AS9100 was developed to standardise Aerospace quality expectations on a global level and to capture regulatory requirements and importance of safety, reliability or maintainability.

The writing team formed in 1995 and included major OEMS such as Boeing and Airbus, the FAA, NASA, Department of Defence. They worked together to seek an enhanced version of ISO 9001 to replace the U.S. Military Quality Assurance/ Quality Control Standards and to respond to the aerospace supply chain pleas for a single standard.

The current version of the standard; AS9100 Rev C was recently updated and now requires organisations to pay more attention to the processes and steer away from clause based audits.  AS9100 or AS9120 certification incorporates all elements of ISO9001 with additional clauses but aims to improve confidence in the Aerospace Supply Chain.  The AS9100 Family of standards should result in improved quality and safety, and decreased costs, due to the elimination or reduction of organisation-unique assessment requirements.

AS9100 certification can open the door to untapped businesses; the Aerospace Quality Management System helps to establish common expectation levels and can reduce inefficiencies.

The AS9100 Family of Standards are based on a widely accepted system of process control, your Aerospace Quality Management System can help you improve products and processes. This can promote improved relationships with suppliers, business partners and customers, and give your business a real advantage in the marketplace.

"Even though the audit is a mandatory requirement it is also an opportunity to learn from the expertise of the auditor in terms of challenging processes etc.”

The AS9100 Standard requires all certified organisations to be included on the international aerospace quality group's website within the oasis database.  This database ensures that only UKAS Certified organisations hold certification and results of audits shown.  The database also holds the list of approved Certification Bodies and AS9100 Auditors.

IMS is experiencing a great deal of interest in the AS9100 certification standard, and this seems certain to increase greatly. Using only Aerospace Experienced Auditors ensures we are equipped to assess your systems to a high standard and provide a value added service and systems are easily integrated with current standards such as ISO9001 & ISO14001.  IMS are UKAS Accredited for AS9100 and AS9120 (number 078).

Due to the additional requirements within the Revision C of AS9100, the International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG) have published some guidance documents in the form of Frequently Asked Questions which can be downloaded from our Documents and Statements page under the Documents section.

"I would highly recommend IMS International LLP services for all of the ISO and A 9100 series. Your staff is very dependable, professional and knowledgeable."

IMS International were successfully awarded AS9120 Accreditation early 2010 showing commitment to the continued growth of services supplied by IMS and to continue to meet customer demands.

The AS9120 standard is designed for organisations who deal with the stocking and distribution of Aerospace components and materials.  The standard was developed due to the requirements within AS9100 not being suitable for all aerospace organisations.  The AS9120 standard includes many of the same requirements as AS9100 and ISO9001 but has removed areas such as Design and Development, Planning of Product Realisation and Validation of Processes for Production and Service Provision as these would not apply in a Stockist and Distribution organisation.

Specific requirements for controlling issues such as records and identification and traceability have been included to further enhance the areas of importance to the aerospace industry.

“many thanks for a professional and painless audit”

To read more about what some of our client's think of IMS International LLP; see our Customer Satisfaction page.