What is AS9100D?

Based on the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management standard,  AS9100D is the aerospace industry-recognized quality standard requirements for quality assurance and risk management relative to design, development, production, installation, and servicing in the Aviation, Space and Defense (ASD) sector.

The standard takes the requirements of ISO 9001:2015 and supplements them with other requirement established by the aerospace industry in order to satisfy DOD, NASA, and FAA. The purpose of the standard is to provide a single quality management system for use within the aerospace industry internationally.

There are three associated standards in the AS series that are applicable to different sectors of the industry;

• AS 9100 – Design, Develop or Manufacture – purchase a copy of AS 9100D
• AS 9110 – Aircraft Maintenance Organizations – purchase a copy of AS 9110
• AS 9120 – ASD Distributors of components like electronics and hardware – purchase a copy of AS 9120

Additional documents to be considered include guidance standards that should be understood;

• ARP 9134A Risk Management
• AS9102 First Article Inspection – purchse a copy of AS9102 Audit Requirements
• AS9103 Rev. A Key Characteristics
• AS9131C (2012)
• NAS 412 Foreign Object Detection (FOD) – purchase a Copy of NAS 412 Foreign Object Detection (FOD)
• AS9101F Quality Management Systems – Audit Requirements for Aviation, Space, and Defense Organizations – purchase a copy of AS9101F Audit Requirements

Who Should Use it?

In the aerospace and defense industry many companies are requiring their subcontractors and suppliers to be AS9100 compliant or certified. This requirements is typically flowed down to the next tier of supplier or further. For those companies at tier 3, ISO 9001:2015 is usually sufficient, however, if a significant proportion of a company’s business is aerospace or defense, then AS 9100 would be the optimal path.

What are the Benefits of AS9100?

Once a company is certified to AS9100D, the details of the company and the certification are entered into the online aerospace supplier information system (OASIS.) This database is a major resource for many large OEMs used to find new suppliers with expertise in various areas. It can be a powerful lead generating tool. Additional benefits include;

• Fewer customer product returns
• Reduced waste and rework
• Improved delivery time
• Better decision making
• Engaged employees
• Improved supplier relationships

How Do I Get Started?

When determining how to get started it is important to look at your internal resources. Do you have anyone on your team that knows the standard and can implement its criteria properly? If not, you may want to consider reaching out to an experienced consultant who can assess your organization and systems to determine what is needed for an effective implementation. Contact us.

For our Massachusetts clients, State funding is available to help with AS9100D training.