Monday, January 20, 2014

An As9100 Consultant Helps Streamline Aviation Companies While Facilitating Certification

By Judy Sullivan


The flying public is reasonably unaware of how many complex system of systems must all come together to make air travel possible. They are concerned with safety, their luggage and delays, and anything they need by exception. Aviation companies that wish to remain competitive or become the best can use an as9100 consultant to make the effort easier.

The problem with setting out on a new course, for a company, is that in general people fear change in any situation, especially in their work. Once an established set of processes has become comfortable, anything that interrupts or alters the process is frightening. This investment in the way things have always been done stifles progress and can hide inefficiencies and inconsistent performance which must be highlighted and eliminated.

Part of the employee concern is the awareness that their checklist discipline to perform tasks in a standardized manner has been the key to the enviable safety statistics which make the company strong. They have a natural feeling that it is working, and therefore they are suspect of management efforts to alter the way things are done. The key is communication throughout the company to motivate pursuit of improvement.

International standards are difficult to develop, with more than 160 nations involved agreements are hard to achieve. An organization called ISO was organized in 1946 to put together the means to assure the safety and consistency of products, no matter where they are produced. Headquartered in Switzerland, they have successfully developed voluntary standards for most fields, including aviation.

Formed in 1946, ISO has promulgated over 19,000 voluntary standards, covering nearly every field of commerce. When the ISO 9000 series of standards were published in 1987, the guidelines meshed with a worldwide push for quality management, and they gained unprecedented international acceptance. Having ISO certification now makes a solid statement that a company is dedicated to producing high quality, consistent products and services.

The quality movement has proven that a careful look at complex processes often yields simple, inexpensive changes that make immediate improvements. These may be jobs regularly done that do not make a significant contribution to the product or service. With as many independent events that must combine to produce air travel, there are bound to be such opportunities.

The kind of deep look at the business is unlike most management reviews, it entails every process accomplished by anyone working, from administrative support and training to operational flying. The goal of this first deep look is to assess exactly what is really being done, seeking those tasks that either hurt efficiency or do not help. This is a difficult step to accomplish without an independent outside assistant.

Once the new processes are well established, the hard part really begins, as the term continuous improvement implies, the effort is never ending. An as9100 consultant can help establish a maintenance process that helps prevent stagnation and encourages an environment of self inspection. Staying ahead of competitors is less the goal than simply being the best that one can be in given circumstances.




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