What is AS9100?
AS9100 is the international Quality Management System standard for the Aviation, Space and Defense (AS&D) industry, created by the IAQG, and AS9100 Rev D (2016) is the most recent version. The standard provides suppliers with requirements for creating and maintaining a comprehensive quality system for providing safe and reliable products to the ASD industry, as well as civil & military aviation requirements. “AS9100 Certified” means an organization has met the requirements of AS9100D.
IAQG has provided clarification to AS9100D. Download the AS9100 Clarification.
AS9100 Standard (document)
Specifically, AS9100 is an SAE document developed by Working Group 11 of ISO TC20 and supported by the International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG). This standard is accepted worldwide, with participating countries using their own numbering conventions. (For example, in Europe it is EN/ AS9100). Despite the differing numbers, the standards are identical across the globe.
The AS9100 standard specifies the QMS requirements to be documented and implemented by organizations designing, developing, and manufacturing aerospace products. If the organization creates a Quality Management System which meets these requirements, they can seek AS9100 Registration, resulting in their “AS9100 Certificate”.
AS9100 = ISO 9001 + additional IAQG requirements, so certification to AS9100 includes certification to the popular ISO 9001 standard as well. A copy of the ISO 9001 standard is not required because the text is already included in the AS9100 Standard.
Here are some helpful tools to learn about AS9100 Certification:
- AS9100 Quick Start Kit
- Steps to AS9100D Certification
- AS9100 Rev D (2016) Requirements
- Learn about all the Aerospace Standards mentioned in AS9100
Some things to understand about AS9100:
- There are three ASD Standards, typically mutually exclusive:
- AS9100 mentions several other guidance standards that you should understand. These additional standards don’t require certification, they provide guidance.
- It does NOT matter what size your organization is: 1 person or 1 million people.
- It is NOT a product standard that defines product quality. AS9100 asks you to control your processes, so your end product meets customer requirements.
- It is NOT a personal Standard – a person cannot get certified to AS9100. They can attend the AS9100 Certified Lead Auditor course, and then apply to become a third-party auditor.
- The Registrar issues an AS9100 Certificate demonstrating that your organization is Registered to AS9100 (and ISO 9001) for a three-year period. (See Who is able to grant certification).
Benefits of AS9100 include market acceptance, and AS 9100 has been endorsed by all major Aerospace regulators, including:
- Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
- U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Versions of AS9100
AS9100 Rev D
AS9100 Rev D (2016) includes the ISO 9001:2015 requirements and supplements them with additional quality system requirements. ISO published ISO 9001:2015/AMD1:2024 in February of 2024, which amends Section 4 to include climate action considerations. Compare AS9100D to ISO 9001:2015. Many of the changes (including) derived from the changes in ISO 9001, like:
- Adopting the Annex L High Level Structure
- Context of the organization
- Interested Parties
- Accountability of top management
- Documented information
- Replacement of preventive action with risk-based thinking
- Communication
- Change Management Program
However, AS9100 Rev D institutes some unique changes:
- Increased focus on counterfeit parts
- Attention to the impact of human factors
- Product safety focus
- Ethics Training
- Supplier Monitoring (Delivery)
- Purchasing Flow-down
AS9100 Rev C
AS9100 Rev C (2009)
AS9100c included all ISO 9001:2008 requirements, this revision added a clarification from Aerospace Industry to Aviation, Space and Defense organizations. Rev C added stricter adherence to production throughout the process.
Summary of Changes between AS9100B and AS9100C:
- Introduces “Special Requirements”
- Introduces “Critical Items”
- Clarifies Project Management
- Introduces Risk Management
- Introduces Configuration Management
- Clarifies Work Transfers
- Introduces Key Characteristics
- Outlines First Article Inspection (FAI)
- Measure: Requirements conformance
- Measure: Delivery performance
- Eliminate “recurring corrective actions”
AS9100 Rev B (2004)
Based off ISO 9001:2000, it emphasized the need for the quality management system to adhere to the statutory and regulatory requirements of the customer and demonstrate continual improvement toward this goal. The only difference between AS9100 Rev B from A is that they removed all references to ISO 9001:1994. This meant deleting section 2 of the standard.
AS9100 Rev A (2000)
AS9100 includes ASQ/ISO 9001:2000 and specifies additional requirements for the quality system of the aerospace industry.
AS9100A was actually two standards referenced in one publication.
- Section 1 defined an updated QMS model aligned with the ISO 9001:2000 publication.
- Section 2 defined a legacy model aligned with ISO 9001:1994.
In 2001, some organizations were operating a QMS based on ISO 9001:1994, and they were permitted to conform to Section 2 with the expectation that they would then transition their QMS to Section 1.
AS9100 (1999)
AS9100 Quality Management System’s Requirement for Aerospace Organizations included ASQ 9001:2000 quality system requirements along with specific requirements for the aerospace industry.
AS9000 (1997)
Aerospace suppliers determined that ISO 9001:1994 did not address the specific requirements of their customers, and there was confusion with the company-based standards like Boeing’s D1-9000 or the Automotive Q1. These suppliers created AS9000, based on ISO 9001:1994 with additional requirements for the aerospace industry.