Introduction

This website was created in conjunction with DIN SPEC 9012 and thus forms a single unit. The DIN SPEC 9012 describes the overview, the rough structure and composition. On the website the technical details of the data specification and samples are described. Due to its interactivity, a website offers many more possibilities than a classic standards document can.  Furthermore, a website is more flexible in changes and the flexibility is necessary to bring a standard to the market and establish it.  

The DIN SPEC procedure was chosen because it offers the possibility to get to a standard relatively quickly in a simplified manner. The DIN SPEC can then be further developed via DIN and the associated standardization bodies of the aviation industry, towards a European and even worldwide standard.    

DIN SPEC 9012 was drawn up by a consortium consisting of several companies in the aviation industry. Those companies have a business relationship and exchange the Certificates of Conformity (CoC) according to DIN EN ISO/IEC 17050-1 or Inspection Certificates according to EN10204 as paper as of today. The motivation for this common approach was to reduce efforts and costs by digitalizing the process. However, this requires a standardized data exchange format for the documents concerned.

Motivation

In aviation, all materials, parts, components and processes must be fully traceable. Today, this traceability is ensured by paper documents, the so-called Certificates of Conformity or Inspection Certificates for materials. These are created by every supplier in the supply chain and passed on to the next higher level. Additionally those documents have to be archived in-house.

The recipient of these documents receive them, assign them to the goods, archive them and process them further for the next level. A huge amount of paper accumulates in the process, which is not sustainable. The expenses for processing the documents also represent a considerable cost factor for the companies.

Schematic document flow in the aviation industry

Out of this, a project has emerged from well-known suppliers to the aviation industry, who are in various positions in the supply chain:

  • Aircraft manufacturer
  • Material manufacturer
  • Materials dealer and service provider
  • Forming operations
  • Detailed Part Supplier (Tier 2 + 3)
  • Manufacturer of fibre composite components
  • Test laboratories.

The project partners have the goal of developing an electronic data exchange format for

Such a standard and the related processes offers a very large savings potential throughout the entire supply chain up to the OEM.

Quantities

In order to assess the economic benefit of such a standardized data exchange format and the related IT processes for the entire supply chain in aviation, it is useful to make a rough estimate of the number of documents to be produced.

  • At the Aircraft Philipp Group, a SMB aerospace supplier, about 10.000 Inspection Certificates and Certificates of Conformity are received and just as many are returned to the respective customers every year.
  • At AMAG, approx. 50.000 Inspection Certificates are issued per year and approx. 300.000 different types of material tests are carried out each year.
  • At Otto Fuchs, approx. 20.000 Inspection Certificates are produced each year and approx. 10.000 material tests are carried out.
  • It is estimated that a major assembly or system supplier receives about 100.000 documents per year in the incoming goods department.
  • In the entire aviation industry in Europe, several million such Certificates of Conformity are certainly generated and processed every year.

This rough estimation of the quantities shows the potential of digitalization of the process and the definition of a data exchange format, as described in DIN SPEC 9012, is an important step towards this.