The questions that come up on almost every launch, and how we answer them. Where a customer's requirement says otherwise, it wins.
| Situation | How we handle it |
|---|---|
| The customer reorders a part we last made three years ago | A lapse trigger. We check the drawing revision, the program and fixture condition (E10) and the customer's own lapse rule, and usually run a full first article. We tell the customer at quote. |
| A detail part comes from a supplier | We require the supplier's first article on the purchase order and reference it on our Form 1. We do not re-type their results; we check their package with D08's Form 3 section before we accept it. |
| The first article is on an assembly | Form 1 lists every detail part and sub-assembly with its own first article reference, or the reason it has none (catalog hardware). The assembly's own Form 3 covers the assembly-level characteristics. |
| The drawing changes during the first article | Stop and decide which revision the order calls for. If the new revision applies, map the balloons old to new, and re-plan the changed characteristics before measuring further. |
| A deviation is approved for one characteristic | The first article records the deviation and the result against it. A deviation covers the parts it names; it does not change the requirement for the next lot. |
| The customer wants the first article in their own system | We still build our own record first and review it with D08, then enter it. The portal is the delivery method, not the review. |
| A characteristic is impractical to measure on the finished part | We plan it at the operation where it can be measured (E11), record it there, and reference that record on Form 3. If it can only be shown by process control, we agree that with the customer in writing. |
| The customer's source inspector is coming | The readiness review is complete, the package is reviewed, and the part is identified and staged with the ballooned drawing before they arrive. Their visit is a witness, not our review. |
| Production has to start before approval arrives | Only if the order allows it. We run at risk, hold the parts, and do not ship until approval; anything found in the first article applies to every part made since. |
| A first piece fails three times in a row | Stop and escalate to manufacturing engineering. Three attempts means the setup sheet, the fixture or the program is wrong, not the operator. |
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A management aid, not certification or a registrar audit. Using it does not by itself show conformity to AS9100D or any other standard, and your customers' requirements may add to it.
Clause numbers refer to AS9100D (SAE AS9100 Rev D) unless another document is named. The standards' text is not reproduced here: use your own licensed copy.
Aegis Insights are our own guidance, labeled wherever they appear: how we approach this work, not a requirement of any standard or customer.