First Article inspection

[R.B.D.B]

Dear All,

I am not sure whether we have similar posts in this forum. We do FAI for the product assembly ( Project based industry) before the production handover. Due to complexity of the project / assembly , we find multiple changes during First article production. Because of these changes, we need to update the drawings through change management and new revision of the drawings will be released. Then we need to prepare FAI for this new version of the drawings. Is it possible for us if we do First article production by the draft version of drawings and produce the part after necessary changes in the drawings( To avoid repetitive work and cost effective). Once we ensure the product is produced as per drawings and can we do final release of the drawings before First article inspection? Please suggest.

 

[Jen Kirley]

a) What is this FAI for?

1. Is it for PPAP?
2. If yes, is the PPAP for a customer?

b) Were the processes established and this is a part change, or is this a new everything?

Engineering can do FAI to make sure the part can be produced. After that, production FAIs are more about producing correctly, reliably, repeatedly with a sample size having been determined ahead of time.

It sounds like you are describing an engineering FAI which can indeed be done before the ECN for the sake of change management. You would be proving capability and manufacturability at this point.

 

[R.B.D.B]

Hi Jen,
Thanks for your feedback.
a) It is FAI requirement as per AS9102 standard. Not PPAP.
b) It is for the New part.

Since it is project based industry, we don't have mass production of parts.( Only requirement will come 10 to 20 Qty) We can say the manufacturing Engineering team do the First article production and do necessary changes (even drawings ) at the time of first article production if required and once the part is completed as per requirement , it will be handover to NPD quality. If everything is fine, we will handover the project to Production team. Note - 90% of the assembly process is manual.

 

[Sidney Vianna]

Your question is not clear. In aerospace, FAI is used as a means to demonstrate that a PRODUCTION part is able to satisfy all the design characteristics and requirements. From what you describe, it seems that you are doing FAI in prototype stages, what makes no sense.

 

[Mike S.]

Would not be the first time I saw a customer request a 9102 for a prototype order.

 

[Cari Spears]

We have customers that require we provide 9102 for one off tooling.

 

[R.B.D.B]

Your question is not clear. In aerospace, FAI is used as a means to demonstrate that a PRODUCTION part is able to satisfy all the design characteristics and requirements. From what you describe, it seems that you are doing FAI in prototype stages, what makes no sense.

Hello Sidney,

Thanks for your feedback. I understand the requirements. But if we see practically- for Project based industry and high complexity in projects , Example, In Wire harness / Cable Assembly industry - which is low volume and High value projects, it is not easy to freeze the manufacturing design / steps to be followed ( Mfg. Processes) to produce the first part without the preparation of one sample.

In this above condition,
a) can we go for proto sample preparation and do necessary verification and modify the manufacturing drawings and modify the steps as required to produce the parts. This leads to change management and drawing version change and then produce the first part and submit to First article inspection. It may involve high cost of sample preparation , time and cost involved in change management process and finally more lead time to meet the deadline of the project.

b) Can we go with one sample preparation and ( while preparing one sample if required we do necessary changes in drawings / process steps ) and freeze the drawings, Manufacturing process steps to complete the sample and handover the sample ( Consider as first production part) for the First article inspection to ensure that the manufacturing process is capable of consistently delivering parts that conform to specifications and drawing requirements and also it cover all aspects of the manufacturing process, from raw materials through conversion, special processing if any, and functional testing.
This may involve less cost and lesser lead time for the First article inspection and project completion.
I believe that First Article Inspection is a process that is used to verify that a new or revised part or assembly meets all requirements before full production begins.

I just confused how to manage this situation and suggest me if any bench marking practices followed in the similar kind of industries.