If you work in aerospace and defense procurement, you have seen AS9100D on countless supplier capability statements. The certification has become something of a table-stakes requirement, a filter applied early in the supplier qualification process. But what does it actually mean? What does an AS9100D-certified machine shop have to do differently than a shop without the certification? And why should that matter to the buyer sourcing precision components for a flight-critical program?
This post answers those questions directly, using Kremin Inc.’s own quality management system as the concrete example. We are not writing about AS9100D in the abstract; we live it every day.
The Standard’s Foundation: Risk Management and Traceability
AS9100D, formally titled “Quality Management Systems Requirements for Aviation, Space, and Defense Organizations,” is the primary quality standard for the aerospace supply chain. It incorporates the full text of ISO 9001:2015 and adds a substantial set of sector-specific requirements that address the unique risk profile of aviation and defense manufacturing.
The two themes that run most consistently through the aerospace-specific additions are risk management and traceability. Every production process must be evaluated for its potential failure modes and their consequences. Every component must be traceable from the finished part back through inspection records, machining records, and raw material certifications. The standard requires that organizations maintain documented information sufficient to demonstrate that processes have been carried out as planned which in practice means a documentation discipline that most non-certified shops simply do not have.
At Kremin, this manifests in a comprehensive job traveler system that accompanies every part through our facility. The traveler records the work order, the part number and revision, the material certification details, every machining operation and the operator who performed it, every in-process inspection and the results, and the final inspection outcome. That traveler becomes part of the permanent record for the job, retrievable for any future nonconformance investigation or customer audit.
First Article Inspection: Proving the Process Before Running Production
One of the most operationally significant requirements in AS9100D is the mandate for First Article Inspection (FAI) on new or changed parts. FAI is not just a dimensional inspection of the first part of the machine, it is a systematic review that verifies the entire production process is capable of producing a conforming part repeatedly.
A complete FAI at Kremin includes a full balloon-referenced dimensional report against the engineering drawing, material certifications with chemistry and mechanical properties, process certifications for any special processes (heat treat, surface treatment, plating), functional test results where applicable, and a review of the production documentation package. We produce FAI reports to AS9102 format or to customer-specific formats as required.
The FAI requirement provides important protection for aerospace buyers. It ensures that the supplier has not simply lucked into a conforming first piece, but has a controlled and documented process capable of producing conforming parts throughout the production run. For buyers who have experienced the unpleasant surprise of receiving production parts that deviate from approved first articles, AS9100D’s FAI requirements provide meaningful assurance.
Control of Nonconforming Product: What Happens When Something Goes Wrong
No production process is perfect. In a real-world machine shop, tooling wears, setups drift, and occasionally parts are produced that do not conform to specification. What separates a quality-managed shop from an unmanaged one is not the absence of nonconformances, it is the rigor with which they are identified, controlled, and resolved.
AS9100D requires that nonconforming products be identified, segregated, and dispositioned through a controlled process. At Kremin, nonconforming parts are tagged, removed from the production flow, and reviewed by our quality team. Disposition options include rework to bring the part into conformance, rejection and scrap, or submission to the customer for use-as-is or repair authorization. In no case does a nonconforming party ship without explicit disposition and in no case does a disposition that requires customer approval ship without receiving it.
The standard also requires that the root cause of each significant nonconformance be investigated and that corrective action be implemented to prevent recurrence. This closed-loop corrective action process is how a quality management system actually improves over time rather than simply documenting the same problems repeatedly.
Calibration and Measurement Integrity
AS9100D requires that all measurement and monitoring equipment used to verify product conformance be calibrated at defined intervals against traceable standards. This sounds straightforward, but in a working machine shop environment it requires systematic management of a large inventory of instruments, calipers, micrometers, gauges, CMM fixtures, optical equipment, surface finish testers each with its own calibration interval and calibration records.
Kremin maintains a comprehensive calibration management system that tracks every instrument in our inventory, its calibration due date, its calibration history, and any out-of-tolerance findings. When an instrument is found out of calibration, we perform an impact assessment to determine whether parts inspected with that instrument during the affected period need to be recalled for re-inspection. That process protects our customers from measurement errors that could allow nonconforming products to slip through.
The Bottom Line for Aerospace Buyers
AS9100D certification is not a guarantee that every part from a certified shop will be perfect. It is a guarantee that the shop has implemented the systems, processes, and discipline required to consistently produce conforming parts, catch problems when they occur, and prevent them from recurring. For an aerospace buyer managing a complex supply chain, that is exactly the assurance you need from a machining partner.
Kremin Inc. has maintained its AS9100D certification through rigorous internal quality management and regular external audits. Our quality team is not a compliance function, it is an active participant in production planning, process development, and continuous improvement. That orientation is what makes the difference between a certification on paper and a quality system that actually protects your program.
Ready to discuss your aerospace component requirements with a certified, experienced machining partner? Contact Kremin Inc. to request a quote or schedule a technical review.