Tag: AS-9120

AS 9120 Aerospace Quality Management

AS 9120, titled, “Quality Management Systems — Requirements for Aviation, Space, and Defense Distributors,” has just been updated.  It is one of a number of documents on Quality Management published by SAE International.  The new revision B will replace Revision A, which is now obsolete.  This document is available now from Document Center as a hard copy or for PDF download.

Implementing a Quality Managment System can improve the quality, cost, and timing of delivery of your products.  It also has the added benefit of inspiring confidence in your vendors and customers.  That is precisely why so many different companies scramble to pick up these quality management standards when they come out.    If you’re an aerospace or defense distributor looking to implement a quality system in your company,  AS 9120 may just be the standard for you.

Who needs this document, anyway? AS 9120 was published to be a guide to the ever-so-popular ISO 9001, but it is specifically designed for aerospace and defense distributor needs.  That is, if you are buying and reselling parts in the aerospace industry, this applies to you.

In it, ISO 9001 is included, accompanied by helpful notes and added content on aerospace applications.  Next, the document is divided into a number of sections to ensure that each facet of the quality management system is addressed.  Sections applying specifically to leadership, planning, support,  operation, evaluation, and improvement are included.  Following this are a number of annexes informing the reader of other quality standards that may be of interest.

To ensure the soundness of your quality management system, pick a copy of the AS 9120.  At Document Center, we’ve got it available in a number of formats, including hard copy, PDF, and for site-wide subscription.  Here’s a link to the order page for AS 9120.  Need to pick up some accompanying documents, while you’re at it?  Go to www.document-center.com and browse our standards library.

If you’ve got questions about quality, aerospace, or any other standards, get in contact with us.  We can be reached by phone (650-591-7600) or email (info@document-center.com).  Providing guidance to the world of standards is what we do.  Make us your Standards Experts!

 

Top Quality Standards for the Aerospace Industry

Our Top Quality Standard for the Aerospace Industry is the AS-9100,  Quality Management Systems – Requirements for Aviation, Space and Defense Organizations.  It is the successor document to the first Aerospace Quality Standard, the now obsolete AS-9000.  The current Revision C dated in 2009 will replace the previous Revision B in July 2012.

SAE International states that the document “specifies requirements for a quality management system where an organization a) needs to demonstrate its ability to consistently provide product that meets customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, and b) aims to enhance customer satisfaction through the effective application of the system, including processes for continual improvement of the system and the assurance of conformity to customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.”

The next Quality Standard is the AS-9110, Quality Management Systems – Requirements for Aviation Maintenance Organizations.  This is the standard for certification for Maintenance groups.  Built on the foundation of ISO-9001, the additional aviation maintenance industry requirements, definitions and notes are highlighted in the text of this standard.

And the final certification standard in the series is the AS-9120,  Quality Management Systems – Requirements for Aviation, Space and Defense Distributors.  Again, the document is based on the ISO-9000, with deviations in the text highlighted for use by distributors.

Next on our list is the AS-9101, Quality Management Systems Audit Requirements for Aviation, Space, and Defense Organizations.  This essential standard provides you with the requirements for the actual audit.  It is the guide by which a certification process will be judged.

We should also mention AS-9003 at this point,  Inspection and Test Quality System.  SAE International states, “This document contains the minimum requirements for supplier Inspection and Test Quality System. It is emphasized that the quality system requirements specified in this standard are complementary (not alternative) to the contractual and applicable law and regulatory requirements.”

Another standard in this series is the AS-9006,  Deliverable Aerospace Software Supplement for As9100a.  However, as the AS-9100 Revision A is now obsolete, this document is not useful for new projects.

And the last standard we need to reference in this list is AS-5553, Counterfeit Electronic Parts; Avoidance, Detection, Mitigation, and Disposition.  With the quality concerns that arise from the use of sub-standard component parts, this standard is essential to the manufacture of safe products.

At the time of this post, draft documents are under review for the AS-9110, AS-9003 and AS-5553 Standards.