The Hidden Cost of Poor Documentation: How AS9100D-Certified Shops Prevent Delays Before They Start

In high-stakes manufacturing—especially for aerospace, defense, and other regulated industries—quality isn’t just measured in tolerances. It’s measured in documentation. A missing revision, a misplaced drawing, or an outdated spec can shut down a production run just as quickly as a broken tool. For AS9100D-certified suppliers, the hidden costs of poor documentation are very real: delayed builds, misaligned expectations, rework, customer escalations, and, in the worst cases, full-line stoppages.

At KL Engineering, we’ve seen how easily small clerical errors can snowball into major production risks. That’s why we’ve built a documentation system designed to stay airtight without slowing down throughput on the shop floor. In an environment where every hour counts, clean documentation isn’t paperwork—it’s production insurance.

Why Documentation Fails in Many Job Shops

Most shops don’t fall behind because they lack discipline. They fall behind because documentation is still handled like it was in the 1990s: manually, across multiple systems, with no single source of truth. When work travels between estimating, engineering, programming, machining, inspection, and shipping, it’s easy for critical information to drift.

And in AS9100D environments, even minor discrepancies can create major headaches:

• A machinist pulls a print—only to realize it’s not the latest revision
• A programmer begins toolpathing before a customer-driven ECO is uploaded
• A cert or material traceability document is missing at the time of shipment
• An inspection plan references an outdated geometry requirement
• A router gets updated, but the drawing attached doesn’t

These issues create risk. In regulated industries, the quality of documentation is inseparable from the quality of the part.

The Real Cost: Production Slowdowns and Rework

When a drawing goes missing in a general fabrication shop, someone prints another copy and moves on. But for AS9100D-certified suppliers, the stakes are far higher.

Every missing, outdated, or inconsistent document introduces a new layer of delay:

• The run pauses.
• Engineering gets pulled away from other jobs.
• Inspection has to verify what’s correct.
• Customer service notifies the buyer.
• The entire job queue gets disrupted.

Even a one-hour delay can ripple across multiple machines, operators, and linked assemblies—especially when capacity is tight or delivery windows are narrow.

Multiply that by a dozen builds per week, and the cost becomes enormous.

How KL Engineering Keeps Documentation Airtight

We built our system around a simple principle: Quality documentation should accelerate production—not slow it down.

Our entire shop operates on a cloud-based, paperless ERP that serves as the single source of truth for every job. Instead of chasing documents, we connect them:

• Digital work orders contain drawings, models, ECOs, certs, and routing all in one place
• Revision control is enforced automatically, preventing obsolete files from ever reaching the machine
• Real-time updates flow from engineering to machining instantly—no printed copies, no version drift
• Traceability packages are generated alongside the build, not thrown together at the end
• Workstation access ensures every machinist, inspector, and operator sees the same information at the same time

Because everything is digital, we eliminate one of the biggest risks in job shops: tribal knowledge. There’s no hunting for that “one guy who knows where the right print is.” It’s already in the system, attached to the job, and verified.

Why It Matters

Our customers come to us for precision, speed, and reliability. None of that is possible if the documentation is weak. In regulated industries, paperwork is part of the product, and airtight documentation is what keeps builds moving, quality consistent, and shipments on time.

Let’s Build the Right Solution – Together.

At KL Engineering, precision and adaptability converge to advance your objectives. Every project is custom-engineered to align with your processes, priorities, and vision – because one-size-fits-all solutions are never enough. Partner with a team that molds to your needs and delivers results engineered for you. Explore how we can elevate your next project: www.kle-inc.com.