation.

Major manufacturers in the aircraft and aerospace industry rely upon and identify quality suppliers as a valuable link forming the supply chain. Quality is quintessential in the maintaining a strong foundation of the process of production and distribution. Manufacturers believe in the quality standards of the AS 9100 quality management system hence they do not write their own standard specifications however trust the quality standards set by the third party. The AS 9100 services are characterized by worldwide professionals who are competent and have an extensive aerospace experience. The auditors are SAE AIR 5359A qualified and there is a provision for an optional pre-assessment audit to understand the readiness for AS 9100 registration.

All the major aircraft and aerospace companies and the industry as a whole are quickly embracing. AS9100 is a medium to improve quality and cut down the delivery time within their supply chain. Boeing is one of the major supplier and manufacturer that rely heavily on this standard. The aim of such a novel and state-of-the-art standard is to increase demand for safety, quality, reliability and the constant need to achieve perfection.

For more information about ISO 17025 Training, please visit www.qualityassociates.org