Clarifying the Definition and Documentation of Special Processes

A supplier was preparing a First Article Inspection (FAI) package and was uncertain which manufacturing steps qualified as special processes. Confusion existed regarding whether a specific activity, such as chemical conversion coating or heat treatment, required special process validation. This led to debate over what should be documented on the FAI forms for processes where the final output cannot be fully verified without destructive testing.

The organization demonstrated a fundamental misunderstanding of the definition of a 'special process' as defined in aerospace quality standards. This resulted in the potential for incomplete FAI documentation, where true special processes were not correctly identified, and their controlling specifications and revisions were omitted from the record.