The aerospace sector has always needed to demonstrate high levels of safety and quality.

Delivery of high-quality products is vital to customer satisfaction and if quality falters there can be severe safety consequences. In addition, Aviation, Space & Defence manufacturers rely on vast supplier networks to bring their final product to market and need an effective means of communicating with their vendors.

Not only can the implementation of quality management standards help Aerospace organizations achieve these goals, they have many more benefits to businesses which we shall go on to explore.

Why is quality management necessary for aerospace organizations?

With increasingly complex supply chains that span the world, it’s important that businesses can demonstrate their commitment to quality and on-time delivery.

Certification and training to globally recognized standards will help mitigate the risks of failure in the supply chain, boost customer satisfaction and make your organization resilient to industry changes. Implementation of quality management requirements are also necessary to help businesses with the following:

• Facilitate continual improvement

• Increase market opportunities

• Demonstrate traceability throughout the supply chain

• Increase efficiency to save time, money and resources

• Ensure compliance with a system supported by regulatory authorities

• Motivate, engage and involve staff

Discover more about the topic of quality management in aerospace.

Setting the standard for quality management

Regardless of the applicable national regulatory scheme, nearly all certificated aerospace organisations are required to have a quality management system in place. These standards not only assure design, product, and/or service output but also mandate processes of capable management oversight that are proactive.

The most common quality management standards applied in the aerospace industry are BS AS EN 9100 and BS AS EN 9110. These standards are in addition to the regulatory requirements applied to the organisation, and when incorporated as part of the organisation’s conditions for regulatory approval, they carry the same authority as said regulatory requirements.

The BS AS EN 9100 series of standards

The BS AS EN 9100 series of internationally adopted Quality Management System (QMS) standards for the Aerospace industry is operated by the International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG).

Most major aerospace manufacturers and suppliers worldwide require certification to the BS AS EN 9100 series as a condition of doing business with them, and organizations that achieve certification will be listed on the Online Aerospace Supplier Information System (OASIS) database.

Based on BS EN ISO 9001 there are three main standards in the series, each one relevant to organizations delivering certain activities.

• BS AS EN 9100 Quality management systems – requirements for aviation, space and defence organizations. This is covers activities including, design, development and manufacture. It can also cover repair but only of an organization’s own product.

• BS AS EN 9110 Quality management systems – requirements for aviation maintenance organizations. This covers MRO activities of whole aircraft, components, and systems.

• BS AS EN 9120 Quality management systems – requirements for aviation, space and defence distributors. This has been developed to apply to stockists and distributors of aerospace and/or defence parts.

When management does not take into account, or understand, the requirements of these standards, a broad minefield of potential liability is created.

Ignoring quality management standards: The consequences

Aside from the vast and serious safety implications and expenses related to poor performance, when an organisation is not in compliance with all of its requirements, it exposes itself to all sorts of liabilities.

Regulatory agencies, like BSI, have the ability to revoke or suspend an organisation’s design, production, maintenance and operations certifications, as well as, to impose fines. However, when an organisation is found to be non-compliant to its own self-defined quality management system, skilful and experienced experts may be able to create a roadmap of negligence for a court and jury.

To ensure your aerospace organization is working to quality management best practices, add these standards to your collection today.

Discover BSI Knowledge

BS AS EN 9100 and over 100,000 more internationally recognized standards are available for simple and flexible access with a BSI Knowledge subscription. In your quality-critical industry, our subscription service puts the control in your hands, with traceability to monitor and demonstrate your business's access to standards, and self-serve functionality that enables you to manage your subscriptions, standards, users and content quickly and simply. Request to learn more.