What you need to know

The aerospace scheme certification structures are not like any other standard you may have experienced before; they have different requirements but are managed and run, unlike others.

The aerospace scheme has several key stakeholders; these are what we call the prime aerospace organisations; Boeing, Airbus, Rolls Royce, Lockheed Martin, the MOD, to name just a few.  To these primes, the aerospace scheme is pivotal in their success as without their supply chain meeting the strict requirements, they can bring additional risk into their aircraft and services.

The supply chain is complex, and therefore the stakeholders were not satisfied with the site structures of all other schemes; Single site or multisite.  They devised their site structures that organisations seeking AS9100, AS9120, or AS9110 certification must be applied.

These structures are:

  • Single Site
  • Multisite
  • Campus
  • Several
  • Complex

These site structures are being changed later in 2022 and into 2023, but they still stand now.  Any organisation applying for one of the aerospace schemes must identify which site structure they use; Auva will verify this during the application and initial audit stages.

The specific requirements are below, with some explanations around each structure to help in the understanding and correct application

Single Site

  • An organisation that operates at one site
  • May operate under one large building or several buildings at that location.
  • May have one or multiple products or product families flowing through one or multiple processes.

Eligibility:

  • Stand-alone self-supporting organisation, with no value stream dependencies from related companies, operating under the same quality management system.
  • One address

Supporting clarifications:

You have a single address; you can have multiple units within the same address as long as they are in a row and there is no road between them. A single site can also be several buildings that are fenced in together and still basically have one address. If your units are not in a row, you are likely to be a campus structure.

Multiple Sites

  • An organisation having an identified central function and a network of sites at which activities are fully or partially carried out
  • All sites must be doing substantially the same manufacturing and/or value-added process

Eligibility:

  • All sites shall have a legal or contractual link with the central office.
  • One quality management system with central control, management review, and internal audit.
  • Central office can require other sites implement corrective action.
  • Central collection and analysis of data, with the ability to initiate organisational change.
  • Meet the requirements of IAF-MD1-Multi Site organisation; definition and eligibility requirements
  • All quality management system processes at all sites have to be substantially (i.e., >80%) the same and are operated to the same methods and procedures.
  • Some sites may conduct fewer processes than others.
  • Sampling as per IAF-MD-1 is only permitted for AS9120 certification with defined geographical locations.
  • One address per site

Supporting Clarifications:

It’s essential in this case to understand what IAF MD1 defines as a multisite organisation:

Multisite IAF MD1 definition – An organisation covered by a single management system comprising an identified central function (not necessarily the headquarters of the organisation) at which certain processes/activities are planned and controlled, and a number of sites (permanent, temporary or virtual) at which such processes/activities are fully or partially carried out.

If you don’t perfectly fall into the below IAF Multisite framework, you are likely to be on campus or several sites. You may automatically think that you are multisite because you have more than one site, but you need to appreciate the campus and several site structures first. You need to understand value streams and processes.

Central Function– The organisation’s location/activity that controls the ‘common’ quality management system for the organisation.  Not necessarily the headquarters.

Value Stream– An end-to-end business process that delivers a product or service to a customer.  The process steps may use and produce intermediate goods, services, and information to achieve the end product or service.  Outputs from one site may be an input to another site, which ultimately results in the final product or service.

Multisite IAF MD1 Definition

Eligibility:

  • The organisation shall have a single management system.
  • The organisation shall identify its central function. The central function is part of the organisation and shall not be subcontracted to an external organisation.
  • The central function shall have organisational authority to define, establish and maintain the single management system.
  • The organisation’s single management system shall be subject to a centralized management review.
  • All sites shall be subject to the organisation’s internal audit programme.
  • The central function shall be responsible for ensuring that data is collected and analyzed from all sites and shall be able to demonstrate its authority and ability to initiate organisational change as required in regard, but not limited, to:
    • system documentation and system changes;
    • management review;
    • Complaints;
    • evaluation of corrective actions;
    • internal audit planning and evaluation of the results; and
    • statutory and regulatory requirements pertaining to the applicable standard(s).

Campus

  • An organisation having an identified central function and a decentralised, sequential, linked product realisation process.

Eligibility:

  • All sites shall have a legal or contractual link with the central office.
  • One quality management system with central control, management review, and internal audit.
  • Central office can require other sites implement corrective action.
  • Central collection and analysis of data, with the ability to initiate organisational change.
  • The outputs from one site are an input to another site to realise the final product or service; a value stream.
  • Can be dissimilar processes at different sites or combination of sites that contribute to the same overall product or service.
  • More than one product or service may be realised provided they are substantially (i.e., .80%) the same (e.g., a family of products) and realised through the same methods and procedures.
  • One address per campus.

Supporting Clarifications:

The main thing to look out for here is the value stream; the outputs from one site are the input to another site to realise the final product or service (otherwise known as a single value stream).

A campus will probably not have any direct customer contact, no purchasing contact, no production planning etc. The site would be doing one process, then handed back to the other central site for completion. It could also be just a warehouse or a manufacturing unit extension from the central unit. The main difference between a multisite and campus is the value stream flow between the sites.

Several Sites

  • An organisation having an identified central function and a network of sites that do not meet the criteria for a multiple site or campus organisation.
  • Several sites are listed on the same certificate

Eligibility:

  • All sites shall have a legal or contractual link with the central office.
  • One quality management system with central control, management review, and internal audit.
  • Central office can require other sites implement corrective action.
  • Central collection and analysis of data, with the ability to initiate organisational change.
  • Processes at each of the sites are not substantially similar (i.e., <80% Similar).
  • Processes may be operated to the same or different methods and procedures that are controlled through one common quality management system.
  • Sites realise different products or services.
  • One address per site.

Supporting Clarifications:

The critical difference between campus and several sites is the processes being dis-similar to the central function. One site is the machine shop for parts, and the other is a tool manufacturing facility. It could also be a paint shop on the extra unit where the leading site is machining parts.  Some information may relay from one site to the other, but if the final product is not the same and the sites do not feed into each other, it’s probably several sites. The difference between several sites and a multisite is the similarity between the processes.

Complex organisation

  • An organisation having an identified central function and a network of locations that are any combination of multiple sites, campus (can be more than one campus), or several sites.

Eligibility:

  • All sites shall have a legal or contractual link with the central office.
  • One quality management system with central control, management review, and internal audit.
  • Central office can require other sites implement corrective action.
  • Central collection and analysis of data, with the ability to initiate organisational change.
  • Overall structure contains combinations of multiple sites, campus (can be more than one campus), or several sites.
  • Requires IAQG OPMT approval of rationale, justification, audit duration calculations, audit programme and sampling plan (for AS9120, multisite and campus)
  • One address per site and campus

Supporting Clarifications:

There are not many complex organisations registered within the scheme, 2 or 3 to be exact. The complex site is generally going to be a large organisation with many different sites with some feeding into other sites for one value stream and then other sites all doing different things, some have units next to each other etc.  It’s a mixture of all the other site structures and probably not one you need to consider.

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