AS9100D Audit: A First-Time Supplier Checklist

Most first-time AS9100D failures aren’t process failures. They’re documentation failures. The product is fine, the operators are fine — the audit trail isn’t.

The Top Five Findings

1. FOD program documented but not posted at workstations
2. Risk register exists but hasn’t been reviewed in >6 months
3. Operator training records missing signatures
4. Calibration stickers expired on go/no-go gauges
5. Counterfeit parts policy exists but no supplier flow-down

Pre-audit dry run

Walk the floor with the standard in hand the week before. Pick three random work orders and trace them end-to-end — purchase order, receiving inspection, in-process, FAI, packaging, shipment. If any step is missing a record, you will fail that clause on audit day.

8.4.3   Information for external providers
8.5.1   Control of production
8.5.2   Identification and traceability
9.1.3   Analysis and evaluation
10.2    Nonconformity and corrective action

These five clauses generate the majority of major findings. Rehearse evidence for each.