AS6081: A Critical Certification for Aerospace and Defense Parts Suppliers

Industry standards are crucial to maintaining product quality and ensuring that the aerospace and defense sectors receive safe and reliable parts. There is also the added benefit of transparency—buyers are able to visualize the procurement and supply chain processes and the care taken to eliminate defective and counterfeit products from their inventories. 

AS6081 is one of those standards leveraged by the electronics sector and is crucial to the aerospace and defense sectors. Used in conjunction with other quality management standards, AS6081 is a critical one for suppliers looking to maintain relationships with companies in either industry—commitment to quality and consistency is essential for aerospace and defense contracts. 

All stakeholders in the supply chain should consider the impact that quality control has on their businesses and remain diligent through the implementation of AS6081.

What Is AS6081 Testing?

AS6081 was devised by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), a global engineering association, to set the standard for electronics testing processes, classification, and counterfeit detection. 

Introduced in November 2012, AS6081 has been widely adopted across industries with a growing interest in supply chain activities and their potential impact on the safety and reliability of aerospace, defense, and sectors like automotive, medical, telecommunications, energy, other industrial sectors, and even space exploration. 

The standard contains guidelines for the assessment of PCB components used in these high-reliability industries, namely aerospace and defense, that depend on rigorous safety testing and clarity of sourcing from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and other authorized distributors. 

Through quality assurance, AS6081 maintains uniformity across these industries, governing procurement and manufacturing to promote the use of authentic parts. This is achieved through six key elements: 

Component Testing

1. Visual Inspection: The physical assessment of parts is vital for identifying inconsistencies in labeling, packaging of components, and other physical features unique to individual components.

2. Non-Destructive Testing: The use of X-ray and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) or Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) is used to detect anomalies within component packaging without the need for deconstruction.

3. Electrical Testing: Assessment of electrical function and performance is carried out to determine the operability, safety, and efficiency of parts against their specifications. 

4. Lot Sampling and Statistics: Selecting components in batches and statistical analysis is carried out as a further measure of reliability in manufacturing—a measure for detecting anomalies in mass production. 

Supply Chain and Procurement

5. Document Verification: A traceability measure to confirm authenticity, which includes verification of certificates and conformance documentation. 

6. Risk Mitigation: Assessment of suppliers and distributors to ensure they adhere to standards and take all necessary measures of quality and consistency.

Catching Counterfeit Parts Through Procurement

Detecting a counterfeit part in the later stages of implementation is any organization's worst nightmare, not to mention the catastrophic effects this could have on the operational safety of machines and digital systems. Within the aerospace and defense sectors, the risks are heightened significantly, hence the demand for a concrete standard that inspires an airtight approach to counterfeit capture. 

If undetected in the sourcing phase, these companies run the risk of inefficiency, downtime, and even worse occurrences as a result. This is why it is so crucial to cover the procurement aspect of quality assurance and source from reputable suppliers but also undergo rigorous background checks to satisfy the needs set out in the AS6081 standard. 

In order to catch counterfeits, procurement teams look beyond the components themselves and instead focus on the suppliers from which they source the products. Supplier qualification helps teams prioritize authorized distributors and OEMs as per the recommendation of the AS6081. This is conducted through supplier audits—of both larger and independent distributors and brokers—to assess their counterfeiting policies, traceability acts, and compliance to particular industry standards. 

AS6081 Certification for Parts Distributors

Suppliers, no matter their position in the chain, can help themselves by understanding the ins and outs of AS6081 for their business. Moreover, it will aid their engagements with aerospace and defense customers, providing streaming assurance in the long term. 

Placing significant importance on reliability, supplier engagement is an ongoing process for such organizations, and therefore means that distributors could shift places at any time. While this is much like any industry, the emphasis on safety and efficiency within the defense sector makes procurement a pivotal element of its success.

It is worth reiterating that the defense industry is backed by governments and, as such, budgets can be altered fairly frequently. AS6081 aligns suppliers with state requirements and is paired with further standards, including IPC assembly inspection standards and the AS9100 standard for aerospace quality management systems. 

Recognizing the importance of AS6081 and other standards to the successful acquisition and maintenance of government-backed contracts will help prepare distributors for a long-term partnership with companies within these sectors. 

Here is a summary of things suppliers and distributors should have access to or prepare in order to simplify the AS6081 process:

• Documentation of Quality Management Systems (QMS): Enable clarity around quality procedures instantly shows buyers what they wish to see in order to solidify procurement. Combining this with documentation that aligns AS9100 or ISO9001 will greatly prepare them for clients' queries. 
• Traceability Documentation: Maintain detailed records of their parts' chain of custody. This is critical for painting a picture of a component's route from source to product. Include certificates of conformity (CoC) from OEMsor authorized distributors, as well as the batch numbers, date codes, and other accompanying paperwork that shows its history. 
• Supplier Validation and Audit Documentation: Collate a list of vetted suppliers that includes evidence of their sourcing to provide credibility. This should also include supplier audit notes detailing their QMSs and anti-counterfeit practices. Records of all communications can help plug the gaps between supply chain stages, further increasing traceability and allowing distributors to hold suppliers accountable. 
• Inspection and Testing Protocols: Outline the steps taken to inspect supplier goods, reporting the testing methods and outcomes. This should be carried out batch by batch. 
• Corrective Action Reports (CARs): Documenting corrective procedures is a great practice for supplier engagement, showing distributors' commitments to actioning counterfeits and taking quick measures to find solutions. 
• Inventory Management Records: The ability to pinpoint any product with the use of serialization as a clear mechanism for tracking the distribution journey of parts. 

These assets are pivotal to the success of parts distributors, and time to deliver these documents could mean the difference between securing purchases, maintaining relationships within these sectors, and encouraging greater insight into their procurement.

Build a Transparent Quality Management System

When building a transparent system for PCB data and client requirements to ensure their efforts align with their customers' quality assurance procedures. 

It's important to note that once processes are constructed to collate and present data and insight to prospective buyers, work is not finished. As technologies progress, so do the standards that govern their construction. As a result, companies should look to the above quality assurance measures as continuous actions to maintain up-to-date records, build document templates, and encourage greater transparency around product sourcing.