A First Article Inspection (FAI) is a formal method of providing a reported measurement for a given manufacturing process. The method consists of measuring the properties and geometry of an initial sample item against given specifications, for example a drawing. Items to be checked in a FAI are wide and varied and may include distances between edges, positions of holes, diameters and shapes of holes, weight, density, stiffness, color or surface finish. Despite the name, the inspected article may not necessarily be the 'first' produced. First article inspection is typically called for in a contract between the producer and buyer of some manufactured article, to ensure that the production process reliably produces what is intended.
Contents
- Types of First Article Inspections
- Enhanced First Article Inspections
- Aviation and Aerospace
- References
Depending on the type of product and the governing specification, a first article inspection may be conducted by a dimensional metrology laboratory using a variety of tools such as coordinate-measuring machines (CMM), cmm/vision systems and programmable 3-axis measurement systems.
First article inspections are commonplace for military subcontractors. The protocol is, however, being adopted in many non-military industries, particularly aerospace, automotive and medical manufacturing.
Manufacturers delivering products to government bodies must typically meet more stringent requirements. The subcontractor may perform First Article Testing (subcontracting the work out to a lab), or the government entity may perform the tests itself.
Standards which apply to first article inspection are produced by the ISO (International Organization for Standardization), the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission), the IAF (International Accreditation Forum) the ILAC (International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation), etc.
First article inspection forms part of a more comprehensive quality management system which is able to assure continuing conformance with applicable specifications.
Types of First Article Inspections
Enhanced First Article Inspections
With the use of modern computers in the manufacturing environment, First Article Inspections are no longer being used with the traditional three form layout on paper but instead recorded digitally and stored on servers for easy access and organization. Recording the first article digitally eliminates errors with the help of software that keeps tracks of the FAIs and generate reports immediately after successful completion of an FAI.
Aviation and Aerospace
AS9102 is the Aerospace Standard for First Article Inspection Requirements. First Article Inspection can be documented on Forms 1 (Part Number Accountability), 2 (Product Accountability), and 3 (Characteristic Accountability, Verification and Compatibility Evaluation).
In general this is the aerospace equivalent of the automotive PPAP, Production Part Approval Process. PPAP requires larger quantity of components than would be typically manufactured for aircraft components.
Many large aerospace companies including Bombardier Aerospace, and Spirit AeroSystems have recently switched to enhanced first article inspections in order to keep track of the numerous first articles received by different companies within the company's supply chain. Suppliers to these companies, including Machine Shops, are also turning to enhanced first article inspections to improve manufacturing productivity and throughput by eliminating the manual process of creating FAIs. Customers who perform such inspections are recommended to identify this in the contract, and to use specific forms to document the results.