AS9100 Certified Companies Demonstrate Effective Quality Management

The AS9100 standard was created specifically for the aviation, space and defense industries. It serves the purpose of achieving significant improvements in those industries in areas of safety, quality and customer service. Companies that are certified with this standard can be confident that they have an effective quality management system, and by extension, so can their customers.

According to Aerospace Manufacturing and Design, “Thermacore Inc., a provider of advanced thermal and material solutions, has received full recertification to both AS9100:2009 Rev. C and ISO 9001:2008 Quality Standards at its Lancaster, Pennsylvania, headquarters and manufacturing facility.” The company received recertification for their design, manufacture and distribution of thermal management components and systems.

AS9100 is being used by the world’s leading aerospace companies and by their supply chains. There is public demand for safety and reliability which is driving the need for product quality to reach high levels. In order to achieve this, there must be continuous improvement and an integral part of that is having quality management systems. With one in place, a company gets data on a regular basis so that they can see their progress as well as areas for improvement that they need to work on.

The standard calls for a lot of responsibilities, and because of this companies see increased involvement of top management with their quality management system, from the setting of quality goals and objectives to the management review to taking steps towards meeting the quality goals. If this is met, there is sure to be increased productivity with continued training and qualification of employees. Furthermore, the needs of customers are better understood and the business’ goals and objectives adjust accordingly.

Working towards the AS9100 standard is sure to significantly improve a company from within. These improvements can be seen during the implementation phase and beyond. A well designed quality management system based on AS9100 provides a number of benefits such as better process control and flow, better documentation processes, reduced costs and reduced scrap and rejections.

Companies that are looking to get AS9100 certification can do so from certification bodies such as the International Standards Authority, Inc., which has certified auditors who are experienced in the industries they audit and are trained to provide assessment for them.

Sources:

Thermacore recertified to AS9100, ISO9001 quality standards, Aerospace Manufacturing and Design, March 4, 2015

Benefits of AS9100, AS9100 Store