21st century supply chains (SC21) > how do I? - guides > accreditation
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The highest quality and standards in production are of critical importance to the UK aerospace and defence supply chain. Accreditation and quality management audits have emerged as the methods of ensuring safety and reliability standards are met. A company supplying to more than one company could face numerous quality audits and checks to satisfy each customer, this results in unnecessary audit duplication. SC21 companies have agreed to cut the number of audits through the recognition of quality system accreditation based on international standards. UK supply chains that have achieved AS/EN 9100 and Nadcap approval for special processes where applicable, will not receive further quality system audits from customers who are part of SC21. Companies with AS/EN 9100 approval have experienced significantly reduced levels of auditing compared with those that have not achieved approval.
The AS/EN 9100 standard was selected as the recommended quality system standard. This particular standard was originally compiled by the International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG), and is fully supported by all the major aerospace prime manufacturers world wide. To achieve this standard a company needs to obtain independent approval from an accredited third party approval organisation based in the UK. These organisations are covered by an industry oversight programme administered by SBAC, with experienced quality audit professionals from UK programme undertaking the oversight audits. The UK scheme is in turn subject to oversight as part of an international process directed by the IAQG. Companies formally registered to AS/EN 9100 are entered onto an international database, identified as the Online Aerospace Supplier Information System (OASIS), with more than 800 UK aerospace sites already registered.
The internationally recognised Nadcap system of special process audits is the recommendation for special process assessment. A growing number of major primes are now requiring Nadcap approval(s), which is overseen by the Performance Research Institute (PRI), based in the US with an office in the UK, using experienced special process professionals. Processes covered by this approach include heat treatment, chemical processing, non destructive testing and welding, with other special processes being progressively added.