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Industry Lesson

Determining Requirements and Scope for Partial First Article Inspections

Published .

Applicable Standards

AS9102

Applicable Sections

  • ✓Form 1 — Part Number Accountability

Related

  • AS9100

Topics

  • fai
  • partial-fai
  • cots
  • delta-fai
  • configuration-control
Scenario

A manufacturing organization incorporates standard commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware items requiring post-procurement machining operations to fulfill design requirements. Concurrently, routine engineering definition changes occurred on previously qualified production parts, prompting questions regarding the necessity and scope of first article re-accomplishment.

Issue

The quality team lacked a consistent evaluation process for determining when modifications invalidate prior inspection baselines, leading to uncertainty over whether altered standard parts require delta verification or a full baseline FAI.

Best Practice

Conduct a documented partial FAI whenever engineering revisions, manufacturing process changes, or post-procurement modifications to standard COTS items alter part definition. Engage a cross-functional team to assess change impact and accurately record baseline FAI references and modified characteristics per AS9102 requirements.

Reflects the recommended position based on community discussion and expert review.

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