|
Background
In August 1997, SAE International's American Aerospace Quality Group (AAQG) published AS9000: Aerospace Basic Quality System Standard. AS9000 replaced an earlier draft of the standard, SAE Aerospace Resource Document (ARD) 9000, published by SAE in October 1996. AS9000 was based on input by a number of large aerospace prime contractors, including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, GE Aircraft Engines and others. Subsequently, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Aerospace Technical Committee (TC) 20, in association with the AAQG in the U.S. and the European Association of Aerospace Industries (AECMA) in Europe and other countries such as China, Japan, Mexico and Brazil, developed a quality system standard for use by aerospace companies. Development of the standard was supported by the International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG). In late 1999, ISO 9100 was published. It was released as in the United States, Europe and Japan as AS9100, PrEN 9100, and the Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies (SJAC) 9100 respectively.
Purpose
AS 9100, like its predecessor, AS 9000, seeks to assure customer satisfaction by having aerospace industry manufacturers produce world class quality products at the lowest possible cost. AS9100 standardizes, to the maximum extent possible, the quality system requirements of the aerospace industry. Standardization of such requirements can result in cost savings due to the elimination or reduction of unique requirements developed for each different customer.
Content
In addition to the requirements listed in ISO 9001:1994, AS 9100 also includes aerospace sector specific requirements, which were felt to be necessary to assure the safety, reliability and quality of aerospace products. These include requirements in the areas of: configuration management; reliability, maintainability, and safety; design phase, design verification, validation, and testing processes; 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 programs; 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 9001t; first article inspection; servicing, including collecting and analyzing data, delivery, investigation, and reporting; control of technical documentation; and the review of disposition of nonconforming product. The quality system requirements specified in the international standard were intended to be complementary (not alternatives) to contractual requirements and applicable law and regulatory requirements. Unlike standards in other areas, AS 9100 recognizes the role of regulatory authorities in the establishment of quality system requirements for aerospace manufacturers.
Registration
The requirements for registration of an aerospace manufacturer's quality management system to AS 9100 are contained in SAE AIR 5359, Requirements for Registration of Quality Systems to AS9000 or AS9100, developed by the American Aerospace Quality Group (AAQG). These requirements, which can be obtained from SAE, are to be applied by the American National Standards Institute-Registrar Accreditation Board (ANSI-RAB) or by other registrar accreditation bodies. Registrars must meet the criteria listed in of this document. Aerospace companies should check with their customers regarding the use of AS 91000 and any requirements for registration.
AS9100's Future
The IAQC agreed in March 2000 to align the requirements of ISO 9100, AS9100, PrEN 91000 and SJAC 9100 with the requirements of the year 2000 edition of ISO 9001 (ISO 9001:2000). The IAQG has established an international team to align the specific industry requirements contained within 9100 to the revised content and format of ISO 9001, year 2000 version. The IAQG Team is planning to complete their work by the summer of 2001.The existing version of ISO 9100 and AS 9100 will remain available for use until November 2003, to allow users time to transition to the new version under development.
Ordering Information
AS9100: Quality Systems - Aerospace - Model for Quality Assurance in Design, Development, Production, Installation and Servicing, issued November 1999, is available from: SAE International
4000 Commonwealth Drive
Warrendale, PA 15086-0001
Phone: (724) 776-4841
Fax: (724) 776-5760
http://www.sae.org
|
