Airplane engines are built to much higher standards that most other goods. They need to be, simple as that. To ensure that the entire aerospace-engine supply chain conforms to the same exacting standards of quality, the industry’s major manufacturers keep their policies and reference manuals in line with standards published by the SAE.
The latest SAE standard covering aerospace engines—the AESQ Quality Management System Requirements for Aero Engine Design and Production Organizations, or AS13100—was issued in 2021. It has now been rolled out by every major engine manufacturer in the sector, including GE, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls Royce, and Safran.
Each of those companies has updated its supplier requirements to reflect the demands of AS13100, or soon will. Among other things, AS13100 seeks to provide clarity to the market by identifying and codifying the significant overlap among the four major engine manufacturers’ supplier requirements. This will pay off in the long run by making it easier for each supplier to serve the entire engine-manufacturing market. In the short run, suppliers need to learn the details of AS13100 and gauge how the new standard will affect their businesses.
What is AS13100?
Like most major SAE standards, AS13100 is an industry document meant to inform POs and RFPs as a customer requirement, and supplier-requirement manuals published by aerospace engine manufacturers. It builds on AS9100, which already forms the basis of engine makers’ supplier manuals.
AS13100 comprises three chapters.
Chapter A references and affirms each clause in AS9100, while adding additional requirements. This reflects the intention behind AS9100, which serves as a collection of baseline criteria for the operation of an aerospace-manufacturing QMS. In many cases, AS13100 reflects supplements to AS9100 that suppliers have already seen in most or all supplier manuals issued by engine manufacturers.
Chapter B references AS9145—Advanced Product Quality Planning and Production Part Approval Process—and incorporates it into AS13100’s requirements. It also includes some requirements specific to the engine-manufacturing supply chain. Most of these additions reflect similar requirements that have been used for years by the automotive-engine manufacturing industry, and build on their success in proactively preventing manufacturing defects along the supply chain.
Chapter C adds new defect-prevention measures, as reflected in its name: Core Defect Prevention Tools to Support APQP and PPAP.
Proven tools, adapted for aerospace
The additions in Chapter B aren’t the only ways in which SAE has brought the automotive industry’s experience to bear on aerospace. The automotive sector is supported by a small library of reference manuals meant to clarify its core standards and their application, and SAE has taken the same approach with AS13100. While the AS13100 and AS9145 standards must be purchased from SAE, all reference manuals are free of charge to suppliers.
Some of these reference manuals will look familiar to industry veterans. When AS13100 was published, several of the more narrowly scoped standards it superseded were recompiled as reference manuals. Replace “RM” in the following list with “AS,” and you’ll see the pattern. Here is the complete list of AESQ reference manuals, which cover essential functions like APQP/Control Planning, FMEA, PPAP, MSA, and SPC.
- RM13145 – Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) and Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) within Aerospace
- RM13008 – Design Work
- RM13004 – Defect Prevention Quality Tools to Support APQP & PPAP (This gets into process flows, characteristics matrix, FMEA’s and Control Plans)
- RM13003 – Measurement Systems Analysis Methods
- RM13006 – Process Control Methods
- RM13002 – Alternate Inspection Frequency Plans
- RM13102 – First Article Inspection
- RM13000 – 8D Problem Solving Method
- RM13005 – Quality Audit Method
- RM13007 – Sub Tier Management
- RM13009 – AS13100 Compliance Self-Assessment
- RM13010 – Human Factors
- RM13011 – Rework and Production Repair
AS13100 Consulting Services
The industry consensus is that all first-year suppliers should be fully in compliance with AS13100 by the end of 2022. Other suppliers are well advised to take that as a serious deadline, too, even if it is a soft one.
By now, all suppliers should have been notified by the engine manufacturers they support of the new requirements established by AS13100. Through the AESQ, the SAE has also been reaching out to suppliers in an effort to help them meet the new requirements as soon as possible.
When that level of industry support isn’t quite enough—and it typically isn’t—[COMPANY NAME] is ready to help. Our aerospace quality experts have helped countless suppliers keep up with changing industry standards, and we are already working with engine part suppliers to meet key provisions of the latest SEA publications. For example, we help with:
- Gap assessments that identify exactly what suppliers must change to meet AS13100 and AS9145 requirements
- Annual self-assessments that meet the checklist found in RM13009
- Support for full implementation of APQP and PPAP as specified in the new standards
- Complete internal audits that meet new requirements covering QMS, products, production processes, and special processes
- Audits demonstrating regulatory compliance and adherence to customer requirements
- Enhanced risk management processes/risk registers, and supply-chain risk management processes
- Staff training that supports the responsive implementation of process flow diagrams, design- and process FMEAs, control plans, MSA plans, and more
AS13100 is essential for your company’s future. We’re here to help you step up to the challenge of meeting its requirements and proving your compliance to the biggest names in the business. Contact us to learn more.