E-Archive

Nadcap Column

in Vol. 12 - March Issue - Year 2011
Transitioning to AS9100 Revision C

Starting July 2011, AS9100 Revision C will come into force. This useful checklist will help you prepare for the deadline.

Are you and your staff aware of the new terms?

A grasp of key terminology is essential for effective Quality Management. To ensure that key words are fully understood, AS9100C added new definitions of "risk", "critical items" and "special requirements". By taking the time to familiarize yourself with the definitions of these words, you will be able to properly interpret the applicable clauses.

Is your Management Representative a member of your organisation’s management?

AS9100C places greater emphasis on the Management Representative’s position and impact, by requiring the Representative be a member of your own organisation’s management. This means that the Management Representative can no longer be a contracted person or external to your business. To meet requirements, you may need to change your company’s Management Representative or certain employees’ status.

Have you verified compliance to the requirements on training and other actions to achieve competence?

AS9100C has been modified to eliminate unnecessary training. Training and other actions to achieve competence can be attained in numerous ways. Documenting how training and other actions to achieve competence apply within your organization will help ensure that you are compliant.

Have you informed those who affect product conformity about changes to risk management requirements?

By placing risk management in Clause 7.1.2, AS9100C puts additional focus on risk during product realization. All employees who affect product conformity, either directly or otherwise, need to be made aware of this change and understand what needs to be done to ensure that requirements are adhered to.
Key questions include:
• Have you checked that your organization has a risk management process that addresses all of the applicable requirements?
• Are you certain that opportunities for risk are fully understood and applied in the planning process?
• Can you confirm that risks are successfully managed in your organization?

Have you reviewed your management focus and organizational processes to measure customer satisfaction and planned improvements?

AS9100C has changed to promote continuous improvement of customer satisfaction. Management now has responsibility for measuring "product conformity" and "on-time delivery" and for taking appropriate remedial actions. There is also a new requirement to evaluate customer satisfaction using:
• Product conformity & on-time delivery performance
• Customer complaints & corrective action requests
These should then be used to develop plans that address deficiencies and improve the process

Do you view product realization as a project?

Due to the complexity of the aerospace and defense industries, product realization is often multifaceted, involving multi-tier partners and suppliers. To ensure these intricacies are fully addressed, AS9100C now requires the planning and management of product realization upfront, in a structured and controlled way. Conform to this requirement by verifying the following:
• That you have a controlled process which manages product realization planning
• That risks are managed in an appropriate manner and actions taken
This will help your company meet requirements at acceptable risk and within resource and schedule constraints.

Have you clearly identified the external origin documents required for planning and operation of the QMS?

Definition of the control of external documents is now required in cases determined as necessary by the organization. This may potentially limit the number of documents requiring control within an organization.

Implementation Schedule

A schedule has been released, detailing the timeframe for the various stages of the implementation of this standard.

Want to find out more about AS9100C? Attend the eQuaLearn course AS/EN/JISQ 9100 which provides a comprehensive review of 9100 and how to show compliance to it. Courses will be held in Bristol, UK on the 11th March, in Germany on the 14th April, in China on the 18th and 19th May and Singapore on the 26th and 27th May. Enroll at www.eQuaLearn.com