Aeronautics: prepare for EN 9100 version 2016 certification

The reference standard for quality in aeronautics has been revised. Are you a certified professional? Prepare your migration to the 2016 version to take advantage of the induced evolutions, before September 15, 2018. Here are the main new features.

The aerospace and defense market is a key sector of the global economy. Sales in Europe and the United States exceeded $630 billion in 2014. In France, the aerospace, defense and security industry alone was worth 50.8 billion euros in 2014, 82% of which came from exports, making it the country’s biggest trade surplus. It accounts for 180,000 highly skilled jobs, and the industry as a whole is estimated to employ 350,000 people, including 50,000 recruited in the last four years.

This predominance can perhaps be explained by the fact that this industry makes quality products. In this case, the standards in the EN 9100* series (design and engineering/production of aeronautical products), EN 9110 (maintenance, repair, servicing) and EN 9120 (trading, storage and distribution activities) are the most widely used in the aerospace and defense sector. ” They are essential, and are proving to be an open sesame for major customers, who can thus be assured that quality, safety, on-time delivery and cost control requirements are shared and taken into account. In fact, Boeing and Airbus are certified on the basis of this standard and so are 90% of the companies active in the sector, from major accounts to SMEs. “This is the analysis of Michel Frances, an expert in aeronautics, space and defense with the AFNOR group, and a member of the delegation that put forward French and European positions during the drafting of EN 9100 version 2016. Today, more than 18,900 players in the sector bear such a certificate, 5% of them issued by AFNOR Certification.

Quality and safety throughout the supply chain

And if standards evolve, so does certification! For a certified company, the first imperative will be the timetable, since unlike the “mother” ISO 9001 version 2015 certification, which organizes three years of transition, companies will have just fifteen months to complete their transition to the 2016 version. On September 15, 2018, the validity of their current certificate (version 2010 or earlier) will expire. Within this tight timeframe, the certification audit has to be organized, and before that, the quality management system has to be reviewed in the light of the standard’s new features. From June 2017, auditors will be able to measure how far they have to go to meet the new requirements.

The most sensitive aspect of the new version of the text is undoubtedly the requirement for all companies to ensure the quality and safety of products and services supplied by external service providers. This applies not only to an n-1 supplier, but to the entire supply chain. This gives the company a key responsibility in the detection of counterfeit parts. And if necessary, it must be able to show its customers that it has ensured that its suppliers have implemented appropriate control processes.

Similarly, according to the revised standard, ” the organization shall plan, implement and control the processes necessary to ensure product safety throughout the product life cycle “. In concrete terms, no company will be able to claim to its customer that it was unaware that certain parts designed and delivered by suppliers are difficult to recycle, have “critical elements”, or have become obsolete. Instead, the new standard recommends ” risk assessment and management of associated risks, safety management of critical elements, analysis and reporting of events affecting safety, communication of these events and training of personnel “. Consequences: companies will have to implement new awareness-raising and staff training initiatives on these key points.

A new global environment

But the new standard goes further: it goes beyond simply thinking in terms of risks, and gives pride of place to “opportunities”, i.e. innovation, and in particular to disruptive improvements.

All this, with flexibility: EN 9100 version 2016 takes into account the specific constraints of companies, particularly SMEs. In fact, they will be able to argue that certain requirements of the standard do not apply, or can be simplified on certain points, by their ” context data ” (scope of intervention, market positioning, etc.). Last but not least, the environmental dimension, in terms of product life cycles, and ethics, in terms of responsible purchasing, have also been strengthened and are now audited.

In the opinion of its authors, all of whom are professionally involved in the sector, the new EN 9100 demonstrates its ability to adapt to fundamental changes such as the lengthening and internationalization of value chains, and the need to innovate through technological breakthroughs. It is making a fundamental contribution to the development of an increasingly risk-aware, ethical, high-performance and safe aerospace and defense industry.

*These standards are prepared by the IAQG (International Aerospace Quality Group) within the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization). They are certified EN 9100 in Europe, AS 9100 in the Americas, and JISQ in the Asia-Pacific region.

> Find out more about EN 9100 certification…
> Training for EN 9100 version 2018

 

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