First Article Inspection: Your First Step Toward Quality Control

Your journey from product design to full production is nearing its end. But there’s one last step you need to take to perfect your product. By confirming that manufactured products conform to design specifications, the First Article Inspection (FAI) will help you catch potential issues before you kick manufacturing into full high gear.

What’s an FAI?
A first article inspection tells the story of the manufacturing processes that a part goes through before receiving approval from the governing design body. The FAI verifies that a manufacturing process has produced a product that meets specifications — or identifies discrepancies that need to be addressed.

An FAI is a fantastic tool for documenting the materials, special processes, assembled components, part identification, and dimensional requirements outlined by the customer. When dealing with manufacturing process changes and other alterations, an FAI will help show that the changes did not adversely impact the manufacturing process or product quality.

An FAI may be required in any manufacturing sector, and is commonplace in the aerospace, defense, medical and automotive industries.

How it Works
A key step in quality control, an FAI is an in-depth examination that compares one or several pieces from the first production run to design drawings and customer specifications outlined in the purchase order. FAIs are conducted by the supplier or an independent, third-party inspector. The pieces selected for inspection are often chosen at random and are not necessarily the first off the line.

An FAI begins with an inspection plan, including a balloon drawing (by hand or software) that assigns unique numbers to each dimension to be inspected — numbers that correspond to the relevant specifications and tolerances for dimensions.

The tools used in first article inspections include coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) and 3D scanners — mainstays in the world of metrology — as well as hand tools such as calipers and micrometers.

Ideally, the FAI will determine that a part’s dimensions and features exactly match specifications, in which case manufacturing may continue. If discrepancies are identified, the inspector will investigate whether the measurements fall within the tolerances defined by the customer or standard. FAIs often identify issues related to incorrect or subpar materials used in the manufacturing process or improper settings on processing equipment.

The goal of an FAI is to provide early identification of any discrepancies and hopefully avoid the need for more widescale and costly corrective action later, including recalls, rework and production re-runs.

While FAIs are key to quality control, it’s important to note that they do not offer a comprehensive assessment of the manufacturing process. Nor does an FAI provide assurance that a production run will be free of defects and errors.

Full vs. Partial FAIs
When a manufacturer is about to begin producing a new or redesigned product for the first time, or when aspects of the manufacturing process have undergone significant changes, a FAI is always a good idea. There are two types of FAI to best meet the needs of your situation.

A full FAI covers all part characteristics, including materials, dimensions and performance, and is appropriate when changes have been made to materials, suppliers, tools, manufacturing process or location. In these cases, an FAI will demonstrate that those changes did not impact a product’s quality or performance.

For less sweeping changes, such as a design change to an existing product, a partial FAI is a suitable option. Also known as a delta FAI, a partial FAI isolates the differences between the original FAI and the most recent version of the product.

A full first article inspection is a good idea when faced with any of the following scenarios:

• First Production Run
• Change to Product Design
• Change to a Manufacturing Process
• Change to Materials & Sourcing
• Change in Manufacturing Location
• After Production Lapse of 2+ Years

If an FAI reveals any non-compliances with engineering drawings, a follow-up FAI should be conducted to ensure that corrective action was effective. In addition, manufacturers should be prepared to perform a full first article inspection upon customer request.

FAI Reporting
First article inspection reports may vary in the way the information is presented. For example, there are industry standard reporting formats, such as AS9102, as well as formatting and layouts specific to individual customers. Regardless of format, an FAI report will typically contain the following documentation:

• Design Records
• Material Certificate
• Raw Material Test Results
• Dimensional Inspection Report
• Special Process Certificates
• Balloon Drawing
• Measurement System Traceability
• Other Requested Documents

Depending upon your customer’s needs and industry, FAI results are most often reported via an AS9102 form (though it is not universally required across industries). The AS9102 form lays out a template for collecting and reporting important information about materials, special processes, and dimensional requirements. However, customers commonly add fields to accommodate their own specific requirements.

An AS9102 First Article Inspection Report (FAIR) includes three forms:

• FORM 1: Part Number Accountability includes important information about the organization, as well as all part numbers and revision levels involved.
• FORM 2: Product Accountability includes information for raw materials, specifications, special processes, and functional testing requirements that are part of design requirements.
• FORM 3: Characteristic Accountability includes dimensional and blueprint verification requirements, actual measurement results, and is supported by a balloon drawing.

Alternatives
Most quality management systems require part verification and documentation to validate manufacturing process capability, but not all governing standards explicitly require a first article inspection. The first article inspection requirement is only applied universally to aerospace parts (AS9100 D).

If a first article inspection is not required, typically, any inspection report or collected data that can objectively prove compliance to customer and regulatory requirements is acceptable, such as dimensional inspection reports, CMM data reports, and production inspection logs.

Why Choose IIA?
First article inspections are your first line of defense against potentially costly corrective actions down the road. By catching potential issues in the early stages of manufacturing, FAIs help to minimize cost and waste and improve product safety, quality and customer satisfaction.

As the first name in first article inspections, Industrial Inspection & Analysis (IIA) inspects a wide variety of items — large or small, simple or complex. An independent, unbiased third-party inspection provider like IIA is a valuable resource if you have no in-house metrology capability, your in-house team is stretched too thin, or you simply want to verify an inspection done in-house.

As one of North America’s leading inspection providers, IIA brings a knowledgeable team and the latest metrology tools to your first article inspection. Our work is informed by American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and Geometric Dimensioning & Tolerancing (GD&T) standards. We deliver exceptionally comprehensive and accurate data and offer a variety of easy-to-understand FAI reports, as well as custom formats to meet your unique needs.

There is no room for error when it comes to the safety and quality of your manufactured product, so it’s critical to have a reliable means of accurately verifying products and processes. One of the best ways to accomplish this is with first article inspection. IIA provides highly accurate FAIs that meet your specifications and schedule — and service that exceeds your expectations.