First Article Inspection to AS9102, and what your supplier owes you
First Article Inspection is the point where a drawing and a part are reconciled, characteristic by characteristic, before a production run is released. It is also the deliverable most often misunderstood as paperwork.
It is a requirement, not a courtesy
AS9100 Rev D, clause 8.5.1.3 requires first article inspection to AS9102 when the customer invokes it. A supplier operating an AS9100D system does not get to treat FAI as an optional extra — the standard it is certified against points at AS9102 by name. AS9102 is owned by the IAQG and published by SAE.
The three forms
An AS9102 report is structured across three forms, and each answers a different question.
Form 1 — Part Number Accountability. What the part is, what drawing revision it was made to, and how it sits in any assembly. This is where a mismatch between the drawing revision quoted and the drawing revision manufactured becomes visible.
Form 2 — Product Accountability. Materials, special processes and functional testing, with the certifications for each. Raw material certs, heat treatment, plating, NDT — every process that touched the part and cannot be inspected out of it afterwards.
Form 3 — Characteristic Accountability. Every characteristic on the drawing, ballooned and numbered, with the design requirement, the actual measured result, and the method used to obtain it. This is the form that consumes inspection time, and the one where measurement capability either holds up or does not.
Full versus partial
A full FAI re-verifies every characteristic. A partial — often called a delta FAI — re-verifies only the characteristics affected by a change. The distinction matters commercially, because a full FAI on a part with several hundred characteristics is a real cost.
What typically triggers a re-run:
- A design or drawing revision change
- A change of manufacturing location, process, or tooling that affects fit, form or function
- A change of supplier for a special process
- A lapse in production long enough that process capability can no longer be assumed
What to specify in your purchase order
- Whether FAI is required, and full or partial
- The drawing revision the FAI is to be run against
- Whether you require ballooned drawings supplied with the report
- Who witnesses, and whether source inspection applies
- The format the report is delivered in
Getting this into the order rather than into a conversation after the first parts arrive is the difference between a first article and an argument.
RAVIS runs inspection in-house on a CRYSTA-Apex V CMM, a Mitutoyo LH-600 height gauge and a video measuring machine, so characteristic accountability does not depend on an external lab's queue. Talk to us about your FAI requirement.
Sources: IAQG standard page for 9102, the SAE AS9102 page, and published prime-contractor supplier quality requirements.