The leading quality challenges encountered by 50 Aerospace Manufacturing SMEs

An auditor's look at why the industry must focus on safety, quality, delivery and cost, in that order.

I think we can all agree from recent industry headlines, that the aerospace manufacturing scene is in a bit of an upheaval, to say the least.

There is a new ethos that has emerged for some; one which should have always been there: Safety, quality, on-time delivery and cost – in that order – are the focus of operations. Safety is impossible without quality and the recent Boeing & Textron aviation strikes, the tragic 737 MAX accidents and Pratt & Whitney HP turbine disc incidents highlight the way that challenges in supply chains, workforce culture and a post-manufacturing approach to quality assurance can result in poor products and tragically in this industry, loss of lives.

Stricter safety and quality standards are being focused on by regulators and certifiers globally, such as the FAA, CAA & EASA, all of whom are aligned on these crucial matters. Aerospace companies must invest heavily in governance, oversight, culture, people and R&D to comply with these regulations. This can mean increasing product lifecycle costs and, sometimes, business process complexity, if process owners are not careful.

Introducing complexity into processes needs to be considered very carefully and we often see, with new digital ‘transformations’, how forcing a process to fit into an ERP or MRP system results in unnecessary and overly complex processes. ERP / MRP systems should support processes to provide assurance that they are doing the correct activities and resulting in the correct outputs.

Getting the linkage correct, from vision & governance, to regulations & standards management, is essential. Then from establishing objectives integrating those standards, to working processes and the responsibilities for carrying them out. Finally, from setting performance targets & KPIs to reporting on that performance. All these steps are central to ensuring processes are suitably aligned with the governance & objectives that have been established right back at the beginning. Quality management is a living process that involves everyone in the organization.

What are Aerospace Quality Management System Auditors Now Looking For?

It is no wonder then, that AS/EN 9100 auditors consistently look for this linkage & culture from the very outset of their audits. We want to see that even the smallest activities in manufacturing facilities and on shop-floors are being done with clear goals, standards and accountability – as well as with correct skills, motivation and fulfilment. These are the ingredients necessary for a successful and value-adding audit.

So, what are AS/EN 9100 quality management system auditors finding in this respect? How are companies, particularly SME’s – a crucial part of the aerospace supply chain and whom are most frequently under competitive threat, doing?

I’d like to introduce you to the top five challenges AS/EN9100-certified SMEs are experiencing, according to an aerospace auditor’s assessment over the last three years.

The Top Five QMS challenges identified among SMEs (UK & Europe)

?What does this data mean regarding SME companies’ quality challenges?

1.?????? The control of production processes accounts for the largest proportion of requirements within the AS/EN 9100 standard, so it’s no surprise that most quality challenges have arisen within that category of operations. The typical challenges clients have in this area are in strict process controls, often in special processes (e.g. welding, plating, coatings, chemical conversion, heat treatment, NDT, PCB assembly, cable harnessing and more) which are underpinned by robust failure mode analyses (D/PFMEAs), production process verification (APQP/PPAP) and strict management of change control. To address this, aerospace companies are increasingly implementing the APQP and PPAP methodologies in the form of program management. These tools are frequently seen in contractual requirements and the IAQG has even acknowledged this through its release of the IA9145 standard for the implementation of APQP + PPAP within the Aerospace industry. So, having robust, real-time and secure controls on production processes early on in a product’s lifecycle, is the number one step to reducing quality issues and cost of poor quality further down the line.

2.?????? As we mentioned above, having consistent, linked and measurable KPIs for key business processes that impact quality are essential. Going further, successful aerospace organisations are those that find intelligent ways to embed contractual requirements, including regulatory, quality and safety requirements, into their business processes.? Companies often have challenges deploying these in a meaningful and actionable manner. KPIs should always align with strategic business goals and auditors will always want to see evidence of that, as well as suitable reporting of the performance they’re set up to indicate on. So, efficient, interlinked and meaningful KPIs that show understanding of the impact from a wide range of goals & requirements on the QMS, are essential to the wider business management system and ERP/MRP architectures.

3.?????? Closely related to previous point #2, is the importance of understanding how the QMS scope and business processes are defined and where their boundaries are, as well as how they interact with each other. Clients sometimes struggle identifying the real inputs and outputs to processes, as well as their sequences, resources, responsible owners and measures. The famous ‘Turtle diagram’ continues to serve as a good prompt for defining and linking processes, but understanding how they all fit together and align with KPIs is just as important. So, an in-depth QMS process definition, that is maintained and up-to-date is essential. We find virtual process maps & architectures to be good methods but not the only ones to understand how effectively established a value chain is.

4.?????? Inevitably, when issues are detected, such as non-conformances to processes & specs, non-compliances to standards & legislations or even observations about anything of concern, these must be captured. Then, the right people must be informed at the right time so that these issues do not grow out of control. Some clients’ non-conformance management processes fail to fully track, understand the causes and appropriately resolve quality issues. Worse still, they fail to ascertain occurrences of the same issue beyond the immediately-affected area and their corrective actions can miss the target and end-up ineffective. So, effective non-conformance management can be an evolving challenge requiring strong oversight and determination to leave no stone uncovered. This should also feed into predictive analytics to answer the question: ‘Where is my next quality issue coming from?’

5.?????? When releasing products or services to customers or partners, some clients miss the mark here due to the complex nature of some release documentation required. Often, Certificates of Conformity or Analyses are not present or completed correctly, despite customer and standard requirements. Some customers even require release records to include certificates of conformity from other suppliers of products & services that have been incorporated into the final product or service being released. Some prudent release documentation even needs to show how products or services provided have NOT met customer requirements or how they have been waived or agreed configurations changed and many companies overlook this. So, clear, traceable release documentation is essential to ensure accountability for products & services released to customers – especially when they don’t meet requirements.

In summary, these top five quality management system issues are what auditors have repeatedly seen over the last four years, among SME suppliers in the ASD industry. They really come down to having a clear understanding of business goals, process capabilities, constraints and capacity - and role ownership & accountability.

In light of recent aerospace industry incidents & news, I think we can agree that all of these must be underpinned by a motivated and rewarding culture that should align with safety, quality and on-time delivery - and only then cost. Getting these correct and in that order serves the customer and takes care of the whole organisation, which will naturally benefit owners and investors.