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Corpus Christi Army Depot Excels with AS9100 Registration

Corpus Christi Army Depot, a Texas facility that repairs and performs overhaul and recapitalization on battle damaged helicopters and component parts for all branches of U.S. service and foreign military sales, has recently received numerous awards and accolades, including certification to AS9100. These recognitions came as a result of the depot's commitment to providing the highest quality aircraft components and returned-to-service aircraft possible.

Following a rare "no deficiencies" initial certification to the ISO 9001, CCAD then set its sights on certification to AS9100 for aerospace industry original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), which includes more than 200 additional aerospace-specific requirements above and beyond ISO 9001. An audit to the AS9100 standard measures business practices such as customer focus, leadership, workforce involvement, process approach, system approach to management, continual improvement, a factual approach to decision making and mutually beneficial supplier relations.

With much of the aerospace industry now requiring certification to the standard as a prerequisite for doing business, CCAD zeroed in on doing whatever was necessary to achieve certification. Utilizing the revolutionary tenets of Lean Manufacturing, coupled with Six Sigma ideology, as well as a vigorous campaign against Foreign Object Damage (FOD) and promotion of workforce safety initiatives, CCAD managed to achieve the highly-sought certification.

Neil Hickey, QMI lead auditor on the certification process, said he was impressed with CCAD's control of FOD and emphasis on workplace safety. "You usually don't see such control of FOD at a facility this size," said Hickey. "We were very impressed by the commitment to achieving certification to AS9100 we saw at CCAD, from everyone to include the commander and deputy commander to the workers on the shop floor."

Sen. John Cornyn, R.-Texas invited fellow Senate Armed Services Committee member Sen. James Inhofe, R.-Okla. to CCAD to see first hand how the depot was overcoming budgeting shortfalls facing military installations worldwide in continuing to produce the highest level of quality products.

"The work done here at CCAD supplies the Warfighters with the tools to do their job," said Cornyn. "It takes that combined effort [of the Civilian Army workforce and the Warfighter] to provide national security in order to keep us all safe at home."

The depot is committed to achieving certification to the AS9110 standard for aerospace industry maintenance operations. With its roots in the AS9100 standard for aerospace industry OEMs, the AS9110 standard is specifically geared toward the adoption of a process-oriented method of management for aerospace industry maintenance systems.

According to CCAD Commander COL Timothy Sassenrath, the depot's pursuit of standards such as AS9100 and AS9110, as well as continuing process improvement via Lean Six Sigma, has been integral to securing the depot’s future viability.

"By achieving these certifications and doing what it takes to win awards at the DoD level, we are able to both secure increased workload for the depot as well as maintaining our current capacity," said Sassenrath. "But more importantly it drives home the fact that the men and women of Corpus Christi Army Depot are willing to go above and beyond to provide the Warfighter with the best product imaginable."

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