AS 9120
Aerospace for Stockist Distributors

Distributors buy and resell aerospace commodity items such as raw materials, fasteners, bearings, paints and coatings and gaskets. While not adding value to these products, distributors directly affect product performance if they fail to handle parts and materials properly, or lose a part's traceability from OEM to customer.AS 9120 Quality Management Systems - Aerospace Requirements for Stockist Distributors was developed for pass-through distributors of aerospace commodity items. This standard addresses chain of custody, traceability, control and availability of records.
The standard addresses requirements that distributors must focus on to ensure that only approved, conforming parts make their way into the supply chain. In recent years the concern of "black market" or "bogus" parts has reached heightened levels. AS 9120 includes requirements that effectively implemented, would help a distributor minimize the risk of such activity.
Based on ISO 9001, but with nearly 100 additional requirements specific to aerospace distributors, AS 9120 provides suppliers with a comprehensive quality system focused on areas directly impacting product safety and reliability including;

• Splitting - Specific requirements for batch splitting and lot splitting, and how conformance to specification is maintained.
• Airworthiness certificates - Defines the documents issued by cognizant civil aviation authorities that certifies that parts meet the required airworthiness requirements.
• Control of records - Record requirements differ significantly for distributors of aerospace product. AS9120 defines those requirements.
• Traceability - Defines specific requirements for traceability from receipt until delivery.
• Evidence of Conformance - Specific documents are required by distributors as evidence of conformance. AS9120 defines those requirements.

When your organization meets the requirements of AS 9120, it not only reaps quality and efficiency benefits, but also is better able to meet customer expectations. Certification can also provide a competitive advantage by:

• AEAs identifying opportunities for operational improvements and cost reduction;
  Improved audit and surveillance efficiency;
• Reduced number of customer audits required, and a corresponding reduction in needed resources;
• Enhanced supplier performance due to higher quality, waste reduction, and a customer satisfaction focus; and
• Streamlined documentation.