Quality: Aerospace Business
Our Approach
Quality is the foundation of “Enjoyment and Peace of Mind,” SUBARU’s core value. The SUBARU Group manages quality across its Automotive and Aerospace Businesses in an integrated manner and promotes the provision of high-quality products and services under the slogan “quality first.”
Quality Policy
At SUBARU, quality is our highest priority as we earn the trust of our customers.
- We will deliver long-lasting products that our customers can use with peace of mind.
- We will continually improve our products and services by always listening closely to our customers’ voice.
- We will be a good corporate citizen in all markets where we do business by ensuring compliance with all internal rules, local laws, regulations and social norms.
The Aerospace Company’s Approach to Quality Assurance
Meeting quality requirements for both products and processes is the Aerospace Company’s promise to its customers.
In the Aerospace Company, we believe that satisfying both inherent product quality, created throughout the process from aircraft parts manufacturing through assembly, and process quality, ensured through rigorous inspections and flight testing of completed aircraft, fulfills the trust placed in us by our customers, as stated in our Quality Policy.
Management System
At the SUBARU Group, the Chief Quality Officer (CQO) leads quality assurance activities, with the Representative Director, President and CEO bearing ultimate responsibility. At the Aerospace Company, under the direction of SUBARU’s CQO, the President of Aerospace Company is responsible for establishing and implementing the quality management system from a customer-focused perspective and continuously improving its effectiveness. Under this management structure, we have established and operate a quality management system based on the Quality Policy and JIS Q 9100 standard.
Quality Management System
- Note:
- The Quality Improvement Committee and Quality Meetings shown in the quality management system diagram are the principal bodies involved in quality assurance. Depending on the subject matter, discussions are also held by other bodies as appropriate.
[Quality Meetings]
The Aerospace Company holds Quality Meetings at least once a year to ensure that the quality management system achieves its intended results. At Quality Meetings, changes to the quality management system, resource requirements, responses to identified risks, and other matters are deliberated based on analyses of diverse information concerning products and operational processes, including customer satisfaction and the results of internal and third-party audits.
Certification under JIS Q 9100 (Quality Management Systems)
The Aerospace Company has obtained certification at all sites included in the scope of JIS Q 9100 certification for its quality management system (100% certification rate). To maintain this certification, the Aerospace Company undergoes regular internal audits and renewal audits by a third-party certification body.
JIS Q 9100 Certification Status (as of March 31, 2026)
| Certified Sites | Aerospace Company (Main Plant, South Plant, South Second Plant, Handa Plant, Handa West Plant, Kisarazu Office, Tokyo Office) |
Certification of Facilities by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
Under Article 20 of the Civil Aeronautics Act, the Aerospace Company is certified by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism as a facility that meets technical standards for aircraft manufacturing. This certification is granted for each of seven capabilities, and the Aerospace Company is certified for six of them. To maintain validity as a certified facility, the Aerospace Company conducts regular internal audits and undergoes renewal inspections by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
[Six Capabilities for Which the Aerospace Company’s Facilities Are Certified]
- The capability to design aircraft and conduct the inspection
- The capability to manufacture aircraft and conduct the inspection
- The capability to perform maintenance and inspect an aircraft after maintenance for the renewal of Airworthiness Certificate
- The capability to perform maintenance or alteration of aircraft
- The capability to manufacture aircraft parts and conduct the inspection
- The capability to perform repair or alteration of aircraft parts
Initiatives
The Aerospace Company pursues quality assurance through improvement activities in its daily operations, employee training, and initiatives in collaboration with suppliers.
Improvement Activities
The Aerospace Company carries out improvement activities tailored to the characteristics of its operations and processes to correct, prevent, or mitigate undesirable effects.
Details of Improvement Activities
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
| Methods and Activities for Making Improvements |
|
| Tools for Making Improvements | Electronic corrective action system launched in 2010. More than 5,000 corrections have been made to date. |
| Sharing of Improvement Activities | The Aerospace Company holds an improvement activity debriefing session once a year. Employees recognized for excellence participate in the SUBARU-wide debriefing session. |
Supplier Quality Management
To manage quality among suppliers involved in aircraft manufacturing, the Aerospace Company conducts an initial audit when contracts are signed and regular quality audits, and promptly takes corrective measures if issues are identified. In addition, the Aerospace Company works to maintain and improve quality throughout the supply chain by providing training opportunities on quality improvement and following up on corrective guidance.
Supplier Quality Management Initiatives
| Name | Description | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Quality Audit | SUBARU quality requirements (standard requirements) based on AS/EN/JIS Q 9100 |
|
| Training | Seminars on quality improvement, etc. | Three times a year |
| Corrective Measures | Quality improvement activities when a downward trend in quality or other issue is confirmed | As needed |
| Corrective measures using the electronic corrective action system used by the Aerospace Company | When corrective action is required |
Training and Awareness
Like the Automotive Business, the Aerospace Company believes that, to deliver high-quality products to customers, it is important for each and every employee to work with an awareness of quality.
Quality training is provided on an ongoing and regular basis tailored to employee knowledge and experience levels, including their year of entry into the Company and their position. This instills a customer-centric, quality-first awareness, training each and every employee so that they put quality first in their actions.
Training
We conduct quality assurance-related training for all Aerospace Company employees or those involved in specific departmental tasks.
Quality Assurance Training at the Aerospace Company
| Course Topic | Target | Frequency | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quality Assurance Training | Quality refresher training | All employees | Twice a year |
| QMS consolidation training | All employees | Twice a year | |
| Compliance training | All employees | Twice a year | |
| Training on Quality Month events | All employees | Once a year | |
| Training on Compliance Month events | All employees | Once a year | |
| Human factor training | Mainly employees working at Civil Aeronautics Act-certified workplaces | Once a year | |
| Aeronautical safety training | Mainly employees working at Civil Aeronautics Act-certified workplaces | Once a year | |
| Training for employees in certified workplaces | Mainly employees working at Civil Aeronautics Act-certified workplaces | Once a year | |
| Training for Inspectors | New accreditation/periodic renewal training | All inspectors | Upon accreditation / every 3 years |
| Skills enhancement training for inspectors | All inspectors | Once a month | |
| Techno-school for skills training | Inspectors | Ten times a year | |
Awareness
In addition to quality assurance training, the Aerospace Company raises product awareness through initiatives such as the flight safety campaign and Quality Caravan.
Aerospace Company Initiatives to Raise Quality Awareness
| Name | Target | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Flight Safety Campaign | Personnel working in the Aerospace Company's airfield area | Twice a year |
| Quality Caravan | All employees | Once a year |
| Aerospace Quality Caravan | Aerospace Company employees | Once a year |
| Company-Wide Efforts to Prevent Lessons Learned in the Past from Fading Away | All employees | Once a year |
| Quality Month | Aerospace Company employees | Once a year |
[Flight Safety Campaign]
To raise awareness of quality assurance, the Aerospace Company conducts month-long campaign activities, including flight safety training and simultaneous workplace inspections.
[Quality Caravan]
Since FYE March 2019, SUBARU has held the annual Quality Caravan for all employees to reaffirm each employee’s responsibility for and personal ownership of quality. The Aerospace Company also participates in this initiative, which has been conducted to raise quality awareness throughout SUBARU. Beginning in FYE March 2026, the Aerospace Company held its own Quality Caravan.
[Details of the Quality Caravan Held by the Aerospace Company]
- Understanding the importance of aviation safety through presentations on past accidents
- Recognizing actual recent defect cases involving parts, purchased items, and maintenance
- Fostering awareness of the need to reflect on the Aerospace Company's track record, eliminate defects, and achieve continued growth
[Company-Wide Efforts to Prevent Lessons Learned in the Past from Fading Away]
SUBARU undertakes Company-wide efforts to prevent lessons learned from past quality defects from fading away. Through this initiative, the Aerospace Company seeks to raise awareness of quality and regulatory compliance by reassessing aspects of daily operations that could lead to misconduct, such as hidden risks and ambiguities in the application of rules.
[Quality Month Activities]
During Quality Month, held every November, the Aerospace Company recognizes employees who have prevented defects and shares their cases internally via the intranet.
Response to Product Defects
Because high levels of safety and reliability are prerequisites for the Aerospace Business, the Aerospace Company regards preventing product defects as an important responsibility. In the unlikely event of a product safety defect, we analyze its causes in accordance with the quality management system, take the necessary action, and implement corrective measures to prevent recurrence. If a serious accident occurs, we take immediate action with safety as our highest priority and, in coordination with relevant departments and authorities, submit reports and disclose information as required by law.