AS9100 Overview
The AS9100 standard is broken out into five sections (numbered 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8). Section 4 of the standard describes how to document a management system and control records. Section 5 is about management commitment and responsibilities, and review of data collected by the management system. Section 6 is resource management; Section 7 is planning, producing and controlling whatever product or service the company provides.
Section 8 of the standard is about monitoring and measuring product processes and management processes through inspection, testing, validation and auditing, for example. In addition, Section 8 defines what to do when processes do not meet the desired result; these are control of nonconformance and corrective action. Section 8 ends by describing analysis of data and preventive action, and this small part of the standard is where an AS9100 system can really pay off. If a company is spending a lot of time conducting processes that generate data, but does not analyze that data, set objectives and goals, and act on preventive action opportunities to improve its bottom line, then it is a waste of time to collect the data in the first place.
AS9100, just as ISO 9001:2008 has 3 main objectives:
Consistent Product Quality
Customer Satisfaction
Continuous Improvement
This is done through the process of Plan, Do , Check, Act
Plan – establish objectives and processes needed to deliver above 3 objectives
Do – Do what we do (the processes)
Check – Monitor & Measure, Document Discrepancies & CF results, Analyze Results
Act – Take actions to continually improve
