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Checklist · AQL-D07

First Article Inspection Planning Checklist

Decide whether a job needs a first article and how much of one, then plan it before the part is made: requirements, the production process, the ballooned characteristics, gauges, materials, special processes, people and records, with a shop-wide log from trigger to customer approval.

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Page 1 of the First Article Inspection Planning Checklist

Page 1 of the PDF. Every resource includes a fully worked example.

Part of the FAI and Production Readiness Kit2 of 9← The FAI and Production Readiness Kit HandbookAS9102 FAI Package Completeness Checklist →

The problem it solves

First articles fail for reasons that were decided before the part was cut: a change nobody recognized as a trigger, a first article run on a prototype route instead of the production process, a balloon missed so Form 3 is one line short, a gauge that cannot resolve the tolerance, or a special process source the customer never approved. Each one means a second first article, a late shipment and a conversation with the customer's quality engineer. This checklist makes the two planning decisions on evidence: does this job need a first article, full or partial, and is everything in place to run it once and get it right.

Who uses it

Quality engineers and manufacturing engineers who plan first articles; planners and program managers who launch new or changed parts.

When

At order review for every new part, and whenever a change touches a part already in production: a drawing revision, a program, a machine, a fixture, a material or a supplier. Run the planning checks one to three weeks before the first article part is made.

Free to use, change and copy, in your own organization or with your clients; add your own logo, keep the Aegis credit. Part of: FAI and Production Readiness Kit. Clause references: 8.5.1.3; also 8.1, 8.2.3, 8.4, 8.5.1.1, 7.1.5; AS9102 (first article inspection requirements) (numbers only; use your own licensed copy of the standard).

Aegis Insights inside. Wherever this resource gives our own guidance, it is labeled Aegis Insights, so you always know what is our experience and what a standard or your customer requires.

A management aid, not certification or a registrar audit. Using it does not by itself show conformity to AS9100D or any other standard.

How to put it to work

Chapters of our free guides that use this tool.

  1. The kit and how the tools connectThe FAI and Production Readiness Kit Handbook, chapter 2
  2. The kit at a glanceThe Configuration and Change Control Kit Handbook, chapter 3
  3. The workflowThe FAI and Production Readiness Kit Handbook, chapter 3
  4. First article inspection in plain wordsThe FAI and Production Readiness Kit Handbook, chapter 5
  5. Order review and first article planning (D07)The FAI and Production Readiness Kit Handbook, chapter 6
  6. First piece at every setup (E12)The FAI and Production Readiness Kit Handbook, chapter 11

Related resources

  • Checklist

    AS9102 FAI Package Completeness Checklist

    Review a first article package before it is signed and sent: the part record, materials, special processes and tests, every characteristic, the ballooned drawing and the records behind it, with count reconciliations that find the missing line in minutes.

    Excel · PDFFree by email
  • Checklist

    Production Readiness Review Checklist

    Decide, on evidence, whether a new or changed part is ready to make product: thirty-eight readiness checks across thirteen areas, a record of the decision and its conditions, and a summary that shows what is blocking the launch.

    Excel · PDFFree download
  • Workbook

    Inspection Planning Worksheet

    Plan the inspection of every ballooned characteristic before the first part is made: where it is verified, by which method and gauge, how often, what gets recorded and what happens when it is out, with a check that every gauge can resolve its tolerance.

    Excel · PDFFree download
  • Checklist

    First-Piece Inspection Checklist

    Release every setup on evidence: nineteen setup checks, the first piece measured characteristic by characteristic with fail and near-limit flags, a suggested decision, and a shop-wide log that shows which setups keep needing a second try.

    Excel · PDFFree download
  • Checklist

    Production Traveler Review Checklist

    Two reviews of the document that carries a job through the shop: one before the traveler is released to the floor, so it says what the drawing and the order require, and one when the job is complete, so the record shows every operation done, every part accounted for and every exception authorized.

    Word · PDFFree download
  • Workbook

    Tooling and Equipment Maintenance Register

    Keep every machine, fixture, tool, customer-owned item and NC program that the product depends on validated, maintained and checked in storage, with a log that asks what a breakdown made while it was broken.

    Excel · PDFFree download

Need more than one resource, or not sure where to start? Book a complimentary 30-minute Aegis Quality Guidance Call. We'll find the tools that fit your situation and a sensible place to start. No sales pressure, no obligation.

These tools help you run the work by hand. When you want the whole picture of your quality system from the records you already keep, that's what the AeroAssure Audit Defense Pack and the IA9100 Transition Gap Analysis do.