Determining factors of the benefits derived from the implementation of EN 9100 Standards

In Spain, as well as in the rest of the world, the aerospace sector is one of the most important. The EN 9100 Standards (AS 9100 in America and SIAC 9100 in Asia), are a quality management system for the aerospace industry derived from the ISO 9001 standard, that include the requirements derived from the ISO 9001 and 83 specific additional requirements for the aerospace industry. This research aims to begin covering the virtual lack of studies about the results arising from the implementation of quality assurance standards in this sector. In particular, the objective of the research involves analyzing whether the appearance of the various positive effects that may arise as a result of implementing EN 9100 Standards is influenced by the following factors: a) size of the company; b) implementation of EN 9100 seniority; c) prevailing type of motivation (external and/or internal) to adhere to such standards. To that end, the research was addressed to the Spanish aerospace sector, and the population subject to the investigation was defined by 317 companies. A questionnaire was sent by postal mail and e-mail to the directors of quality of all the selected companies, and a multiple linear regression model was applied to data from the 126 valid survey responses. The results show that EN 9100 adherence seniority, as well as the prevailing type of motivation (internal or external), are significant variables for the appearance of positive effects arising from the implementation of EN 9100, while the size of the company is non-significant for the emergence of such positive effects