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First article inspection is where a design becomes a proven, repeatable product. It is also one of the most common reasons aerospace programs stall near the finish: parts exist, but the paperwork that proves they are right does not. Getting AS9102 right is a closeout skill as much as a quality one.
What AS9102 asks for
AS9102 is the aerospace standard for first article inspection. Its purpose is to give objective evidence that the production process, not just a single part, produces hardware that meets every requirement. That evidence is recorded in three forms.
| Form | Records | What reviewers look for |
|---|---|---|
| Form 1: Part number accountability | The part, its drawing and revision, and any sub-assemblies or detail parts | The correct revision, and that every sub-assembly has its own completed first article |
| Form 2: Product accountability | Raw materials, specifications, special processes and functional tests | Certificates for materials, approved sources for special processes, and test results traceable to the part |
| Form 3: Characteristic accountability | Every design characteristic on the drawing and its measured result | That nothing is missing, every result is within tolerance, and each measurement names how it was verified |
When a first article is required
A full FAI is needed for a new part, and for an existing part made by a new supplier. After that, it is triggered by change: a design change that affects form, fit or function; a change in manufacturing source, process, inspection method, location, tooling or numerical control program; or a lapse in production of two years. Natural or man-made events that could affect the process can also trigger one. When only part of the design or process changes, a partial first article covering the affected characteristics is often acceptable, subject to the customer's requirements.
How to get it right the first time
Balloon the drawing first. Number every characteristic on the drawing, including notes, flag notes and referenced specifications, before measuring anything. The ballooned drawing is the checklist that makes Form 3 complete.
Match the revision everywhere. The drawing, the purchase order, the router and the inspection records must all reference the same revision. A mismatch is one of the most common reasons for rejection and one of the easiest to prevent.
Collect certificates as the part is made. Material certifications and special process certificates are far easier to gather during production than weeks later. Confirm that every special process source is approved by the customer before the work is done, not after.
Record how each characteristic was verified. A number without the gauge or method behind it invites questions. Where a characteristic cannot be measured directly, record how it was verified instead.
Treat nonconformances openly. A first article that reveals a nonconformance has done its job. Record it, disposition it through the proper process and correct the cause, rather than hiding it in the paperwork.
Supplier first articles
On most aerospace programs, a large share of the first articles that matter are produced by suppliers, and the prime is accountable for all of them. The requirement has to be flowed down in the purchase order, including which revision of the standard applies, whether the customer must review the package and whether any special process sources must be approved in advance.
Supplier packages then need a real review, not a signature. Check that the ballooned drawing matches the revision on the order, that every characteristic appears on Form 3, that material and special process certificates are present and traceable, and that the supplier's own sub-tier parts have first articles of their own. Catching a gap when the package arrives costs a phone call. Catching it at customer review, months later, can cost a delivery date.
What is a partial first article?
When only part of a design or process changes, a full first article is often unnecessary. A partial, or delta, first article verifies only the characteristics affected by the change, together with the part number accountability that ties it to the original full inspection. It saves time and cost, but it depends on good records: the program must be able to show which characteristics the change touched and that the rest of the original first article still applies. Customer requirements decide whether a partial first article is acceptable, so confirm before relying on one.
How do key characteristics fit in?
Key characteristics are the features whose variation most affects form, fit, function, safety or reliability. They are identified on the drawing or in the customer's requirements, and aerospace suppliers commonly manage their variation under AS9103. In a first article they deserve extra care: the measurement method, the gauge and its capability should all be clear, and many customers expect evidence that the process producing them is capable and controlled, not just that one part measured in tolerance.
How are first articles submitted today?
Increasingly through electronic systems. Many prime contractors require suppliers to submit first article packages through a supplier portal or a shared data platform, with the forms, ballooned drawing and certifications attached in a defined structure. Digital submission speeds review but makes completeness checks automatic, so missing fields or mismatched revisions are rejected immediately. Building packages to the customer's structure from the start avoids resubmissions.
Which first article metrics are worth tracking?
| Metric | What it reveals |
|---|---|
| First-pass acceptance rate | How often packages are accepted without rework; the best single measure of FAI discipline |
| Open first articles by age | Packages stuck in review or rework, often the ones holding up delivery |
| Supplier first articles due versus received | Where the supply chain will block production or closeout |
| Rejection reasons | Recurring causes, such as revision mismatches or missing certificates, to fix at the source |
Who should own first articles on a program?
Quality usually performs and signs the inspection, but a first article touches engineering, manufacturing, supply chain and the customer. When nobody owns the whole package, it waits at each handoff. The programs that handle first articles well name an owner for each one, track them as a list with dates in the program's weekly rhythm, and treat an open first article on the critical path exactly like a late part. That simple discipline usually shortens first article cycle time more than any change to the inspection itself.
How long does a first article take, and how do you schedule it?
Programs routinely treat a first article as a single task and then lose weeks to it. In practice it is a chain: produce a production-representative part, balloon the drawing, measure every characteristic, gather material and special process certificates, compile the forms, review internally, submit, and then work whatever the customer sends back. The measurement itself is rarely the long pole. The waiting is: a special process certificate that has to be chased, a supplier sub-tier package that was never ordered, or a customer review queue with a cadence of its own.
Plan it as that chain. Put the first article in the integrated schedule with its real predecessors, give certificate collection its own activity rather than burying it inside inspection, and allow a realistic duration for customer review plus at least one round of response. A first article sitting on the critical path as a single optimistic bar is one of the most reliable ways to miss a delivery date.
What drives the cost of a first article?
The main driver is the number of characteristics on the drawing, because every one of them has to be ballooned, measured, recorded and defended. A part with a few dozen characteristics is a short exercise. A complex machined housing or a populated assembly with hundreds of characteristics, tight tolerances and several special processes is a different scale of work.
The other drivers are how much of the evidence has to be recreated after the fact, how many sub-tier suppliers have packages of their own, whether any characteristic needs special measurement such as a coordinate measuring machine or a custom gauge, and how many rounds of rejection and resubmission the package goes through. That last one is the most controllable. Work done while the part is being made costs a fraction of the same work reconstructed weeks later from memory and paperwork, which is why first pass acceptance is worth managing directly rather than treating rejections as normal.
Who does what on a first article?
Most first article delays are handoff delays rather than technical ones. Naming the owner of each part of the package removes the pauses between functions.
| Function | Owns | Common failure when it is unowned |
|---|---|---|
| Engineering | Drawing and revision correctness, ballooning, interpretation of notes and referenced specifications | Characteristics buried in flag notes or referenced specifications never reach Form 3 |
| Quality | Measurement, gauging, recording of results, the completed forms and the internal review before submission | Results recorded without the method or gauge behind them, which invites questions at review |
| Manufacturing | Producing the part with production tooling, processes and routers, and flagging any deviation used | The inspected part was not made the way production will make it, so the evidence does not hold |
| Supply chain | Flowing the requirement into purchase orders, obtaining supplier packages and certificates | Supplier first articles never ordered, then discovered missing at closeout |
| Program management | The schedule, the open first article list, escalation and the customer conversation | Every function assumes another one is chasing it while the delivery date moves |
How is an AS9102 first article different from AS9145 PPAP?
They are related but not interchangeable, and confusing them causes real rework. First article inspection under AS9102 proves that a specific part conforms to every design requirement. Production part approval under AS9145 is broader: it is the package that demonstrates the production process is planned, capable and controlled, and a first article is one of the elements inside it.
| AS9102 first article inspection | AS9145 production part approval | |
|---|---|---|
| Question answered | Does this part meet every design requirement? | Is this production process ready to make conforming parts repeatedly? |
| Scope of evidence | Characteristics, materials, special processes and functional tests for the part | A defined element set that can include the process flow, control plan, failure mode analysis, measurement system analysis, capability evidence and the first article |
| Typical trigger | New part, new supplier, or a qualifying design or process change | New product or process introduction, agreed with the customer |
| Relationship | Stands alone when the customer asks only for it | Normally includes the first article as one of its elements |
The practical point for a program is to settle early which of the two the customer actually requires. A team that prepares only a first article when the contract expects a full production part approval package will find the gap at the worst possible moment. Our guide to AS9145 APQP and PPAP covers the wider package.
What AS9102 does not require
Some of the effort programs put into first articles is self-inflicted, because the standard is stricter in the reader's head than it is on the page. A first article does not require a special sample made outside production; the point is the opposite, that the part must be produced with production processes, tooling and methods. It does not require a full repeat for every change, because a partial first article covering only the affected characteristics is provided for. It does not mandate any particular software, portal or form layout beyond the required content, although individual customers very often do.
It also does not, on its own, call for statistical process capability studies. Read the contract and the customer quality requirements, then do what they ask rather than what the team assumes.
A readiness check before you submit
- The drawing revision on the order, the router, the ballooned drawing and the forms is the same one
- Every characteristic on the drawing appears on Form 3, including those in notes and referenced specifications
- Every result names how it was verified, and anything outside tolerance has a recorded disposition
- Material certificates and special process certificates are attached and traceable to this part
- Every special process source is on the customer approved list, confirmed before the work was done
- Sub-assemblies and sub-tier supplier parts have completed first articles of their own attached
- The part was produced with production tooling and processes, and any deviation used is recorded
- The package is built in the structure the customer portal expects, so it is not rejected on format alone
Related guides
- Aerospace and defense project closeout
- Configuration management through closeout
- Transitioning a program to production
- AS9145 APQP and PPAP
First articles at closeout
Many programs reach closeout with first articles open: packages returned by the customer, supplier FAIs never received, or partial FAIs owed after late design changes. Each one can hold up delivery, acceptance and final payment. During project closeout, Set Boundaries inventories every open first article, works the supplier and internal packages to completion and gets them through customer review, so the program can be accepted and closed.
If open first articles are holding up a delivery, schedule a call.
References
- SAE International, AS9102, Aerospace First Article Inspection Requirement, developed through the International Aerospace Quality Group.
- SAE International, AS9100, Quality Management Systems, Requirements for Aviation, Space and Defense Organizations.
- SAE International, AS9103, Variation Management of Key Characteristics.
- SAE International, AS9145, Requirements for Advanced Product Quality Planning and Production Part Approval Process.
- International Aerospace Quality Group, supply chain management guidance on first article inspection and supplier oversight.
Questions
Common questions
What is first article inspection?
First article inspection, or FAI, is a complete, documented verification that a production process produces a part meeting every requirement of its design. Under AS9102 it covers every design characteristic on the drawing, the materials, the special processes and any functional tests, recorded in a standard format the customer can review.
When is a new FAI required?
For a new part or a new supplier, and again when something changes that could affect the part: a design change affecting form, fit or function, a change in manufacturing source, process, location, tooling or software, or a lapse in production of two years. After a change, a partial FAI covering only the affected characteristics is often enough, if the customer agrees.
What are the AS9102 forms?
Form 1 records part number accountability, including the part and any sub-assemblies. Form 2 records product accountability: raw materials, specifications, special processes and functional tests. Form 3 records characteristic accountability, verification and compatibility evaluation, with every characteristic on the drawing listed and its measured result.
Why do first articles get rejected?
Most rejections come from missing characteristics, results that do not match the drawing revision, special processes without approved sources or certificates, or measurements recorded without the tool or method used. They are nearly always documentation and discipline problems rather than bad parts.
What is a partial or delta first article inspection?
A partial first article verifies only the characteristics affected by a change in design, process, source or tooling, rather than repeating the full inspection. It relies on the original full first article for everything unchanged, so records must show clearly which characteristics the change touched. Customers set whether a partial first article is acceptable, so confirm their requirements before planning on one.
What are key characteristics in a first article?
Key characteristics are the features whose variation most affects form, fit, function, safety or reliability, identified on the drawing or in customer requirements. Aerospace suppliers commonly manage them under AS9103. In a first article they need clear measurement methods and capable gauges, and many customers also expect evidence that the production process controls them, not only that one part measured in tolerance.
What is the difference between AS9100 and AS9102?
AS9100 is a quality management system standard for the whole organization, while AS9102 sets the requirements for first article inspection of a specific part. AS9100 covers how a company plans, controls and improves its work, and it calls for verifying production processes. AS9102 is one of the ways that verification is done: it defines the three forms and the evidence needed to show a production process makes conforming parts. Set Boundaries helps program teams close out first articles so they satisfy both the supplier's AS9100 system and the customer's AS9102 expectations.
What are the requirements for first article inspection (FAI) according to AS9102?
AS9102 requires objective evidence that every design characteristic of a part, including materials, special processes and functional tests, has been verified on a part made with production processes, tooling and methods. The results are recorded on three forms covering part number, product and characteristic accountability, with each characteristic traceable to the drawing. Sub-assemblies need their own completed first articles, and changes to design or process can trigger a partial or full repeat. Set Boundaries checks packages against these requirements before submission so they are not rejected late in closeout.
How long does an AS9102 first article inspection take?
It depends far more on evidence gathering than on measurement. Ballooning and measuring a part with a few dozen characteristics is short work, while chasing a missing special process certificate or an unordered supplier package can take weeks. Customer review adds a queue of its own, and most programs should plan for at least one round of response. Schedule the first article as a chain of activities with real predecessors rather than one optimistic bar, or it will quietly move the delivery date.
Who is responsible for a first article inspection on a program?
Quality normally performs and signs the inspection, but the package crosses engineering, manufacturing, supply chain and the customer, so no single function can finish it alone. The delays are almost always at the handoffs between them. Programs that handle first articles well name an owner for each package, keep an open first article list with dates in the weekly rhythm, and escalate an open first article on the critical path exactly as they would a late part.
Does AS9102 require process capability studies?
Not on its own. AS9102 asks for objective evidence that a part made with production processes meets every design characteristic. Statistical capability evidence belongs to key characteristic management under AS9103 and to production part approval under AS9145, and many customers do require it through the contract or their quality requirements. Confirm what the customer actually asks for before committing the effort, because assuming capability studies are always needed turns a verification exercise into a much larger job.
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