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For shops that ship first article reports
First article paperwork takes longer than the inspection
Your inspector can check the part faster than anyone can write it up. Ballooning the print, filling in the first article inspection report and matching each measurement to its feature is slow, careful work, and it lands on the same few people.
Sound familiar?
- Ballooning a print by hand eats hours, and a missed feature means going back through it.
- The drawing gets a new rev, and the balloons and the inspection sheet stop matching.
- Parts are ready to ship, and they wait on paperwork.
- Your best inspector spends more time typing than measuring.
What it costs you
- Good parts sit on the shelf while the report gets finished.
- Inspection time goes to forms, so the next job waits for its first check.
- A typo or a missed balloon can send the report back, and you do it over.
- Jobs that need first article reports start to feel like they aren't worth quoting.
Why it keeps happening
- Different customers ask for different forms.
- The print, the measurements and the report live in separate files that someone lines up by hand.
- Revisions change the drawing after the balloons are done.
- Only one or two people know how each customer wants the report filled out.
Common questions
Why does a first article inspection report take so long?
Because each feature on the print gets a balloon, a measurement and a line on the report, and then it all gets checked against the drawing. Next to that, the measuring is the quick part.
Who ends up doing the first article paperwork?
Whoever knows each customer's form. In a small shop, that's often the inspector, the quality lead or the owner, the same people you need on the floor.
Is this only for aerospace shops?
No. Any shop that sends ballooned prints, inspection sheets or first article reports with its parts knows this paperwork.
What exactly do you build?
It depends on how you work today; we figure that out on the call.
Related shop bottlenecks
See all shop bottlenecks, or go back to the home page.
Tell me where the inspection paperwork stacks up
A lot of this paperwork is busywork, and that kind of work can now be taken off your inspector's plate. How depends on your parts and your customers, so the first step is a call.
You'll be talking with me, Kevin Kirchner, and I'll want to hear which reports take the longest and who ends up doing them.
