October 13, 2010
In this month's bulletin:
- Board Election Results
- ASA Becomes an Accredited ISO Registrar
- Commercial Parts
- ASA Workshop Dates Announced
- Upcoming Quality Assurance Committee Meeting
- Save the Date - 2011 Annual Conference
Board Election Results
The results are in! ASA would like to welcome David Susser, President of Seal Dynamics, LLC to the Board of Directors. Re-elected to the remaining positions were Richard Levin (A.J. Levin Company, Inc.), Brent Webb (Aircraft Inventory & Management Services, Ltd.), and Mitchell Weinberg (International Aircraft Associates, Inc.)
A press release on the results is available by clicking here.
Thank you to all who voted.
ASA Becomes an Accredited ISO Registrar
ASA is an ANAB-accredited ISO Registrar. ASA has been working on this project for several years and is now officially a registrar. What does this mean? ASA can certify a company to ISO 9001:2008. Only ASA can certify a company to both ASA-100 and ISO 9001:2008. These certificates can also be used to support FAA AC 00-56A. Why did ASA choose to become a registrar? The ASA Board of Directors, through lengthy discussions, decided it is essential for ASA to be a part of any major quality system discussion that impacts distributors. Obviously, ASA closely monitors ASA-100 and works directly with the FAA on AC 00-56A. ISO 9001 is a recognized quality management system, and its aerospace specific standard AS 9100 series, in particular AS 9120, directly impacts distributors. ASA’s Board wanted the members' interests represented during discussions regarding development including revisions to these standards. ASA is a participant on the working group for writing and revising AS 9120 and is monitoring the proposed changes to ISO 9001. How does this impact ASA-100 audit services? It will not affect companies that hold ASA-100 accreditation. ASA continues to conduct over 240 ASA-100 audits. However, if your company would like to hold ISO and ASA-100, ASA can conduct a combined audit. Since the accreditation was recently granted, there will be more information to share in the coming months. ASA's website has been updated to include information on the ISO 9001 program as well as an audit application. If you have any specific questions or want more information, please contact Michele Dickstein.
ASA Thanks The Teams at Aero Brake & Spares Company, A.J. Levin Company, Inc., and Aircraft Inventory Management & Services LTD. for Their Support During the ISO Registrar Application Process
It takes a few years to become an accredited ISO Registrar. ASA chose ANAB for the accreditation, as ANAB is widely viewed as the most prestigious accreditation group and is accepted by FAA AC 00-56A. ASA needed to conduct test audits and witness audits in order to become a registrar. Aero Brake & Spares (San Antonio), A.J. Levin (Burbank) and Aircraft Inventory Management & Services (Dallas) allowed ASA access to their facilities and staff for days of auditing. Without these companies' assistance, ASA would not a registrar.
ASA Announces the First ISO 9001:2008 Certification
ASA is pleased to announce that it has certified Aircraft Inventory Management & Services LTD. to ISO 9001:2008 and accredited to ASA-100. Aircraft Inventory Management & Services LTD. was ISO 9001:2008 and their certificate was to expire in a few months. ASA conducted the recertification audit. During the recertification audit, the ASA-100 audit was included. For questions about logistics for an ISO audit by ASA, or a combined ISO 9001:2008 audit with ASA-100, contact Michele Dickstein.
Commercial Parts
The FAA has released AC 21-45 Commercial Parts. This AC is pertinent to any distributor buying or selling commercial parts. The FAA discussed the AC at the 2010 Annual Conference. Since the conference, the draft AC was released for public comment, FAA reviewed comments and has released the AC in final form. We will be discussing the new AC at the Quality Assurance Committee meeting in November (see registration information below). If you have any comments or concerns about this AC, feel free to contact us.
ASA Workshop Registration Now Available!
ASA will be holding its workshop series in various locations beginning in December. All December workshops will be on the subject of legal issues affecting distributors. Register now to reserve your seat! Registration is now available for the following workshops:
| Miramar, FL | December 7, 2010 |
| Atlanta, GA | December 8, 2010 |
| Newark, NJ | December 10, 2010 |
| Seattle, WA | January 25, 2011 |
| Los Angeles, CA | January 27, 2011 |
Registration for Seattle and Los Angeles is not yet available - it will be made available soon.
Updates and registration are available on our website at www.aviationsuppliers.org/Workshops.
Upcoming Quality Assurance Committee Meeting
Interested in getting involved with the Quality Assurance Committee (QAC)? The next meeting is coming up soon. The QAC will be meeting in Dallas, TX on November 5, 2010. Issues to be discussed are: proposed changes to ASA-100 (several proposals), commercial parts, government affairs update, risk analysis for a distributor, ASA-100 update, internal quality update and more. Anyone is welcome to attend, but registration is required. Registration is available on our website at www.aviationsuppliers.org/Quality-Assurance-News. If you are staying in the hotel, you must make your own reservations. The hotel room block closes October 25, 2010. Questions? Contact Stephanie Brown.
Save the Date - 2011 Annual Conference
The ASA 2011 Annual Conference will take place in Washington, DC, July 17-19, 2011 at the Washington Marriott at Metro Center. The conference will once again be in conjunction with the AFRA Annual General Meeting. Room block information and registration will be available soon. Keep checking our website for updates.