Business Matters July 2017 | Page 31

AS9100 certification, and in 2007 added AS9110 certification. Certification enabled CCAD to maintain its core defense capabilities as a robust and thriving helicopter MRO center during peace- times and drawdowns, extending its support to a broader customer-base since AS9110 qualified the depot for additional work outside of the Army. Since then, Koch said the Army has recog- nized the value of the AS9110 certification. The Army now requires the certification for many of its critical programs, including CCAD's next major projected workload, the new UH-60V Black Hawk program. standard," he said. "It tightens requirements, puts a greater focus on pre-production plan- ning, and an increased emphasis on logistics and engineering." A team of auditors work with business man- agement throughout the auditing process to enable process improvement. "When a worksite receives [negative] findings during an AS9110 audit, they have 21 days to respond with a plan to correct those deficien- cies," said Koch. "Then they have an additional 21 days to implement those plans." "Because AS9110 encompasses the entire business management system, all areas of It's an industry secret that's paying off for the CCAD are required to asses themselves and helicopter repair facility as it becomes increas- implement any corrective or improvement ingly relevant for installation commanders to initiatives before the audit," he said. work with kings of industry. There were a total of three findings during "AS9110 has allowed us to bring in additional the depot's audit last month, but none were workload from customers such as the Boeing attributed to the shop floor where aircraft and Company, Columbia Helicopters, AAI, and, component operations occur. later this year, Parker Hannifin and, just around the corner, the new UH-60V," he said. The commander congratulated the workforce for their hard work and retention on quality "In today's world with original equipment the week after the audit: manufacturers, contractors and government facilities competing for workload, program "Thank you for all you do for CCAD and for managers can demand the highest standards our customers -- the soldiers, sailors, Marines from potential sources of repair." and airmen -- who depend on our products to accomplish their missions and bring them This is CCAD's final year under AS9110's Revi- back safely," he said. sion B. "By their very nature, any audit or inspection "Now we begin the process of upgrading our is going to be a busy and stressful event," said business systems to the requirements of the Koch. "The fact that AS9110 focuses as much new Revision C that we will be audited to next on effectiveness and improvement as on com- April," Koch said. pliance makes this audit unique. Findings from an AS audit truly drive us to become a more effective and efficient organization, which en- "This year's audit [is] the baseline to measure against when performing our upgrade next sures CCAD not only stays viable, but makes us stand out amongst our competitors as the year," explained Koch. best value site for rotary wing repair, mainte- "AS9110C is a complete rewrite of the AS9110 nance and overhaul." 30