Why use the OASIS Database?

What is the OASIS Database?

The OASIS database is the Online Aerospace Supplier Information System. The OASIS database is an online system for tracking and viewing organisations within the Aerospace sector who have certification to one of the aerospace standards.

It was developed with the intention of enabling the Aerospace Scheme standards; AS9100, AS9120 and AS9110 to be as open and transparent as possible. It is also intended to help regulate the certification process and weed out fraudulent certificates which often occur within the certification industry.

We often receive emails and calls from organisations wishing to validate a certificate they have received from a supplier. 99% of the time the certificate is valid but we do get those occasions where certificates have been fraudulently produced. Only today did we receive an email from someone questioning the validity of a certificate which turned out to be fake and now legal action will be sought. 

I previously had an organisation fraudulently produce a certificate and claim to have ISO Certification, trading standards got involved and they were fined over £50,000. Even though there is the potential for huge fines organisations still produce fake certificates.

Certification Bodies do as much as they can to prevent this but with technology nowadays it is possible to break pdfs and create what might be a very genuine looking certificate. The only sure way was to contact the Certification Body whos name is on the Certificate.

The OASIS database holds all valid certificates relating to the aerospace certification scheme to enable quick validation and monitoring.

Who is on the OASIS Database?

The database is controlled by the International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG), it is mandatory that anyone involved in the aerospace certification scheme are on the database, this includes:

• Authorised Accreditation Bodies such as UKAS
• Authorised Certification Bodies such as NQA
• Authorised Training Providers
• Authorised Auditors like myself
• And most importantly, certified organisations.

Basically, if you are not on the database you do not exist in the eyes of the Aerospace Certification Scheme.

What information is within the database?

The information varies depending on who you are looking for, if you wanted to see if i was an authorised auditor it would show my name and my approval status.

The main benefit is aimed at information pertaining to certified organisations. You can search for certified organisations, you can download their certificate of registration, you can view their scope of certification, you can see when they had assessments, the current status of certification and also basic information such as contact details.

This information is open to the public and you can view for free.

Also, there is another element to the client information that is viewable if the organisation gives you permission.  You can see their entire audit report and any findings along with performance levels and non-conformances. Its worts and all kind of thing. If you use suppliers and they are key to your business you might be interested to see some of this information.

Why is the database of benefit to me?

If you have suppliers your organisation uses, you can first check to see if they have a valid certificate. If they are key to your business you might want to then view their audit reports to see if there are any issues you should be concerned about.

Having this information to hand can form part of your supplier evaluation process. If you have a supplier who is showing good performance and a low level of issues identified during assessments then you can possibly consider them low risk and not visit them or spend too much time evaluating.

If you notice an organisations performance has maybe slipped or there is something in the report you are concerned about you can then focus more of your time and attention on those particular suppliers. Its a risk management tool.

You are able to create watchlists for your commonly used suppliers, you will receive email alerts for any changes that take place on those organisations on your watchlist, whether it be a new audit or more importantly if they lose certification at any time.

The database is free to register with and you can take comfort in knowing that only authorised organisations are listed and it is impossible to have fake certificates. 
 
If you would like to register and create your own watchlist you can follow this link: https://www.iaqg.org/oasis/login

Authored by: Mike Venner, NQA UK Aerospace and Automotive Director