Before you start mass-producing a part, you first want to analyze the components thoroughly to ensure there are no defects or red flags that could have a negative impact. First article inspection labs help with this early testing, and they can test for these issues in particular.
Inconsistent Material Quality
Regardless of what type of component you're trying to bring to the market, material quality always needs to be consistent. If it wasn't, then there is a good chance your products won't work out for all consumers that use them, and that's a good way to harm your company's reputation.
A first article inspection lab can go in and test a couple of parts during the mass production phase, to see if the materials are high-quality. If they're not, you'll receive notification and can adjust production before you are ready to begin production on a large scale.
Wrong Dimensions
Even after you've refined a part in the design phase, there is always the chance dimension issues could pop up during the mass production phase of developing a component. You want to catch this quickly, which is possible if you work with a skilled first article inspection lab.
They'll conduct thorough tests to verify your components have the correct dimensions that you originally planned. If they don't, the lab can inform you and you can see what went wrong in production. It may be a machine error, human error, or something else.
Material Contamination
Just because you've selected a particular material for your parts to be made out of, doesn't mean your selection always ends up being used. Something could happen that causes material contamination, throwing your parts off by a lot and then leading to performance issues.
A first article inspection lab can take a couple of parts from mass production and test them using strict criteria and procedures. This will let you identify material contamination if it is affecting some of your parts, even on a minor scale. You can then trace back manufacturing steps to see where contamination may be happening.
Designing parts and producing them on a large scale involves a lot of skill, patience, and help from a first article inspection lab. If you're dedicated to working with one, then you'll find potential flaws and have the knowledge to address them before your parts are produced on a mass scale and end up in consumers' hands.
Share4 January 2021
When you own a business, you might be more concerned about your financial bottom line than you are about anything else. Your employees might complain about the condition of the break room or the comfort of their foot mats, but if you don't have the money to replace things, it can be difficult to focus on speeding up your production line. When I was growing up, my dad owned a canning business, and I learned a lot from him. I want to teach you how to simplify the manufacturing process for your business, so that you can make things a little easier for yourself down the road.
