Maintaining strict quality standards in industries like aerospace and defense is critical to ensuring safety. One key process to achieving these standards is the AS9102 first article inspection (FAI). This process verifies that a new or modified product meets specific requirements before mass production. As technology continues to advance, new AI tools are set to optimize the FAI process, making it quicker and easier to conduct thorough inspections. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at AS9102 first article inspection and how AI technologies like aiOla can streamline and improve inspection processes.
What Is AS9102 First Article Inspection and Why Is it Important?
AS9102 first article inspection is a quality assurance process used in the aerospace and defense industries. As part of the AS9100 series standards, AS9102 is used to check that new or changed products meet certain standards. It outlines the inspection, documentation, and forms needed to ensure that a manufacturing process can consistently produce parts that meet design specifications.
AS9102 first article inspection constitutes an evaluation of a first production run before a new or changed product is mass-produced. This helps verify a product’s quality and helps companies avoid errors or costly mistakes. This process is critical in the aerospace manufacturing field since the industry has stringent quality and safety standards. AS9102 can help teams identify and rectify discrepancies early on so that defects are prevented and aerospace components and systems remain safe and reliable.
How to Perform AS9102 First Article Inspection
Completing an AS9102 first article inspection report (FAIR) involves different steps to ensure compliance with aerospace quality standards. With multiple detailed forms to complete an FAIR, the process requires precision and attention in order to fulfill requirements. Let’s take a closer look at how to prepare for the inspection, conduct it, and what documentation you’ll need to complete.
Preparing for an AS9102 First Article Inspection
To save time and prevent errors, it’s important to prepare for the inspection. This can involve:
- Gathering the right documents: This can include design drawings, specifications, manufacturing plans, and latest revisions of products
- Selecting a part: Choose a part or product from the first production run as your random sample, which should be regularly produced under normal conditions
- Review requirements: Make sure you understand the various requirements outlined in the AS9102 standard including the completion of the three forms
- Set up inspection equipment: Ensure that all the inspection tools and equipment are ready to be used
Conducting an AS9102 First Article Inspection
There are a few steps to inspecting your sample part or product and its production process. Here’s how you would conduct an AS9102 inspection:
- Dimensional inspection: Look at all critical dimensions using calibrated tools to record these measurements in your FAIR Form 3
- Material and process verification: Verify that the materials and processes you use conform to standard requirements and document your findings and certifications in the FAIR Form 2
- Function testing: If necessary, perform functional testing to make sure the part operates as expected
- Visual inspection: Check the part or product for any visible signs of defects or design deviations
Documenting Your Inspection Results
To ensure AS9102 compliance, it’s essential to have proper documentation. Aside from collecting the right data and files you may need, there are three forms that need to be completed to finish your AS9102 first article inspection report:
- Form 1 – Part Number Accountability: List all part numbers, serial numbers, and related changes or modifications
- Form 2 – Product Accountability: Document all materials, special processes, and functional tests performed on the part
- Form 3 – Characteristic Accountability: Record all measured dimensions, tolerance, and non-conformances
- Balloon Drawings: These drawings are part of the third report and support it with a visual demonstration of how the design meets the requirement
It’s possible to find AS9102 first article inspection report templates through aerospace industry resources, third-party inspectors, or regulatory bodies. Once the forms are completed, they need to be reviewed and approved by the appropriate quality assurance parties.
When Should AS9102 First Article Inspection Be Conducted?
AS9102 FAI should be conducted during the initial production run of a new or changed part, or in other scenarios. This inspection should be done each time that:
- A product or part is produced for the first time
- The design or process of a part or product is being changed
- There’s been a production hiatus of two years or more and the process is resuming
- Manufacturing suppliers or location changes
Aside from these scenarios, it’s also a possibility that an AS9102 FAI could be conducted after producing a high quantity of parts to make sure the manufacturing process and results are still compliant with quality standards.
Implementing AI Tools for AS9102 First Article Inspection
Artificial intelligence (AI) in aviation can enhance the efficiency and accuracy of the AS9102 inspection process as well as aid in completing the report and forms. AI can be used to reduce manual processes and inspections, instead automating things like the measurement and verification of part dimensions.
Here are a few ways specific AI technologies can be applied to the AS9102 inspection process:
- Advanced machine learning (ML) algorithms can be applied to analyze large datasets and identify patterns and potential non-conformances to allow for more proactive quality control
- AI-powered image recognition can perform visual inspections to quickly identify surface defects and deviations
- Generative AI tools can streamline documentation by auto-populating AS9102 forms with inspection data to help reduce the time needed to complete the forms
- Speech AI can be used to facilitate hands-free operation during inspections so that inspectors can verbally input data, receive real-time feedback, and reduce the likelihood of errors along the way
Implementing aiOla’s Speech AI Solution for AS9102 First Article Inspection
aiOla is a cutting-edge speech AI technology that leverages the power of voice to automate tasks and gather data. aiOla assists employees in performing their tasks simply by speaking naturally using advanced technologies like natural language understanding and automatic speech recognition. These technologies allow aiOla to help teams complete tasks, collect data, and automate workflows.
For completing AS9102 first article inspections, it’s important that the data you source is accurate and detailed. By capturing data through speech recognition, aiOla ensures you have comprehensive and precise information for your reports. There are numerous advantages of using aiOla’s speech AI in your first article inspection processes, such as:
- Collect data through speech during first-run production
- Entirely hands-free for quicker and more distraction-free inspections
- Insights from speech-gathered data add depth and detail to inspection reports
- Collect more accurate data throughout inspections
After implementing aiOla’s speech AI in manufacturing, users have seen a 45% decrease in inspection time, which is allowing them to improve productivity and efficiency. When it comes to AS9102 inspections and further quality control, aiOla’s speech AI can help teams glean more valuable data and automate reporting and inspections for smoother compliance processes.
Streamline AS9102 First Article Inspections With AI
Optimizing your inspection processes means reports get filled out quicker and more accurately, leaving your team free to focus on other tasks like manufacturing or designing. With aiOla’s speech AI technology, inspectors can add data to AS9102 reports and forms solely using their voice, allowing them to keep their eyes and hands on the product being inspected for more thorough quality control.
Book a demo today with one of our experts to learn more about how aiOla can assist in the AS9102 first article inspection process.
