AS9100/AS9110/AS9120 - Aerospace Quality Management Systems

What is AS9100?

This is our fifth in a series on: Branching out - Other Standards based upon ISO 9001.  This is #1 of 3 on AS9100 - Aerospace Quality Management Systems, followed by AS9110 for Maintenance Facilities and AS9120 for Pass-Through Parts Distribution.

History:

The AS9100 family of standards was started with AS9000, which was developed as an SAE standard by a group of US aerospace manufacturers. (SAE was originally an aircraft standard organization way back when - not just automobiles.) It was similar to Boeing's D1-9000, but the goal was a more widely accepted standard  that many manufacturers could use. 

The International Aerospace Quality Group(IAQG) manages the standard development process, gathering input from industry professionals across the globe:
•Americas - Americas Aerospace Quality Group (AAQG) Sponsored by SAE
•Asia - Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies (SJAC) Sponsored by the Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies (SJAC)
•Europe - AeroSpace and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD) Aerospace and Defense Industries Association of Europe (ASD)

How does AS9100 compare to ISO 9001?

AS9100 is the document which defines the requirements for the QMS and provides guidance for its use. AS9100 is based on the Plan-Check-Do-Review-Improve cycle of ISO 9001.

For more information please visit the tutorial Basics of AS9100 and note the similarities

It expands upon the basic ISO 9001 standard with a growing number of additional requirements focusing on component quality and reliability:

• Configuration management
• Design phase, design verification, validation and testing processes
• Reliability, maintainability and safety
• Approval and review of subcontractor performance
• Verification of purchased product
• Product identification throughout the product’s life cycle
• Product documentation
• Control of production process changes
• Control of production equipment, tools and numerical control machine programmes
• Control of work performed outside the supplier’s facilities
• Special processes
• Inspection and testing procedures
• Methods, resources and recording
• Corrective action
• Expansion of the internal audit requirements in ISO 9001:2000
• First article inspection
• Servicing, including collecting and analyzing data, delivery, investigation and reporting and control of technical documentation
• Review of disposition of non conforming product

Current Revision:

The current revision AS9100 Rev C (01-2009) not only encompasses the relatively minor updates to the ISO 9001:2008 revision, but expands the standard to cover the defense contractors as well as additional changes in the requirements.

For more information please review the AS9100 Rev C revision details.

Who uses AS9100?

The short answer: any organization wanting to sell to the Aerospace and Defense industry.  However, the standard is broken down into three segments:
1.
Our next issue will explore these different versions of AS9100