Flexial Corporation, already registered to both the international ISO9001 standard and the Global aerospace AS9000 standard, was recommended for registration to the new ISO9001:2000 and AS9100 standards today by Len Mercieri, a lead auditor with Underwriter's Laboratories.

Flexial has a strong commitment to be a leading manufacturer to the aircraft, defense, and space industries. To that end, Flexial became the first welded bellows company to achieve AS9000:1997 certification in 2001. This year, Flexial was successfully registered to the new AS9100:2001 and ISO9001:2000 standards.

AS9100 is the quality management system specific to the aerospace industry. The latest version, AS9100 Rev. A, incorporates the full ISO 9001:2000 standard verbatim. Additionally, the standard supplements ISO 9001 by addressing the additional expectations of the aerospace industry. First published in May 1997 by the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) as AS9000, the AS standard has evolved to AS9100 Rev. A and is recognized by all major aerospace OEMs. The standard has been recognized since 1999 by the European Association of aerospace Industries in Europe, and shortly thereafter by standards organizations in Japan and Asia. As such, it combines and harmonizes requirements outlined in the SAE's AS9000 and Europe's prEN9000-1 standards.

"The aerospace industry is rapidly moving towards requiring their supplier base to be AS9100 compliant. By becoming AS9100 registered, Flexial demonstrates its dedication to being a major contributor to national defense and the aerospace industry in general. But all our product lines benefit from the improved processes and continuous improvement that form the foundation of ISO and AS certified Quality Management Systems" says Gary Cummings, Marketing and Systems Director for Flexial Corporation. "Flexial Corporation's strong control systems have helped position the company for rapid and sustained growth."