Aerospace quality certification awarded a year ahead of deadline

The delayed publication of the standard AS9100:2016/Revision D late last year has put aerospace and defence industries under pressure to conform by the September 2018 deadline, with only a small percentage of companies making the transition through IMS to date.

This achievement, over a year ahead of the deadline, reflects MPI’s commitment to aerospace and defence quality services at an international level through its ability to demonstrate the transformation of fundamental business practices.

Adam Webb, Commercial and Quality Director at MPI said: "This was a major revision that involved the full cooperation of our senior management to drive change throughout the business and demonstrate their comprehensive understanding of the requirements. In a competitive marketplace, achieving this certification has been part of a strategic drive to improve and enhance our business processes and operational excellence to ensure our services meet the requirements of our customers.”

AS9100 incorporates all the foundational elements of ISO9001:2015 but aims to improve confidence in the aerospace supply chain with more provisions in regulatory compliance to global aerospace standards. The main differences between AS9100 revision D and the previous revision (revision C), are additional requirements concerning; context of the organisation, interested parties, product safety, counterfeit parts, human factors and operational risk management.

Michael Venner, CEO at IMS, said: "Our auditors have worked closely with the team at MPI to substantially increase its risk management activities to help them reach full compliance of the standard. With the ever-changing demands of their industry marketplace, International certification helps to synchronise technical specifications of products and services, and ensures quality control leading to real improvements in business processes and customer satisfaction. We urge all businesses requiring this standard to act now and not leave it too late.”

MPI is also certified to ISO 9001 and is the only Airbus approved fuel tank leak detection and repair service in the world.