Customer Satisfaction
Customer Satisfaction and Quality Assurance
We invest in continuous improvement of processes, with emphasis on deficiency mitigation, aiming to achieve customer satisfaction throughout all stages of our operations. This includes development, design, integration, manufacturing and services for software and hardware, for the range of our systems and products. We measure our customers’ satisfaction and feedback annually, using unified questionnaires. Our quality teams are involved in assuring compliance with processes and administrating quality plans. These activities begin at the pre-contract stage and continue through the customer’s acceptance of the product or services.
We also use project management methods such as Kaizen and Lean. We evaluate such processes on a regular basis. Our processes are based on various engineering planning and developing tools. This infrastructure, together with recognized management methodologies and applications, assists us in our efforts to provide high quality and on-time implementation of projects. We are advancing in the process of implementing an ERP system, with the goal of consolidating uniform best practices for quality and operations across the organization. As part of the ERP ecosystem, we are in the process of adapting and implementing a new Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) system, an advanced Manufacturing Execution System (MES), aiming to enhance our production efficiency and “Industry 4.0” readiness. In this framework, we are also working to implement digital transformation processes and integrate advanced analytics in our production lines. We also maintain applicable certifications for our information technology systems.
All Israeli operational sites are certified for one or more of the following: ISO-9001, ISO-90003 for software, AS9100 (certified for revision D and compliant to AQAP requirements), AS9115 for software, ISO-14001, ISO-45001, FAA Part 145 and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Part 145 for maintaining civil products, Part 21 G for production of civil products and EMAR NLD-MAR-21 for production of military aviation products. All of our operational sites in Israel are also certified for ISO-27001 (Information Security Management System), ISO-27032 and ISO-27035 for cyber security, ISO/IEC 27018:2019 (Information technology Security techniques Code of practice for protection of personally identifiable information (PII) in public clouds acting as PII processors) and ISO/IEC 27017:2015 (Information technology Security techniques Code of practice for information security controls based on ISO/IEC 27002 for cloud services). Representatives of our customers generally test our products before acceptance. A number of our customers have authorized us to conduct acceptance testing of our products on their behalf.Â
Quality certifications applicable to defense products of Elbit Systems of America’s operating units include certifications for CMMI Level 3 of the SEI, ISO-9001, AS9100 (certified for revision D) and compliance with NATO AQAP requirements. In the area of commercial aviation Elbit Systems of America’s operating units hold AS9110 (certified to rev. C) for Aviation Maintenance Organizations and NLD-MAR-145, EASA-145 certification as well as a variety of FAA Supplemental Type Certifications (STCs) including FAA Part 145 approved repair stations. In the medical equipment area, Elbit Systems of America is certified for ISO-13485:2016, is registered with the FDA as a GMP manufacturer and is FDA-compliant with Quality Systems Regulations 21 CFR Parts 820, 803 and 806.
Service and Warranty
We instruct our customers on the proper maintenance of our systems and products. In addition, we often offer training and provide equipment to assist our customers in performing their own maintenance. When required, support may be provided by a local support team or by specialists sent from our facilities. We also provide performance-based logistics services and operation of flight school fleets.
We generally offer a warranty of up to two years for our systems and products following delivery to, or installation by, the customer. In some cases we offer longer warranty periods. We accrue warranty obligations specifically determined for each project based on our experience and engineering estimates. These accruals are intended to cover post-delivery functionality and operating issues for which we are responsible under the applicable contract.