In the design and production process of any product, activities such as design changes, process changes, process adjustments, unplanned line stoppages, production changes, and line changes often occur. So, how to ensure that these activities will not affect the quality of subsequent production? This requires first article inspection in the stages of job readiness verification and post-shutdown verification.
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Definition of first article and first article inspection
process change
During the production process, any one or more of the production elements in 5M1E (people, machine, material, method, environment, and test) changes, such as personnel changes, equipment adjustment and maintenance, material and fixture changes, design changes, Stop the line and so on.
first item
The first product or products processed by the production line at the beginning of each shift/line production input or after a process change. For high-volume production, “first article” often refers to a certain number of samples.
First Article Inspection
An inspection performed on the first or first few units processed on a production line at the beginning of each shift or after a process change. The number of inspections can be formulated according to the requirements of different enterprises or customers. Generally speaking, at least 3-5 products in continuous production need to be inspected, and subsequent products can be processed only after passing the test. First article inspection is rigorously performed before any changes to equipment or manufacturing processes, and before each work shift begins processing.
