How To Ensure Success When Working With A First Article Inspection Lab

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Process Control: Improving the Productivity of Your Small Factory

Several years ago, I purchased a small clothing factory. My goal was to focus on producing quality goods that were affordable for people on fixed incomes. It didn't take me long to see that we needed to improve the production process. To get started, I brought in a production and efficiency expert. She looked at our current production layout and identified several ways to eliminate waste and shorten the amount of time needed to cut and assemble a garment. With some rearranging of machinery and job responsibilities, we were able to increase our productivity by 30% and reduce operational costs by the same amount. Whether your company produces clothing, widgets, or toys, it pays to take a second look at the process. Let me share what the expert did to help us. You may find some of those same suggestions will work for your operation.

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How To Ensure Success When Working With A First Article Inspection Lab

11 May 2020
 Categories: , Blog


Your business might be planning on working with a first article inspection lab. After all, you probably know that inspections are important for the parts that you will be using to manufacture products within your business. If your business has not worked with a first article inspection lab in the past, then you might be looking for a little bit of insight and advice. The tips below can help your business use a these services in the best way possible.

Pick the Right First Article Inspection Lab

Choosing a first article inspection lab is the first step that you will need to take, and it's not a step that you should rush through. These are a few things that you will want to look for when choosing a lab to provide these services for your company:

  • Consider looking for a service that is located near your own business. This can make working with the lab a much easier and faster process for your business.
  • Compare pricing between different labs that offer first article inspections. Some of these labs charge a lot more for their services than others.
  • Make sure you choose a company that has a reputation for performing thorough inspections and for overall doing a good job. After all, there isn't much point in having inspections done on your company's parts if the inspections are not going to be done properly.

Provide as Much Information as Possible

A first article inspection lab isn't going to be able to do a good job of inspecting your parts if they don't know what they are supposed to be looking for. These are some of the types of information that you will probably want to provide:

  • Prototype examples
  • Specifications for sizing and other factors
  • Information about related industry standards and requirements

Provide Articles That Need to Be Inspected Promptly

The faster that you provide your parts for inspection, the faster that the inspection can be taken care of. Therefore, it is important for you and your employees to do your part and get your parts to the lab as promptly as possible so that they can do their jobs.

You and the others within your business will probably find that working with a first article inspection lab is a lot more effective if you follow the tips above. Soon, you can feel good in knowing that the parts that are used for manufacturing within your business are of the level of quality that your business likes to provide.

To learn more about the services that can be provided by a First Article Inspection Lab, contact professionals in your area.