Despite the International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG) refusing to acknowledge end users of AS9100 as the actual end users, it has nevertheless instituted a $250 “Digital Innovation Fee” to be charged as part of every AS audit.
IAQG only recognizes its members, such as Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Safran, as the “customers” of AS9100 and related certifications. It has refused entry of end user organisations into its membership, and will not let them participate in standards development or related rule-making. This is despite the fact that end user organizations buy AS9100 audits, buy related training, and pay existing fees for their data to be entered into OASIS.
Typically, there is a $700 fee payable every three years for the OASIS data use. The new “Digital Innovation Fee” will be assessed at every audit, and is in addition to the $700 fee already paid by clients.
Per the IAQG:
OASIS Insights reports are intended to support suppliers and their supply chain partners. Achieving 9100 series certification is a significant achievement and serves as the baseline for OASIS Insights. Scores are based on a moment in time and other audits available, are highly dynamic, built on the size and scope of an audit and will be impacted as standards and report versions evolve. Users are encouraged to use OASIS Insights to improve, understand relative performance and help identify risks to improve quality in the Aerospace sector.
Certification body TUV USA then issued the following memo to its clients regarding the fee:
The OASIS Insight Report will automatically generate after each Audit (Initial, Surveillance and Recertification) and will appear as a line item below that Audit (under Manage Audits) in OASIS. The reports are expected to be available on April 1, 2025 and will be retroactive for those Organizations who have had their 2025 Audits since January 1, 2025. For this new Tool, IAQG has mandated a $250.00 USD fee per Audit, which you will see on your TUV USA invoice as the “OASIS Digital Innovation Fee”. Please be aware that this Digital Innovation Fee is in addition to the customary “OASIS Publication Fee”.
End users have never requested that OASIS exist in the first place, and are forced to participate in the database as a part of AS9100 certification. Rather than have the costs associated with OASIS borne by its members, IAQG instead passes them down to the end users, even as it denies their position in the scheme.
AS9100 is set to be rebranded as “IA9100” in the next few years, and other changes — such as including a mandatory requirement for a cybersecurity program — are likely to harm the scheme. With both requirements and fees increasing for end users, the IAQG may find companies opting out of the certification entirely.
The IAQG includes six Chinese companies in its membership, including at least one that is under US sanctions. The Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) was found to have stolen US intellectual property in order to build the Chengdu J-20 and Shenyang FC-31 fighter aircraft. With their status as members of IAQG, ATIC and other Chinese companies have access to the “Level 2” OASIS data for AS9100 certified companies, which includes audit findings, process performance, nonconformities, and other sensitive information.
