AS9100 builds on ISO 9001, adding aerospace, space, and defense requirements for risk management and controlled documented information. It’s published by SAE International in coordination with the International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG), and it exists largely to solve a real problem: before AS9100, individual aerospace OEMs each maintained their own unique quality requirements, forcing suppliers through redundant, inconsistent audits for essentially the same thing. AS9100 standardized that into one recognized system.
If you’re pursuing it, you’re most likely doing so because a prime contractor or OEM requires it before they’ll put you on their approved supplier list.
Here’s what it actually involves, how it relates to CMMC if you’re pursuing both, and where IT support genuinely fits in versus where it doesn’t.
If you’ve gotten this far, there’s a decent chance you’re not asking about AS9100 in isolation. Many aerospace and defense manufacturers pursue AS9100 and CMMC together, prompting us to partner directly with a qualified QMS auditor.
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What AS9100 actually requires?
At its core, AS9100 requires a documented quality management system the same backbone as ISO 9001 plus aerospace-specific additions: configuration management, risk management tied to product safety, control of work transferred to other locations, and a much heavier emphasis on traceability and control of documented information. Manufacturers must prove compliance by controlling access, changes, approvals, and audit trails for critical quality records and systems.
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The part that’s genuinely hard right now
We’re seeing this firsthand with a current client working through CMMC and AS9100 at the same time: the harder part right now isn’t the standard itself, it’s finding an available auditor. Limited accredited AS9100 auditors cannot meet rising demand, causing aerospace and defense manufacturers to face months-long certification delays.
That’s worth knowing early, because it changes how you should plan. If your timeline assumes “we’ll get audited whenever we’re ready,” you may be planning around an assumption that isn’t currently true.
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Where AS9100 and CMMC actually overlap and where they don’t
These are two genuinely different systems, and treating them as interchangeable is a mistake we see manufacturers make. AS9100 is a quality management standard governed by the International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG), verified through accredited third-party auditors. CMMC is a DoD cybersecurity certification, verified through a different accreditation body entirely, built on NIST SP 800-171.
Where they genuinely overlap is in documentation discipline and access control both systems care about who can touch what data, how changes get tracked, and whether your records can actually prove what you say they prove. We align AS9100 and CMMC documentation and IT controls while keeping each certification’s requirements and audits clearly separate.
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Where IT support genuinely fits and where it doesn’t
To be direct about this: we’re not AS9100 auditors, and we don’t pretend to be. We partner with a dedicated QMS auditor who handles internal audits, root cause analysis, and corrective action systems effectively.
IT supports quality systems through secure access, reliable audit trails, protected records, and coordinated cybersecurity controls for CMMC requirements.
Discuss AS9100 and CMMC early to identify IT system gaps before audits expose compliance problems and costly remediation. Our team works with manufacturers in the DoD and aerospace supply chain navigating exactly this kind of dual-certification pressure, backed by managed IT services built around compliance-heavy environments.
👉 Schedule a free consultation with our team to talk through where your IT systems stand.
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FAQs
How hard is it to get AS9100 certified?
Organizations can achieve AS9100 certification through proper preparation, though limited auditor availability can create significant scheduling delays before audits.
How long does it take to get AS9100 certified?
Organizations typically spend several months preparing documentation, implementing controls, completing internal audits, and scheduling their accredited certification audit afterward.
What’s the difference between AS9100 and ISO 9001?
AS9100 builds on ISO 9001 by adding aerospace requirements for product safety, traceability, configuration management, counterfeit prevention, and risk.
How much does AS9100 certification cost?
AS9100 certification costs vary by company size, system complexity, preparation needs, audit duration, certification-body fees, locations, and corrective actions.
Does AS9100 certification expire?
Organizations maintain AS9100 certification through surveillance audits, continual improvement, ongoing compliance, and successful recertification during each three-year certification cycle.
