AS9100 Clause 7 – Support

AS9100 is a widely adopted international quality management system standard for the aerospace industry. It is based on the ISO 9001 standard with additional requirements specific to the aerospace sector. Clause 7 of AS9100 is titled “Support” and covers the essential elements necessary for an organization to support the establishment and maintenance of a quality management system.

The clause is divided into the following sub-clauses:

7.1 Resources The organization must determine and provide the necessary resources to establish, implement, maintain, and continually improve the quality management system. Resources include human resources, infrastructure, environment for the operation of processes, monitoring and measuring resources, and organizational knowledge.

7.1.3 Infrastructure The organization must establish, maintain, and manage the infrastructure necessary for product realization. This includes buildings, workspace, utilities, process equipment, and supporting services.

7.1.4 Environment for the Operation of Processes The organization must determine, provide, and maintain a suitable environment to achieve conformity of products and services. This includes considering social, psychological, and physical factors.

7.1.5 Monitoring and Measuring Resources The organization must determine and provide resources needed to ensure valid and reliable monitoring and measurement results, including measurement traceability when required.

7.1.6 Organizational Knowledge The organization must determine the necessary knowledge to operate its processes and achieve conformity of products and services. It must maintain and manage this knowledge to ensure its availability and effectiveness.

7.2 Competence The organization must determine the necessary competence for persons affecting product and service quality and ensure that they are competent based on education, training, or experience. It must take appropriate actions to address competence gaps and evaluate the effectiveness of those actions.

7.3 Awareness The organization must ensure that persons working under its control are aware of the quality policy, relevant quality objectives, their contribution to the effectiveness of the quality management system, and the implications of not conforming with the quality management system requirements.

7.4 Communication The organization must establish internal and external communication processes relevant to the quality management system. This includes determining what, when, with whom, how, and who communicates.

7.5 Documented Information The organization must maintain documented information necessary for the effectiveness of the quality management system. This includes creating, updating, and controlling documented information to ensure its suitability, adequacy, and availability.

Clause 7 of the AS9100 standard focuses on ensuring that an organization has the necessary resources, competent personnel, and effective communication processes to support its quality management system. By addressing these elements, the organization can ensure product and service conformity and the ongoing improvement of its quality management system.

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