Transitioning Your Small Business Quality System to AS9100

Many companies, especially manufacturing companies, have been left gasping for air in the current recession (depression in some areas of the US). Small business have been forced to scramble for alternative revenue streams or simply fail. With most of the automotive industry fighting back from bankruptcy the aerospace industry, although feeling the economic hit, has remained strong. Along with government contracts and defense work, the aerospace industry is a good place to start when trying to diversify revenue streams. Updating your quality management system to the AS9100 Aerospace and Military Standard is a huge step forward in the diversification process.

For many companies operating under the basic ISO 9001 quality system or the TS automotive quality system the transition to the AS 9100 system can seem like a daunting and expensive task. It should be noted that the AS9100 standard incorporates the entire ISO 9001 standard and registration to both is a moot point. The certificate for AS9100 usually will reference the ISO 9001 standard so only one internal and external audit is required, to AS9100, to satisfy both standards. All the clauses of the TS standard are not included in AS9100 standard causing some extra work for most automotive parts suppliers to comply to both the aerospace and automotive standards.

The aerospace industry is a different animal than other industries. Filled with terms, acronyms and processes that catch many new suppliers, fighting to get into the industry, off guard while leaving potential customers wondering if it is worth taking a chance on them. It is well worth getting to know a handful of these terms to ease this customer doubt. Here is a list of terms to get familiar with:

AS9100 - standard created the SAE international to standardize the quality requirements between the main players in the aerospace industry, military and regulatory agencies. Built upon ISO 9001 with some 80 added clauses specific to the aerospace and military industries. http://www.sae.org/technical/standards/AS9100B

FAI (First Article Inspection) - Forget about PPAP documentation, this is the stated documentation procedure required in order to submit product in the aerospace industry. Defined in the AS9102 standard by SAE international this procedure is used to show compliance to product and process requirements. http://www.sae.org/technical/standards/AS9102A

FAIR (First Article Inspection Report) - The actual paperwork created by following the FAI procedure. A sample, compliant, form is supplied at the end of the AS9102 created by SAE international. http://www.sae.org/technical/standards/AS9102A

CAR or SCAR (Corrective Action Report or Supplier Corrective Action Report) - basic corrective action report given by or submitted to the customer or supplier.

MRB (Material Review Board) - Assigned board of members, usually based on experience and knowledge, that can disposition product that does not meet predefined quality requirements.

NC (Non-Conformance)- Product of processes that do not meet quality requirements.

NCR (Non-Conformance Report) - The documentation that records an NC.

QPR(s) (Quality Purchasing Requirements) - The quality requirements, usually placed on a purchase order, that describe the quality requirements of the product and the quality system used to produce the product as well as record retention requirement. Many customers will use codes on their purchase orders along with a document to cross reference the codes.

FOD (Foreign object damage/debris) - Refers to any object that can compromise the proper function of a aerospace product or damage caused by such objects. FOD has been credited to major catastrophic system failures including the crash of Concorde flight 4590.

DPD (Digital Product Definition) - The procedure used to handle customer supplied data, including prints, cad data and numerical programs. Many international standard address DPD, the must commonly referred to is the Boeing DPD standard which can be found on Boeing's website. http://www.boeing.com/companyoffices/doingbiz/supplier/D6-51991.pdf

ITAR (International traffic in arms regulations) - US government regulation concerning arms or products and information pertaining to the production of arms (items on the US munitions list) and their transfer outside on the US or to persons within the US that are not citizens or permanent residents. http://www.pmddtc.state.gov/regulations_laws/itar_official.html

NADCAP (National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program) - SAE program that accredits suppliers performing special processes like heat treating and coatings. The industry is moving toward the requirement to use NADCAP accredited suppliers as apposed to each customer having its own approved processors list the its suppliers must use to process their product. http://www.pri-network.org/Nadcap/About-Nadcap.id.40.htm

Oasis (database) - IAQG Online Aerospace Supplier Information System - the database website that contains a list of AS9100 compliant suppliers, auditors and tons of other aerospace related information used by the aerospace industry to lookup potential suppliers. http://www.iaqg.sae.org/servlets/index?PORTAL_CODE=IAQG

A company with a solid ISO 9001 quality management system will have a fairly easy transition to AS9100. With the an addition focus on configuration management, supplier management, product and process traceability, product planning and customers/regulatory requirement compliance; AS9100 is not far from the base ISO 9001 standard. The main difference between the systems is not as much the additions to the standard itself but how the external auditing bodies enforce the standard. The auditing bodies place greater emphasis on whether the system implementation actually adds benefit to the company and if the company is really working toward continuous improvement where many ISO 9001 auditor are very lax and do not dig to deep into detailed areas, such as the analysis of corrective action effectiveness and the implementation of customer requirments within the quality management system.

A basic list of processes that make up the typical AS9100 quality management system (and most ISO 9001 systems):

• Purchasing
• Supplier Management
• Design and Development
• Configuration Management
• Document Control
• Records Control
• Corrective and Preventive Action
• Internal Auditing
• Management Review
• Production Planning
  
• Shipping and Receiving
• Quality Control (First Article Inspection)
• Control of Nonconforming Product

Most of the requirements of the standard can be placed within these processes; however, it is entirely up to the company as to how to arrange the requirements within their unique quality management system layout. Also, adding a process for FOD, ITAR and/or DPD may be needed to comply with customer requirements and can also be audited by an external auditor.

The projection of management and employee confidence in the AS9100 quality management system and the systems ability to continuously improve are the most important things to instill in the mind of an external auditor during the registration process. Confidence goes a long way in convicing the auditor(s) that the company and its employees are committed to the success of the company and the companies quality management system. Best of luck! :)