Quality management according to EN 9100
Certifications in the aerospace and defense industry
CHALLENGE
Austria's ASD (Aerospace & Defense) industry plays an important role in both the specialized niche supply industry for international companies and as an innovative supplier of a wide range of services and products.
Currently, around 70 Austrian companies are active in aerospace and defense technology but only 35 companies are EN 9100 ASD certified.
The majority is organized in two interest groups - the Austrian Aeronautics Industries Group (AAI), the ARGE Defense Technology and the Austrospace, all of which promote active lobbying and the strengthening of leadership in technological niches.
The range of products and services offered by Austria's aerospace companies is diverse, ranging from the supply of metallic plastic components and systems to major civil aircraft manufacturers, as well as the manufacture of test systems, innovative solutions for air traffic control, training and aerospace Training and in particular the production of small aircraft and propulsion systems in the field of general aviation. Even an unmanned helicopter is developed and produced in Austria. Often these are so-called dual-use products that can be used in a variety of ways.
The latest technology carrier, the Airbus A380, also uses a wide range of Austrian high-tech products. The spectrum of Austrian space technologies includes materials and components for space transport systems such as cryogenic fuel lines for the European Ariane 5 launcher, engine positioning mechanisms, temperature control system components, satellite-based hardware and software, satellite mechanisms and insulation for thermal protection of satellites, software systems for the operation of satellites as well as for the fully automatic monitoring of their signal quality and innovative satellite communication systems.
Space technology opens up new growth markets for multimedia applications, broadband communications, satellite earth observation and navigation. Around 10 industrial companies and 20 scientific institutes are involved in international development and research work in this high-tech sector. (Source: FFG-Fördergesellschaft)
BENEFITS THROUGH AIR AND SPACE CERTIFICATION ACCORDING TO EN 9100?
• fulfillment of the OEM approval requirements (eg Airbus, MTU, etc.)
• International presentation on the entry of the certificate in the OASIS database of the IAQG
• Integration of air law requirements (Austrocontrol, LBA, EASA)
• Better opportunities in international and national contracts or tenders in the aerospace industry
• Achieve higher qualification than other competitors
• Promoting error prevention and strengthening reliability and process capability in the company's value chain
• Integration of demands from the normative and legally regulated area
• Transparency through clearly traceable structuring, approval and modification of requirements / specifications and products (eg through configuration management)
• A continuous improvement process
• Additional orders due to a better audit evaluation by the OEM (eg Airbus) or first-tier suppliers (direct supplier to OEM)
• Higher qualification of employees
REQUIREMENTS FOR SURFACE TREATMENT EN 9100
The basic requirement of customers for certification based on EN 9100 is, in addition to the general requirements for management systems, increasingly demanded as a comprehensible regulation of all processes of the company.
Not only for the manufacturing processes are extensive documentation and records to provide. Necessary procedures and processes must be described in a QM manual and the application must be proven.
Special attention is to be paid to the mastery of the processes, this means suitable evidence of the influencing factors on the surface treatment process and on test evidence that this knowledge has been applied correctly (for example coating of reference bodies with predetermined layer thickness, distribution of the layer thickness on the component contour and / or depending on the position in a treatment solution).
In practice, these data are generally known, but often not recorded in the required system. What is new is certainly the extent of the measures that have to be proven during the sampling.
The basis for this is the DIN ISO 10007 configuration management and the DIN EN 9102 initial sampling.
This process development should be carried out and demonstrated as part of the introduction of EN 9100 using suitable examples.
Another novelty is that these requirements must also be fulfilled for companies without developmental responsibility. In practice, this approach is all the easier to prove, the more intense and constructive the collaboration with the (aviation) customer.
OUR SERVICES
Phase 1: Certification to ISO 9001: 2008
• Creating the QM system documentation according to the basics of ISO 9001
• Audit planning, internal audits / EDM training
Phase 2: Certification to ASD standard EN 9100
• Based on the ISO 9001 documentation, the additional requirements and supplements of EN 9100: 2003 are incorporated into the system documentation
• Audit planning, internal audits / EDM training
• Official pre-audit (Stage 1)
• Further improvement loop, implementation of corrective measures based on the audits
• Certification (Stage 2)
• Consolidation and project end