Tag: as9100

AS9100 Audit

Training, completed training, competance

Question:

I have recently started work at a company that is registered to AS9100. My previous employer was registered to ISO 9001 and I was trained as an internal auditor.

What additional training is required to audit to AS9100? (other than learning the standard).

Does my previous training in internal quality auditing qualify me to audit to the AS9100 standard?

Are the standards for auditor different for AS9100 than ISO 9001?

Response:

The ISO 9001 and AS9100 requirement for internal auditors are the same; that the auditor be competent. The organization determines the competence requirements for its internal auditors. Typically, the competence includes both knowledge of the standard and internal audit methodology.

Buddy Cressionnie
International Aerospace Quality Group Americas AS9100 Lead
Voting member of the U.S. TAG to ISO/TC 176
Southlake, TX

For more on this topic, please visit ASQ’s website.

AS9100 Temperature Control

Temperature control

Question:
There is a form for recording the temperature etc. of the measuring and calibrating equipment, but should there also be a requirement that the temperature be set at 20 degrees Celsius as that is the temperature in which all the calibrated equipment (gauge blocks etc.) would be accurate in?

Does an AS9100 certified company require a temperature controlled room for which to house all equipment and also in which all critical measurements are taken place?

Response:
The AS9100 states that environmental conditions shall be suitable for the calibration, inspection, measurement, and testing being carried out.  If the measuring equipment is measuring close tolerance dimensions (typically .0001 inch) then expansion coefficients of materials must be considered including temperature and humidity.

Buddy Cressionnie
International Aerospace Quality Group Americas AS9100 Lead
Voting member of the U.S. TAG to ISO/TC 176
Southlake, TX

For more about this topic, please visit ASQ’s website.

AS9100C: Scoring the Aerospace QMS

Airplane, aerospace, AS9100

Q: I’m reviewing the scoring method used for auditing AS9100C  – Requirements for Aviation, Space and Defense Organizations, and I don’t see any verbiage to show what would be considered an acceptable overall score. I’m curious to know if the score is more subjective to the discretion of the auditor or if the threshold for “acceptable” or “not acceptable” exists somewhere as a guideline. Thank you to anyone able to offer insight.

A: The AS9101D auditing standard (currently not sold by ASQ) has scoring to provide an indicator of how robust your quality management system is operating (QMS), which is based upon the findings identified during your audit.  There is not a required score to “pass” the audit and receive certification.  The AS9101D score is recorded in the OASIS database, which your current and potential customers may review.

AS9100C requires the use of the AS9101D auditing standard, which has eliminated scoring.

Buddy Cressionnie
International Aerospace Quality Group Americas AS9100 Lead
Voting member of the U.S. TAG to ISO/TC 176
Southlake, TX

For more on this topic, please visit ASQ’s website.
 

AS9100 Production Rough Card

Aerospace, AS9100, Requirements, Standard

Question

According to our customer requirement, our quality inspectors are signing each step in production rough card in the following way: they apply their personal stamp (which includes their first and last name and personal number), add a manual signature and date. I tried to convince our customer to give us permission to eliminate the manual signature (as the personal stamp and date are enough), but he doesn’t agree with me.

Is there any official standard for this procedure? I was not able to find any special requirement for this in AS9100 Rev. C  – Requirements for Aviation, Space and Defense Organizations.

Answer

The AS9100 standard does not dictate any specific method of recording that a production step (clause 7.5.1) or verification step (clause 8.2.4) is complete. AS9100 does require the organization to comply with customer requirements. So this is a requirement which you need to discuss with your customer.

Buddy Cressionnie
International Aerospace Quality Group Americas AS9100 Lead
Voting member of the U.S. TAG to ISO/TC 176
Southlake, TX

For more on this topic, please visit ASQ’s website.

AS9100 Rev. C Document References

Airplane, aerospace, AS9100

Q: My organization is getting ready for our registration audit to AS9100 C– Requirements for Aviation, Space and Defense Organizations.  There is a debate regarding procedures and the document references with those procedures.  If the procedure does not mentioned a document within the body of the document we normally do not include it in the reference section of the procedure.  Our internal auditor says that we should reference all documents that show linkage in the process approach.

For example, the auditing procedure references corrective action, preventive action, etc., but does not have any of the document mentioned in the body of the procedure.

Can you settle this matter? Our auditor says that we will get a finding if this is not done.

A: The process approach is more than including references to documents, especially with AS9100 C requirements to identify your product realization processes.  I would encourage you to examine some guidance materials available on the ISO website:
Introduction and support package: Guidance on the concept and use of the process approach for management systems action procedures, but the narrative of the procedure does not include how these procedures tie into the auditing practice?  It would seem that the auditing procedures body should support the referenced procedures and explain how they are applicable within the auditing process.  If I was your auditor, I would issue an observation or opportunity for improvement for that condition.

Your first paragraph seems to indicate the reverse scenario.  If a document is not referenced within the body of the document, then it is not a referenced procedure.  Yes, that appears reasonable.

It is a good practice to show the interrelationship of documents to include parent-child relationships and referenced documents when appropriate.

Buddy Cressionnie
International Aerospace Quality Group Americas AS9100 Lead
Voting member of the U.S. TAG to ISO/TC 176
Southlake, TX

For more on this topic, please visit ASQ’s website.