A Brief Overview Of AS9120

Certifications in the aerospace industry are a widely sought after commodity. With lives as well as millions of dollars in equipment depending on the reliability of equipment, consumers naturally spend their money only on companies they could trust. Any enterprise that acquires the proper credentials vouching safe quality and reliability of their products can show their consumers that they are worthy of that trust.

The AS9120 is one of the certificates that govern quality control issues in the aerospace industry. It is aimed primarily at product distributors rather than manufacturers or service providers. This includes companies that buy resources and supplies in bulk and re-sell them in new combinations or simply in smaller numbers.

AS9120 tests the quality standards of aerospace equipment re-sellers and official distributors in five main areas. First, a vendor’s product must be entirely traceable. There should be transparency on all points of procurement, from the original manufacturer to delivery to customer purchase.

Since a distributor who deals with aerospace equipment regularly handles accounts that cost thousands and even millions of dollars per transaction, proper record keeping is of paramount importance. There are very strict requirements to meet in order for a company’s accounting policy to meet certification standards.

Airworthiness certificates are required documents in AS9120. These are to ensure that the Federal Aviation Administration has duly inspected and pronounced the items up for purchase to be appropriate for aircraft. Only when the FAA or any other government appointed entity has approved the quality of the product are the sellers free to put them up for sale.

Since distributors order in bulk, it is often necessary for them to split products into smaller or different combinations of items. An AS9120 certification is only issued if an auditor has satisfactorily determined that any redistribution of material maintains the specifications originally attributed to them.

An Evidence of Conformance is a group of technical documents that any reputable aerospace product vendor needs to complete before being issued an AS9120 certification. It serves as a declaration that the company in question has met the standards required by internationally agreed upon points of conformity.