M International Inc. has announced its subsidiary company Keystone Turbine Services, LLC in Coatesville, Pennsylvania (KTS), after many months of hard work and determined efforts by the entire organization, has been certified to AS9110B Quality Management Standards.
“This standard focuses on the control of repair schemes and maintenance plans as well as configuration management and the skills and qualifications necessary to perform maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) tasks within our state-of-the-art facility,” said John Fraser, general manager of KTS. “AS9110B provides us with a good, sound system to ensure safety, reliability and airworthiness throughout all of our products and services.”
“AS9110 is the highest certification standard achieved for MRO facilities, and we’ve made significant investment in KTS as part of our overall improvement strategy,” said Rob Ruck, president/COO of M International. “AS9110B elevates our quality management system by aligning all our companies to this chosen global standard within the aerospace industry while demonstrating we can deliver quality products and services to our customers while expanding our customer base to include global aviation companies. KTS’s next goal is to go from AS9110B to AS9110C certification.”
Since aerospace products are designed to perform for 50 years and beyond, proper maintenance is crucial to their safe operation. Understanding these unique set of requirements, the aerospace industry further realized the different needs between the MRO vs. original equipment manufacturer (OEM) business market segments.
To address these needs, the International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG) developed AS9110B – Quality Management Systems, Aerospace – Requirements for Maintenance Organizations. This standard focuses on the control of repair schemes and maintenance plans, configuration management and the skills and qualifications necessary to perform MRO tasks within the aerospace community.
Specifically, the AS9110B standard addresses many of the MRO requirements identified in the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) Part 43 and 145 regulations. These requirements include topics that cover approvals, ratings, licenses and permits.
MRO organizations must have a series of approvals for certain types of repairs; they must be rated on the specific airframe and/or engine platform and carry the appropriate regulatory certificates. Other requirements include technical data (repair manuals) and personnel certification and validation of the maintenance activity.
With over 40 years’ experience, KTS is Rolls-Royce’s second largest certificated authorized maintenance repair and overhaul center (AMROC) for all M250 series engines, modules, accessories and components.
In addition, KTS is an FAA and European Aviation Safety Agency certificated Part 145 Repair Station and a Honeywell Authorized Warranty and Repair Station (AWARS) for overhaul, repair and testing of Rolls-Royce M250, Honeywell LTS-101 and Pratt & Whitney PT6A and PT6T fuel controls, power turbine governors and related accessories. KTS expanded its state-of-the-art 40,000-square-foot MRO facility with the addition of a second OEM-correlated, all-digital engine test cell plus an increase of 10,000 square feet in new production floor space.
