In today’s complex aerospace and defense programs, the cost of late-stage quality interventions continues to be a major contributor to schedule delays, rework and elevated risk. The white paper “Contracting Quality Early in the Program Lifecycle,” prepared by the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) in collaboration with industry and government quality leaders, advocates for a critical shift: embedding Quality Assurance (QA) requirements at the very start of a program.

Authored by experts from NASA, Rolls-Royce, Boeing and BAE Systems, the paper highlights the underutilization of formal quality methodologies during program initiation and presents AS9145, the standard for Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) and Production Part Approval Process (PPAP), as a proven solution.

Recognizing adoption barriers, the paper also proposes five new standard Data Item Descriptions (DIDs) as a practical, incremental step toward early QA integration. These DIDs cover supply chain risk, manufacturability, engineering adequacy, design-to-manufacturing planning and statistical process control.

This white paper is a timely and actionable resource for program managers, contracting officers and engineering leads who are responsible for ensuring program performance, safety and cost-effectiveness. It urges all stakeholders to prioritize quality as a front-end investment rather than a downstream correction.

The 12-page paper can be viewed here.