ITI Engineering AS9100 Case Study - Quality All The Way Through!

Located in Winter Springs. FL, ITI Engineering LLC specializes in the development and manufacturing of innovative software, hardware, and engineering solutions to support aerospace training, mission planning, debrief and maintenance. When ITI was formed in 2003, its focus was on software engineering services, but, with an exceptional team of engineers and ideas, they expanded to product development with the ability for rapid prototyping.

ITI’s custom software and unique data transfer solutions allow modern fighter and support aircraft operators to increase their sorties by reducing planning and maintenance activities.

Their range of capabilities includes: Design, manufacture, assembly, provision of engineering services, and sustainment of mission support devices, data transfer, cryptographic data transfer, and firmware for aerospace data transfer components.

Organizations like GE Aviation, Lockheed Martin, L3Harris, the U.S. Department of Defense, NAVAIR, and others have turned to ITI for innovative solutions and rely on their aerospace Information Technology engineering.

Learn more about ITI Engineering.

ITI seeks to continually improve their services, products, processes and quality system. Our objective is to focus on quality in every aspect of our operations and activities. This policy is captured by our slogan…

“Quality all the way through!”

PROBLEM FACED

Change is constant and often discontinuous, but it also presents opportunities. For ITI Engineering, the list of changes over the last five years had a perpetual impact on their quality management system. 

• ITI Engineering has grown from a small company of 12 employees at one site to over 70 employees at 2 sites, with a third site and over 30 new employees added in 2023.
• From a small management team with no quality manager and only classroom knowledge of AS9100 and its understanding of requirements to having dedicated functional managers.
• Change in leadership who ran the company
• Change in ownership, going from a small business to a large business
• Upgrading to the latest AS9100 standard
• Constantly expanding the AS9100 scope:
  • Going from manufacturing only to adding design; 
  • Adding new processes for engineering services, sustainment of product after sale, and other processes. 
  • Going beyond ground support equipment to airborne product, increasing the risks for airworthiness and safety;
  • to additional sites and headcount.

SOLUTION

SimpleQuE was selected, after ITI Engineering’s stage one audit, which revealed the need for outside AS9100 consulting expertise. ITI needed a consultant that was knowledgeable and fully understood the requirements of the standard to pass their stage 2 certification audit. 

Kevin Speed, President stated: “We’ve consulted with simpleQuE and sought your consultation every time we added a process.  We’ve added a major process every year since our certification, and have elected to keep using simpleQuE as our internal auditor even though we could do it ourselves, because of the value added and simpleQuE’s expertise.”

Throughout ITI Engineering’s growth over the last six years, simpleQuE has consistently performed quarterly internal audits.  Through all the chaotic and constant changes, those audits provided the ability and awareness to proactively plan periodic course corrections for the QMS.

When a new international customer required a safety management system, simpleQuE was there to provide solutions.  When other customers required AS9145 (APQP and PPAP), AS9146 (Foreign Object Damage Prevention), AS5553 and AS6174 (Counterfeit Parts and Material Prevention), simpleQuE was able to provide the consulting support to help implement systems and processes for compliance. “From a consultant standpoint, all the work that you helped guide us through -documentation, procedures, the quality manual – there’s so much documentation and you’ve really helped us manage that,” said Caity Ayers, Quality Manager.  “ITI prides itself on responsiveness, but that’s something that could be said about you as well. SimpleQuE has definitely proven responsive any time we call on you, whether from the internal auditing perspective, as a consultant, or for different things, you’re always there to support us as needed.”

RESULT

“Through simpleQuE’s audit findings and coaching, you’re helping us to identify those things that we don’t know or that we don’t have a full understanding of, and that has helped us to close a lot of the gaps.” Joe Marsh, Senior Production Manager also explained, “You have a full understanding of the whole system, where we may have an understanding of bits and pieces, but there’s a lot we clearly don’t understand or have a full grasp on.”

“We get received compliments on our QMS from two different registrars, now and behind that is all the coaching, support and knowledge from simpleQuE’s consultants and auditors.  I think the feedback from the registrars is very positive and simpleQuE is a big part of that,” said Joe Marsh. “From registrars, customers, the new owners, L3Harris, and the Lockheed Martin auditors, everyone’s been impressed with our quality system, it’s not what they expect from a small company like ours.”

Joe added, “We highly recommend simpleQuE, not just for the auditing, but because of the coaching various simpleQuE consultants have provided that we continue to build on.  Every time we take a step forward, we discuss it with simpleQuE and you support us between the audits when things pop up, and you answer questions and provide guidance. Given the fact that we don’t have a full-time quality-trained expert in-house, you played a very valuable role.”

With 10X growth in revenue, 9X growth in headcount, and 3X growth in facilities over in the last 6 years, there is no way you can maintain customer satisfaction, and receive customer awards year after year without a robust QMS, and simpleQuE looking over their shoulder every quarter to keep on course.  By partnering with simpleQuE, ITI and its stellar management team are able to focus on their core competencies and trust that their QMS insurance policy through simpleQuE was paying off.

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