Importance of Quality Control and AS9100 for the Aerospace Industry

Quality control and achieving compliance with the AS9100 quality certification are top concerns for aerospace manufacturers. This article gives a brief account of why both are necessary for the aerospace industry.

Aerospace is comprised of manufacturing and the supply of products for aviation, space, and defence purposes. It is an industry operated based on public interest and national demand. Therefore, quality and consistency should be ensured in every aerospace product to make sure that they are operated with utmost resilience and safety. Quality control is the top concern for the aerospace industry, which gives importance to AS9100 certification. The certification validates the quality management system (QMS) implemented by an aerospace manufacturer to regulate the designing, development, and selling of aerospace products for assuring their quality, performance, and safety.

Also, aerospace manufacturers will be able to use their compliance to certification to get access to global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and accredited suppliers. That naturally helps them to utilise superior materials, equipment, and parts to produce their final products of the highest quality.

Here are several points that explain why specific quality management and compliance with AS9100 are fundamental for aerospace manufacturers.

High Precision in Products

The aerospace industry encompasses the production of a wide variety of products, starting with airplanes, helicopters, spacecraft, missiles, and satellites, all of which are used in civil services and defence purposes. All these need to be developed while meeting the highest quality standard and safety requirements. In short, they should be built with high precision and using foolproof materials and equipment. Everything, including procured materials, production methods, and distribution logistics need to be accessed to control any discrepancies in the final products before releasing them into the market.

Drive Continuous Research and Development

Manufacturers need to achieve compliance with the AS9100 standard and consistently maintain it. Therefore, they need premium consulting from certification experts at frequent intervals to stay updated about the changing requirements of AS9100 and ensure their QMS stays compliant. This resultantly drives continuous improvement in the production and quality control processes of the manufacturing organisations. The quality assurance consultants will emphasise visibility in the processes within manufacturing plants as this helps to ensure continual improvement. Traceability and visibility of the plants and supplier facilities will help to identify areas of improvement, compare the performance of the production line, and ensure conformity of their products to the desired quality level.

Ensure Supplier Credibility

With a robust and compliant QMS in place, aerospace manufacturing agencies will be able to gain real-time access to their suppliers’ facilities. This ensures that only quality materials that conform to quality standards are supplied. Manufacturers will be empowered with an advanced level of monitoring and regulation with their suppliers when they achieve AS9100 certification. They can identify and eliminate every source of faulty or counterfeit parts, reduce unnecessary inventories, and substantially bring down costs. In short, along with ensuring supplier credibility, proper quality management also contributes to cost savings.

Regulatory Compliance

By establishing a strong quality management framework and certifying it with the AS9100 standard which is formed by SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) will help aerospace manufacturers to achieve international regulatory compliance. They will be able to meet the quality and safety regulations issued by different international regulatory authorities, such as theInternational Organisation for Standardisation or ISO and NASA. So, achieving AS9100 certification will help every aerospace and defence manufacturer and supplier to achieve regulatory compliance with other global quality/safety standards.

Quality management is the key to aerospace and defence engineering. To meet the heavy public demand and arising military interests, large volumes of aerospace and defence products are produced every day. Without an explicit and rigid QMS, it is not possible to manage suppliers, enhance the quality of their supplies, ensure consistency in production processes, and eliminate counterfeit parts or products in manufacturing. Quality management and AS9100 go hand in hand as the latter helps in confirming the capability of the QMS in ensuring all the above aspects.