First Article Inspection

What is First Article Inspection?

We perform ‘first article’ inspection, which is a complete and documented physical and functional inspection process. The purpose of a first article inspection is to provide evidence that all design and specification requirements are verified and recorded.

The first article inspection process is a very important step in the manufacturing process of your printed circuit board. When our PCB assembler sets up your design, adhering to your defined specifications, the first circuit boards are generally considered ‘first article’ production.

Reasons First Article Inspection is Beneficial

Provides validation that all documented requirements are met
Helps establish the manufacturing Plan of Record (POR) for ongoing production. Once the POR is established, it must be replicated on an ongoing basis to ensure all future production meets documented requirements.
Identifies potential problems during the first article build before on-going PCBA production. Corrective actions for any problems can then be implemented prior to full production.

Inspection of a first article PCBA is a very thorough process involving the following:

Measured Attributes– dimensions, voltages, resistance, or any other measurable attributes should be measured, recorded and verified against the covering design specification
Manufacturing Issues – any difficulties, problems, or concerns during the PCBA process should be examined for changes and corrections.
Source Validation – all parts and materials used should be verified to match their specifications.
Documentation Verification – to identify and clarify any documentation confusion.

Our company has over 17 years of experience assembling printed circuit boards and inspecting first articles. We ensure first article Inspection is conducted for new products, new processes, and for any new or changed source materials. If all requirements are not met, the process is corrected for the defined condition and then verified for the desired outcome.