The Question You're Afraid to Ask
The customer just asked: “Why does certification take three months when the actual design took 6 weeks?”
You look at your certification team. They're good people. Competent. Careful. They know safety comes first. You trust them completely.
But you don't have a good answer to the customer's question.
And if you're honest... you're wondering the same thing.
Why does certification take so long?
The Conversation That Happens Every Time
Monday: The Promise
Customer is happy. They sign the contract. You brief the team. Engineering says six weeks will be enough for the work. Certification says they'll need the full ten weeks for documentation.
You think: Ten weeks for paperwork when the work takes six? But okay, they're the experts.
Week 7: The Confusion
You ask certification. They say: “Engineering finished early, which is great. But we're still finalizing documentation. We discovered some requirements weren't properly cross-referenced. We're working on it.”
You think: Engineering finished TWO WEEKS AGO. What's taking so long?
Week 10: The Tension
The Thought You Don't Say Out Loud:
“Are they making this harder than it needs to be? I mean, I know safety is important. I know regulations are complex. But other companies seem to deliver faster. Is it really THIS complicated? Or are we just... not very good at this?”
Week 12: The Lost Customer
And there it is. The gap. The gulf between what certification knows and what sales needs to sell.
Someone's wrong. Either your certification team is too slow, or the competitor is lying. But you don't know which.
The Revelation: It's Not the People. It's the Tools.
Your certification team isn't slow. They're not overcautious. They're not making it complicated on purpose.
They're fighting with Excel spreadsheets. Manually cross-referencing documents. Checking by hand that requirement changes are reflected in compliance matrices. Reconciling version mismatches. Verifying that test reports match compliance declarations.
It's not that certification work is inherently slow. It's that the tools make it slow.
The competitor quoting six weeks? They might be using better tools. Or they might have done this exact certification five times and have it templated. Or yes, they might be cutting corners. But your team? They're doing it the hard way. Every single time.
Why There's a Gap Between Sales and Certification
Sales Sees:
"Engineering finished two weeks ago. Aircraft is ready. Customer is waiting. What's taking so long with the paperwork?"
Certification Sees:
"Engineering forgot requirements. Again. So we needed to redesign. Each change affects other requirements and documents. Every affected requirement needs its compliance showing updated. Every document referencing those requirements needs checking. Every cross-reference needs verification. We're going as fast as we can with Excel and manual checking."
The Real Problem:
Excel can't track relationships between requirements and documents automatically. When something changes, the certification team has to manually find every affected item. That's not being slow. That's the tool being inadequate.
What CIVIRES Changes:
When engineering changes something, CIVIRES instantly shows: which requirements are affected, which documents need review, which compliance showings need updating. The work that took your team days now takes hours. Not because they work faster—because the tool actually helps instead of hindering.
Three Scenarios You Recognize
Scenario 1: The Competitive Quote
Customer asks for quotes from three companies. Competitor A says 6 weeks. Competitor B says 8 weeks. Your team says 10-12 weeks.
You ask certification: "Can we do 8 weeks?" They say: "Not without cutting corners." You believe them. But the customer goes with Competitor A.
Later you learn: Competitor A uses CIVIRES. They're not cutting corners. They're just not fighting with Excel.
Scenario 2: The Repeat Customer
Same customer. Same modification. Third aircraft. You'd think it would go faster each time.
Customer asks: "This is the third identical installation, it is just a different aircraft. Why does it still take 10 weeks?" Your certification team says: "Each aircraft is slightly different. We have to verify everything."
With CIVIRES: Clone the previous project. AI maps requirements to the new aircraft type. Review the differences. Adapt only what's actually different. Aircraft #3 takes 4 weeks instead of 10.
Scenario 3: The Explanation You Can't Give
Board meeting. CFO asks: "Why does certification consume 40% of project time but only 15% of project cost? Where's the time going?"
You don't have a good answer. Your certification team is working hard. But you can't explain why documentation takes longer than the actual engineering work. Much longer.
The answer: Because there is no single source of truth. They are using tools built for spreadsheets, not for managing the complex relationships that certification requires. It's like asking why accounting takes so long when you're using a calculator instead of accounting software.
What This Means For Your Business
Faster delivery = more competitive quotes
When your team can certify in 6 weeks instead of 10, you win more deals.
Predictable timelines = happier customers
When certification doesn't slip, customers trust you. They come back. They refer others.
Better tools = better margins
When certification takes less time, your cost per project drops. Your team can handle more projects simultaneously.
Understanding = alignment
When you can see what certification is actually doing, sales and certification work together instead of in tension.
The Honest Truth
Your certification team is doing good work. They're not the problem.
The customer's frustration is valid. The timelines DO seem longer than they should be. And often slip.
It's the tools. It's always been the tools.
CIVIRES doesn't make your certification team work faster. It stops them from wasting time fighting with inadequate tools. The work gets done in the time it actually takes, not in the time it takes plus all the manual cross-referencing and reconciliation.
See What Proper Tools Actually Look Like
Book a demo. Bring your sales team AND your certification team. Let's bridge the gap.