AS9100 is ISO 9001 plus the things aerospace primes have learned the hard way over 40 years. For an SMB tier-2 or tier-3 supplier, the requirements that move audit needles are configuration control, First Article Inspection records, FOD prevention, and counterfeit parts. This guide explains each in plain English and how a tablet- based MES closes the gap without buying a system designed for a Lockheed-scale balance sheet.
AS9100 (latest revision: 9100D, with 9100E in industry discussion) extends ISO 9001 with about 80 additional shall statements specific to aerospace. The big ones for shop-floor execution: configuration management throughout the product lifecycle (clause 8.1.2), First Article Inspection on first production runs (8.5.1.3 referencing AS9102), FOD prevention programs (8.5.1.4), counterfeit parts prevention (8.1.4), product safety (8.1.3), and risk management as a continuous activity (6.1). For a supplier going from ISO 9001 to AS9100, the workload almost doubles, mostly in records, not in actual operations.
AS9100 clause 8.1.2 expects you to know exactly what configuration every shipped unit has. Design revision, work-instruction revision, sub-assembly revisions, component lot numbers. And to keep that record forever. The classic SMB failure is one shop-floor revision letter mismatching the engineering master when an auditor walks the line. With database-backed WIs, the configuration recorded on every build is the configuration the kiosk rendered to the operator. No drift possible by design. Every shipped serial carries its full configuration tree as part of the build record.
First Article Inspection per AS9102 is the aerospace ritual: before a production run, you build one unit, document every characteristic of the design (Form 1. Part Number Accountability, Form 2. Product Accountability, Form 3. Characteristic Accountability), and the customer (or your QE) signs off that this unit matches the design. AS9102 forms are records, separate from the build record itself. Ignite Lean doesn't generate AS9102 forms (yet), but it captures the underlying evidence: operator, station, WI revision in use, every component scanned, every photo, every torque-tool reading. The QE filling out Form 3 has a complete reference source for every line item.
FOD prevention (AS9100 clause 8.5.1.4) is one of the few aerospace clauses where a paper-based system can match a digital one, because FOD is mostly about housekeeping and tool control, not records. Where the digital system pulls ahead: capturing the pre-build FOD walk-around as a checkbox on the kiosk, capturing tool count-in / count-out as a scan, photographing closed-area inspections as part of the build record. Each becomes another piece of evidence the auditor can sample. And another step the operator can't skip without a record of skipping it.
AS9100 clause 8.1.4 requires a documented counterfeit parts prevention process. Meaning every consumable on every unit needs to be traceable back to its source. In practice, this means lot numbers captured at consumption. The operator scans the fastener kit barcode at the build step, the build record captures lot F-26044-12, and that lot ties back to your incoming inspection record (which validated the cert from the supplier). If a counterfeit alert hits the industry, you can reverse-lookup every shipped unit that consumed the suspect lot in minutes, not weeks.
AS9100 clauses 6.1 (risk-based thinking) and 8.1.3 (product safety) are continuous, not annual. Audit evidence is the ongoing flow of non-conformances, dispositions, and corrective-action follow-ups. Not a binder of risk assessments updated once a year. Ignite Lean's NC workflow (operator flag → supervisor disposition → reason text → all attributed and timestamped) gives the QE a queryable stream for the monthly safety review and the quarterly management review. The same data that runs the floor runs the QMS.
AS9100 audits are typically 3–4 days for a tier-2 supplier, run by an IAQG-recognised certification body (BSI, DEKRA, DQS, Intertek, NSF-ISR). The prep cycle that works: month 1–2, inventory existing documentation and gap-analyse against the AS9100 clauses; month 3, convert top-priority WIs to the new system and pilot at two stations; month 4, plant-wide rollout and retire paper for converted WIs; month 5, dry-run the document review and floor walk with your QMS manager; month 6, audit. Most SMB suppliers compress this into 6 weeks and fail. Six months is generous. And the system you stand up is what runs the next 10 years of audits, not just the first.
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