Kyle Hornfeck, Quality Manager
What is AS9100 certification?
AS9100D is an international standard that governs quality systems for companies providing goods and/or services to the aerospace, space, and defense industries. The standard provides supplier requirements and best practices for areas of the business including Context of the organization, Leadership, Planning, Support, Operation, Performance Evaluation and Improvement. Adopting these requirements throughout the entire supply chain results in improved quality, cost, and delivery performance.
Why is it important for a company like Veelo to obtain the certification?
AS9100D is crucially important for a company like Veelo Technologies that is trying to make the transition from being perceived as just an R&D startup effort into a true and trusted supplier of products within the industry. The certification lets our customers and potential customers know that Veelo is serious about the quality and safety of our products. Without this certification, it would be difficult or impossible for our customer base to add Veelo as an approved supplier on certified programs of record.
What was the process to secure certification?
Quite simply, the process of securing certification begins and ends with the creation of standardized processes and the retention of documented information. As the industry saying goes: “If it is not documented then it did not happen.” The process stages include
Identification of company scope and processes, including a commitment to quality through a quality policy
Allocating resources and system throughout the business
Creation of standardized work instructions, forms, measurables, and activities for each process in accordance with AS9100D
Executing on planning and allowing the operations to run within the QMS for 6-12 months
Internal Audit of the entire QMS system
Management Review of the QMS system
Corrective Actions generated from internal audits and management review
Stage 1 Readiness Visit with 3rd party registrar
Stage 2 Certification Audit with 3rd party registrar
Certification
What were the challenges Veelo faced in the process?
The single biggest challenge during the process was successfully integrating formalized structure into a company that thrived on being agile and iterative without the constraints of formal processes. As an R&D company it is crucial to stay flexible without getting bogged down on excessive paperwork and processes, however as R&D transitions to small and full-time production, these controls and documentation become necessary to the output of consistent quality products made by all different skill levels of employees. Fortunately, however, AS9100D remains non-prescriptive enough to allow the business to meet requirements while also sticking to the businesses core strength (what works best for us). Another challenge was including design of product into the scope of the certification, as true design is not very common for suppliers throughout the A9100D industry. However, it was necessary to include this aspect in our scope as Veelo strives to innovate with new products and technology that help our business grow.
What were successes we had along the way?
One of the aspects that was originally thought to be a challenge was the fact that the small team employed at Veelo had very little to no experience working within quality management systems such as AS9100D. Interestingly, this turned out to be a success because the team had not formed any bad habits working within other quality management systems. They were very adaptable to the processes put in place, as well as offering a set of fresh eyes and questions that allowed the system to be more robust. Having fewer team members makes it easier to implement and control a quality management system.
Were there unique components that we faced as a small business, especially transitioning from an R&D environment?
A unique challenge was trying to keep R&D moving while simultaneously setting up a production environment. This required Veelo to set a up a metaphorical “wall” between R&D and production efforts, ensuring that proper stage gates were in place to ensure seamless transition between the processes. Another unique challenge was trying to maintain the AS9100D system through a global pandemic (COVID-19) where many employees were forced to work remote and production processes were interrupted. Through hard work and constant team communication, Veelo was able to whether this storm and in fact come out even stronger after developing contingency plans for such future events.
How does the AS9100 certification transform a company into a quality company?
AS9100D requires that a company integrate a quality management system not just into operations, but in all aspects of the business: From top management planning, through execution, and continuing even after the products have left our facility. AS9100D is a tool that adds value into the business by streamlining processes to eliminate mistakes, improve productivity, and allow complete focus on customer satisfaction at all times. Veelo having AS9100D certification lets our customers and potential customers have trust that we can consistently output quality products time and again.
What impact will AS9100 certification have on our business?
AS9100D certification should allow our business to grow at faster rates than in the past. Having the certification gives our potential customer base more confidence to choose Veelo Technologies as a supplier. The PDCA (Plan-do-check-act) cycle that the standard follows will allow the company to find ways to continually improve our processes, resulting in more consistent products, better on-time delivery, and efficiency cost-down reductions.
What else is it important for other businesses/customers/suppliers to know about our work in this space that I might not have asked you?
Achieving AS9100D certification is a huge accomplishment for the company, but it is only just the beginning of our quality journey. The quality management system requires that we continue to execute on our policies and procedure day in and day out, always finding ways to make ourselves better and more valuable to our customer base.
