ISO 9001

Astrotech Upgrades QMS to AS9100: Rev. C in August 2011

Astrotech Corporation prides itself on a long and rich heritage of “Safety and Quality First” as most important to our company are our employees and our customers. As a result, Astrotech is a highly respected service and flight hardware provider for the International Aerospace Industry. Every Astrotech employee dedicates their efforts, attitudes, and actions towards meeting and exceeding the Aerospace Industry’s most stringent requirements for a documented and defined Quality Management System (QMS). Astrotech’s QMS has maintained compliance with the ISO 9001 International Standards for Quality Management Systems since first being certified in July 2000 and it was further enhanced by first meeting the additional requirements of AS9100 in March 2005. Most recently, Astrotech has complied with all updated requirements and has been certified to the highest level of the Aerospace Industry’s standards for a Quality Management System, AS9100: Rev. C, effective November 2011.

The AS9100 certification, with additional requirements beyond the ISO9001 certification, calls for increases in metrics evaluation, risk management, enhanced customer satisfaction, and a proactive problem solving approach which ultimately creates a process driven closed-looped environment that perpetuates self-analysis and continual improvement. Published by the Society for Automotive Engineers, AS9100 adds specific requirements that are critical for the Aerospace Sector. The AS9100 certification is a result of the cooperation between major aerospace corporations and the American Aerospace Quality Group, with input from the American National Standards Institute-Registrar Accreditation Board and the Independent Association of Accredited Registrars. Eligible companies would include those firms that build aircraft, spacecraft or related parts and assemblies.

The American National Standards has established strict requirements with regards to quality related systems, processes, and inter-relationships. These standards are in place in order for suppliers to document and demonstrate their process control capabilities to external parties and which ultimately determine the acceptability of the products and/or services being supplied.

ISO 9001 provides a foundation and framework for establishing, documenting, and communication processes that contribute to running a business well and every major industrialized nation has adopted ISO 9001 Standards. For more information about ISO 9001, go to http://www.iso.ch/. The AS9100 extension beyond ISO9001 was created specifically for the aerospace industry and AS9100 certification is required to participate in this industry. For more info: http://ts.nist.gov/ts/htdocs/210/gsig/as9100.htm

The Astrotech Quality Management System is defined, controlled, and communicated by our comprehensive documented policies and procedures that define and describe how our customer’s needs are understood, met, improved, and often times exceeded. Astrotech’s Quality Management System incorporates all of the elements of the most recently revised ISO 9001 Guidelines plus the most recently updated AS 9100 requirements as well.

ISO 9001/AS9100 Contact:

Paul R. Lewis
Astrotech Corporate Quality Management Representative
plewis@astrotech.com