Confusion over new AS 9100 standard

Nearly two-thirds of aerospace industry professionals do not understand the changes to the revised AS/EN/JISQ 9100 standard released in March. The web survey carried out by the Performance Review Institute before the standard was published found that 62 per cent of those asked did not understand the changes to the standard.

Produced by the International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG), AS/EN/JISQ 9100 has been adopted around the world as the standard for quality management systems in the design and manufacture of aerospace products. It is used by leading aerospace manufacturers and required throughout their supply chain.

Arshad Hafeez, an executive director at PRI says:‘The changes to AS/EN/JISQ 9100 are valuable because they increase focus on risk management and quality. The lack of understanding of the changes is potentially a serious problem because it can mean failure to comply and, in a necessarily highl- regulated industry such as aerospace, non-compliance is not acceptable. It’s not clear why there is confusion over the standard revision – it may be due to lack of training.’

The IAQG have responded to the poll saying that users were consulted throughout the development of the new version of the standard. John Addey, operating management systems leader of the IAQG, helped to write the revised standard and says: ‘The writing team consulted nine different stakeholder groups and 617 user comments were obtained and reviewed and many were included in the final published version.’

For those having problems understanding the changes John says that the IAQG is providing useful guidance: ‘Extensive support material is being made available on the IAQG webpage including a description of the changes, the reasons why the changes have been made, frequently-asked questions and guidance material.’