How AS9100 Provides Trust for the Aerospace Industry

The aerospace, space, and defense (AS&D) industry depends on one of the world’s most complex global supply chains, with thousands of suppliers producing millions of critical components—from fasteners and composites to avionics, engines, and hydraulic systems. To assure consistent quality, safety, and reliability across this interconnected network, the industry relies on AS9100, the internationally recognized quality management system (QMS) standard for aerospace organizations.

Why AS9100 Was Developed 

Before the introduction of AS9100 in 1999, aerospace manufacturers, defense contractors, regulatory agencies, and government organizations often imposed their own quality requirements on suppliers, resulting in redundant audits, increased costs, and inconsistent expectations across the industry. To address these challenges, the International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG), comprised of the largest aviation, space, and defense (AS&D) manufactures around the world, created AS9100 as a unified framework for aerospace quality management.

What Is AS9100?

Built upon ISO 9001, AS9100 (revised to version “D” in 2016)adds aerospace-specific requirements, with a focus on risk management, product safety, configuration management, counterfeit parts prevention, traceability, supply-chain oversight and other uniquely critical requirements of the industry.

By establishing a common set of requirements—recognized throughout the aerospace sector—AS9100 helps reduce audit duplication from customers, drives improved operational consistency, pushes to strengthen supplier performance, and overall maintains confidence in aerospace services worldwide.

What Is the Difference between AS9100, EN9100, and JISQ 9100?

IAQG is organized into three global sectors (i.e., Americas, European, and Asia Pacific), which are tasked with deploying the schemes within their geography. Historically, these sectors have utilized local publishing authorities for the global distribution of these standards. In Europe, the AS9100 is distributed in a technically equivalent document called EN9100. Likewise, the JIS Q 9100 and KS Q 9100 are locally equivalent documents within Asia, which are available in the local national languages.

Although future versions will be unified under a common publishing authority and carry a universal “IA” prefix (e.g., IA9100), today’s internationally published documents speak to the growing global recognition and overwhelming adoption of IAQG’s Aerospace Quality Management System (AQMS) family of standards.

IAQG’s Role in AS9100 Certification

IAQG developed the aerospace quality management system (QMS) standards and governs the certification infrastructure used to verify conformity to aerospace QMS standards. The IAQG infrastructure also includes the requirements for accreditation of certification bodies, and the independent oversight of these parties. Collectively, these checks and balances help promote:

• Consistent supplier performance evaluation, while reducing audit redundancy
• Enhanced supply-chain confidence, through global recognition of certification
• Improved product quality and safety, from systems that meet industry needs

By creating standardized requirements across the certification ecosystem, IAGQ standards keep AS9100 certifications credible, consistent, and recognized throughout the aerospace industry.

ANAB’s Role in the IAQG Scheme

While IAQG develops and continually oversees the aerospace certification framework, ANAB plays a critical role in deploying this scheme, as a authenticated and internationally recognized accreditation body. ANAB accredits certification bodies against ISO/IEC 17021-1 and applicable IAQG 9104-series requirements, through ongoing assessment and monitoring, to confirm that certification bodies issuing these AS9100 certificates maintain the competence, impartiality, and technical expertise required to meet the needs of the demanding aerospace industry.

AS9100 Certification for Manufacturers & Suppliers

All organizations in the AS&D industries, from large manufacturers to single person distributors, who are seeking AS9100 certification must demonstrate how their management systems align with the scheme requirements.

Achieving certification typically involves implementing the system, training personnel on the requirements, verifying system conformance through internal audits, and reviewing the performance through the organization’s top management.

Once the system is in place and operational, the organization would partner with an accredited certification body, and undergo the required independent third-party audits needed for certification. Annual maintenance is mandatory, including internal system review and certification body review to ensure ongoing sustainment of the system.  

Finding an ANAB-Accredited AS9100 Certification Body

Organizations wishing to start the journey to certification can utilize the IAQG’s resources, before partnering with an ANAB-accredited certification body for the auditing needed. A list of all accredited certification bodies, for AQMS and other schemes, is available through the ANAB directory of accredited bodies. This list provides all CB organizations authorized to perform audits under ISO/IEC 17021-1 and the IAQG aerospace scheme. By working with an ANAB-accredited certification body, manufacturers and suppliers gain assurance that their certification is recognized across the aerospace industry, supporting eligibility to participate in global aviation, space, and defense supply chains.

The AS9100 Certification Oversight System: How the Aerospace Industry Monitors the Scheme

The complex network of oversight, for nearly 30,000 certified sites, performed by nearly 100 certification bodies, who use the nearly 2,000 certified scheme auditors, is but one path in the structured ecosystem. The aerospace manufacturers continually monitor and oversee these scheme participants (including training providers, training provider approvals, auditor authentication and more) to ensure the continual trust in a globally recognized system for reducing risk, improving quality and improving on-time delivery throughout their aerospace supply chain:

IAQG Member Companies (Top Aerospace Manufacturers)
Founded and govern IAQG; define the dynamic needs of their supply-chain partners

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IAQG
(Translate these needs into requirements – for systems and scheme governance)
Maintains relevant standards, deploys them globally and oversees the implementation

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IAQG Certification Oversight Team → Deploys and monitors IAQG requirements across scheme

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ANAB
(Accredits certification bodies to IAQG requirements and continually monitors performance)

↓

Certification Bodies
(Audit organizations to AS9100 requirements and monitor performance – instilling trust in the certified supply chain)

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AS9100-Certified Organizations
(Use system controls to improve quality and delivery to customers, to better meet needs)

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Aerospace Manufacturers

(Use certification as evidence of supplier QMS conformity, to supplement and offset need for redundant auditing of suppliers)

By establishing clear roles and responsibilities, across the certification scheme, the IAQG’s ecosystem provides aerospace manufacturers and defense contractors with confidence that certified suppliers have been independently evaluated against consistent, industry-recognized quality management requirements, strengthening trust, safety, and performance across the global aerospace sector.

ANAB Aerospace Training

ANAB offers aerospace-focused training programs that help explain scheme oversight requirements, based on AS9101, AS9104/1 requirements, and constantly evolving IAQG scheme resolutions which together support organizations throughout the certification journey.

Learn More about AS9100

You can learn more about AS9100 in our blog posts:

• Changes in the Certification Process for Aviation Space and Defense Quality Management Systems
• Certification for AS9100 Aviation Quality Management Systems
• AS9100D-2016: Revision of the Aviation, Space, and Defense Quality Management Standard
• AS 9100 – Quality Management for Aviation, Space, and Defense Organizations