Suppliers

At AeroVironment, we believe that our suppliers are essential to our success. We have created this portal to provide our suppliers, and potential suppliers, with important information for a successful supplier relationship, including the most recent purchase terms and conditions, current supplier quality requirements, required standards, supplier guidelines, our philosophy, and other relevant information. Our end goal is to access the highest standards of technical innovation, supplier quality and performance, and ethical commitment at the best value.

Supply Chain
We are passionate and relentless in our efforts to deploy technology in ways that push beyond the realm of the possible and to deliver technology solutions that provide valuable new capabilities to our customers. To do this, we need equally passionate suppliers committed to excellence in every facet of the delivery chain. We will collaborate with our suppliers to reduce the total cost of acquisition for goods and services purchased and to develop and execute strategies designed to keep AeroVironment a global leader for the manufacture of unmanned aircraft systems.

If you are a current supplier to AeroVironment, we appreciate your commitment to these values. If you are interested in becoming a supplier, this portal is designed to get you on the right track.

Supply Chain Guidelines
AeroVironment continuously seeks to optimize its supply chain. When we need to engage new suppliers, we search for industry leaders with proven track records of providing products, services and attributes that include the following:

  • Best total cost of acquisition
  • Ethics and transparency in all business transactions
  • Leverage of supplier expertise
  • Long-term partnerships

Best Total Cost of Acquisition
We will make sourcing decisions based upon a "best total cost of acquisition" model including business needs and customer requirements, quality, price, supplier flexibility and collaboration, total cost of ownership, and additional variables as warranted. Our suppliers will be recognized leaders and innovators in their respective fields, have an actively engaged leadership team, and exercise a continuous improvement philosophy including Lean and Six Sigma toolsets and provide year-over-year cost reductions.

Ethics and Transparency in all Business Transactions
AeroVironment will work honestly and fairly with suppliers in alignment with our company’s Code of Conduct. We expect our suppliers to follow the same standards we uphold including laws related to bribery, child labor, human trafficking and slavery.

Leverage of Supplier Expertise
We will seek supplier expertise to improve our operations, enhance our profitability and continue to posture AeroVironment as a global industry leader.

Long-Term Partnerships
We feel competition among our suppliers makes for a robust supply chain. However, we also believe that sustained partnerships with industry-leading suppliers yields reliability, value and competitive advantage over time.

Quality suppliers and an efficient, highly-motivated supply chain are critical to our success in increasingly competitive global markets. Our key expectations for our suppliers are outlined below.

Our Business Relationship
We expect our suppliers to provide value-added products and services that will help us to:

  • Differentiate our products and services
  • Meet or exceed our customer expectations
  • Better meet the challenges of our global markets

Our supplier relationships must therefore help support AeroVironment's growth, reduce costs, improve our productivity and either reduce our working capital demands or increase our cash flow. If you are selected as a supplier, you will be expected to demonstrate a consistent improvement in each of these areas and to follow very specific guidelines to help deliver lower total cost to AeroVironment.

Our suppliers are also expected to comply with all applicable laws and to conduct business ethically. These and other expectations are more fully outlined in our standard Purchase Order Terms & Conditions. We have also developed various business conduct standards for our suppliers in areas such as the environment, workplace health & safety, and human resources. Those standards continue to evolve in response to rapidly changing societal views on the proper role of transnational corporations and their role in shaping global supply chain performance.

As a matter of our corporate policy, AeroVironment is responsible for managing the entire purchasing process, working with our suppliers and approving all contracts for the purchase of goods or services.

Supplier Selection
Suppliers are selected based on their ability to meet our requirements, including technical capability, product and service quality, innovative product and service improvements, responsiveness, timely and accurate delivery, total cost, financial strength and best overall value. These are consistent with AeroVironment’s own expectations for service to its customers and reflect the spirit of partnership we expect with our suppliers.

At AeroVironment Inc., we have established, implemented and will be maintaining procedures related to the significant environmental aspects of the goods and services used by the organization in accordance with ISO14001. As such, we are communicating our Environmental Policy and potentially applicable procedures to you. They are as follows:

AeroVironment, Inc. is committed to conducting our business in an environmentally responsible and proactive manner, consistent with our commitment to corporate citizenship, social responsibility and sustainability. Our experience has demonstrated that sustainable business practices can be cost-effective, build employee and customer loyalty and even drive new business for the company.

We aim to conserve natural resources and minimize waste through source reduction and recycling; handle and dispose of waste through safe, environmentally responsible methods; encourage energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources; and encourage our business partners and suppliers to strive for the same high levels of environmental performance.

Our commitment to environmental awareness and preservation is reflected throughout our business.

AV is committed to conducting business in a manner that manages environmental issues responsibly. We fulfill this commitment by:

  • Complying with environmental regulations
  • Conducting operations in an environmentally sound manner to prevent pollution
  • Applying the principles of reduce, reuse and recycle in all processes
  • Promoting environmental responsibility among our employees
  • Striving to ensure that suppliers agree to comply with environmental regulations
  • Pursuing continuous improvement in our environmental performance
  • Clearly communicating AV environmental policy, practices, and impact to interested parties
  • Train, educate and inform our employees about environmental issues that may affect their work
  • Avoid unnecessary use of hazardous materials and products, seek substitutions when feasible, and take all reasonable steps to protect human health and the environment when such materials must be used, stored and disposed of
  • Purchase and use environmentally responsible products accordingly.

Within these communications, AeroVironment may request information regarding environmental programs at your facility and utilize this information in determining our overall environment impact as a business. With this in mind, process or material changes made by our suppliers that significantly affect individual environment concerns must be communicated to AeroVironment. Environmental communication are considered just as essential as change notifications related to material production. Change notifications may be submitted to Supply Chain or Supplier Quality Representatives from AeroVironment.

If you are a new supplier and wish to do business with us or have been asked by an AeroVironment team member to work with us, please provide a current W-9 or W-8 form along with the following completed forms:

1. SCF-009 – AeroVironment, Inc. Supplier Registration – Business Classification form
2. The New Supplier/Subcontractor Profile form
3. QSF-012 – the Supplier Initial Survey form

Please download and complete the forms and submit them to your contact at AeroVironment.

Documents

SCF-009_C New Supplier/Sub Contractor Profile Form QSF-012_G Supplier Initial Survey

Supplier Quality Assurance
AeroVironment recognizes the very important role our suppliers have in the value we offer our customers. As an extension of our own operations, we rely on our suppliers to provide material, products, and services that meet all of the requirements of our contracts, applicable specifications, and the quality management requirements outlined herein.

In summary, these requirements include but are not limited to:

  • Suppliers shall be ISO 9001:2015 compliant as a minimum to be considered for approval. AS9100D certified suppliers are preferred
  • Suppliers shall fill out QSF-012 (Supplier Initial Survey) to be reviewed for approval into AeroVironment’s Approved Supplier List (ASL).
  • Suppliers shall conform to the requirements of the BMSD-48 Rev. H (Legacy ID: SQM-001) Supplier Quality Requirements Manual.
  • Suppliers shall conform to all requirements flowed down via procedures, drawings etc. When required, suppliers shall use the latest version of QSP-8.4.2-1 (Part Identification and Serialization).
  • Suppliers shall use BMSD-551 Rev. E (Legacy: ID QSF-224) (Supplier Process Change & Deviation Request) to request engineering changes or deviation; submit to SupplierChangeRequests@avinc.com.

Documents

BMSD-48 Rev. H (Legacy ID: SQM-001) Supplier Quality Requirements Manual BMSD-48 Rev. H (Legacy ID: SQM-001) defines supplier quality requirements for suppliers and all members of their supply chain who furnish product, material, processes, and services to AeroVironment, Inc. QSP-8.2.4-1_F Part Identification and Serialization BMSD-551 Rev. E (Legacy: ID QSF-224) Supplier Process Change & Deviation Request BMSD-749_A Supplier Failure Analysis Report

Contact Information
If you require assistance with the forms or documents on this page, please contact your purchasing representative and or email SupplierQuality@avinc.com.

We pursue diversity in every aspect of our business by seeking out diverse-owned companies that can meet our business needs. Our suppliers’ ethical business practices and entrepreneurial spirits help to posture AeroVironment at the forefront of the marketplace. By fostering diverse businesses in our supply base, we not only sponsor strategic relationships but also stimulate economic development and strengthen the communities where we work.

AeroVironment’s goal is to access the highest standards of technical innovation, supplier quality and performance, and ethical commitment at the best delivered value. A diverse supply base not only strengthens competition and the potential for best delivered value, but it also provides a means for building the economic base of the communities in which AeroVironment and our suppliers operate. We will continue to develop and diversify our supplier base in order to ensure that our hallmarks of innovation, customer commitment, and integrity are exemplified. We understand that a diverse supply base yields strength and shareholder value in the markets in which we serve.

Documents

SCP-0008_B SMALL BUSINESS SUBCONTRACT POLICY AND STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES

It is AV’s strict policy, and AV management’s commitment, that AV and all AV Personnel comply with all import and export control regulations. With the assistance of the Trade Compliance (TC) Department, AV management has established an overarching Integrated Control Plan (ICP) to mandate and maintain compliance with all import and export control regulations in the most efficient and cost effective manner.

AV’s commitment to compliance applies to all AV Personnel. While every such person is not expected to be fully versed in every aspect of import and export control regulations, it is expected that every such person has a working knowledge of permissible activities in his or her work and will seek guidance from the TC Department whenever he or she has a question relating to trade compliance and compliance with the regulations. AV management will ensure that appropriate trade compliance training is conducted to educate AV Personnel to assure full compliance with applicable Export Control Laws and this ICP.

Any AV Personnel who knows or has reason to know of any activity which violates or could violate Export Control Laws must promptly report such activity to the Legal & Compliance Department or the Trade Compliance Department as specified in this ICP. In accordance with AV’s anti-retaliation policy, AV does not retaliate against anyone for reporting such activity.

AV’s management team believes that this policy statement reaffirms the company’s commitment to compliance with all Export Control Laws. Failure to fully comply with Export Control Laws, this ICP and other company policies and procedures concerning compliance with Export Control Laws will subject AV Personnel to disciplinary action up to and including termination depending on the seriousness of the offense.

Documents

SUPPLIER CUSTOMS CLASSIFICATION FORM

AeroVironment
900 Innovators Way
Simi Valley, CA 93065-0906
ph: 805.520.8350

For Accounts Payable inquiries, please email: acp@avinc.com

To submit an invoice, please email: acpinvoices@avinc.com

For Purchasing inquiries, please email: avpurchinfo@avinc.com

How do I become a supplier to AeroVironment?
Supplier onboarding forms are located on the New Supplier tab.

What are the quality requirements for being an AeroVironment supplier?
Possession of a recognized ISO quality system, +95% on time delivery and less than 5,000 DDPM over a twelve-month period.

Where can I go to learn more about AeroVironment as a company?
You can learn more about AeroVironment at https://www.avinc.com/.