How to Specify Inspection Requirements on an RFQ
Inspect Everything Is Not a Specification
An inspection RFQ needs three things: which features, which report, which revision pair. Write visual on a named face, dimensional list on balloons, or FAI against the ballooned print. Tie the report to a drawing revision that matches the CAD. ISO 9001 is the quality-system mention. Inspect everything is not a scope.
Read molded part quality assurance ISO 9001 for the program view. This page only covers how to write the RFQ field.
CAD is the nominal solid; acceptance lives on the drawing or named list
The STEP file is nominal. The ballooned drawing is the acceptance source. If you write inspect everything, review still does not know which mates, which cosmetics, or which report format you will use at receiving. Name the features. Name the report. Name the revision pair.
T1 is first shots; FAI is a measured report against balloons
T1 photos are not an FAI. A verbal all good is not a record. T1 is when first shots come off the tool. FAI is a report that records measured results against the ballooned print. You can have T1 without an FAI package. Write the word you mean.
ISO 9001 is the system mention, not a feature list
ISO 9001 says the system is certified. It does not tell receiving which face to reject. Tell sourcing to write the features and the report type in plain language. Do not replace the feature list with a label.
A worked example: a housing has four screw bosses, one seal groove, and a show face. The engineer uploads CAD and writes full inspection. A complete note would say: visual on Face A, dimensional list on Balloons 4, 5, 12, and 18, FAI report against drawing Rev C matching CAD Rev C. Hidden walls stay on the commercial band unless you balloon them.
What to tell sourcing: inspection is a list plus a report type plus a revision pair. If they need a first article report, write FAI and attach the ballooned drawing. If they only need a look at the show face, write visual on that face. NetProto can review that scope on the same upload that starts the quote.
Pick the Report Type
Visual: named face plus the defect you will reject
Color, gloss, sink on a show wall, flash on a logo, witness on a keep-out: those are visual items. Write the face and the defect you will reject. Visual on the part is not a check. Visual on Face A, no paint miss, witness allowed in screw pockets is a check.
Dimensional list: balloons, mates, seal widths, snap gaps
The list should be short enough that someone can measure it. If every edge is on the list, you have not chosen critical features. Put non-critical sizes on the commercial bands in manufacturing standards for molded parts.
FAI: balloon to measured result to drawing revision
An FAI report ties each balloon to a measured result on a named drawing revision. It is not a photo of T1 parts. If you want the record, write FAI report and attach the ballooned print. For the report itself, read first article inspection for injection molding.
PPAP-style request is a named document list, not a level number
If you need a PPAP-style package, list the documents you want in notes. This page does not invent a level or a default package.
Inspect everything measures nothing. Balloons 4, 5, 12, 18 measure something.
A worked split: Face A visual, no gate vestige. Balloons 4 and 12 dimensional. FAI on those balloons plus material identity against the named grade. T1 still happens as first shots. Do not write T1 FAI as if that were one object.
Tie Inspection to the Revision Pair
CAD revision and drawing revision must match
If the solid moved a snap and the print still shows the old gap, say which document wins, then align them. Review will not invent a balloon for a face that exists only in one file.
Balloon IDs visible on both files
Point the FAI or dimensional list at those balloons. A drawing that lives only in email is not the acceptance source. Face callouts belong on a 2D drawing for quote callouts.
Material cert tied to the grade in the material field
If you need that paper, say material cert to the named grade. If you do not, do not paste a stack of certificate names. The grade field and this note should agree.
Cosmetic class on a show face is a visual inspection item
Write the class on the face and say visual. Do not write inspect cosmetics as a global flag.
A worked drawing tie: Drawing Rev C, CAD Rev C. Balloons 4, 5, 12, 18 critical. Face A cosmetic visual. Material cert to the ABS grade in the RFQ. FAI report on the four balloons. Drawing current is not a revision.
What to tell sourcing: the drawing is the contract for inspection. The CAD is the contract for the solid. If they disagree, stop the quote and fix the pair. A fast upload with mismatched revisions creates two acceptance stories.
RFQ Paste Block
Use this list before anyone treats the quote as quality-scoped. Each step is a file or a word you can point to.
- List critical features or attach a ballooned drawing.
- Choose visual, dimensional list, or FAI report.
- Write the drawing and CAD revision that match.
- Keep ISO 9001 as the quality-system mention.
- Upload CAD through the injection molding instant quote platform.
A worked submit block: CAD Rev C, drawing Rev C. Visual Face A. Dimensional Balloons 4, 5, 12, 18. FAI report on those balloons. Material cert to named ABS. ISO 9001. No inspect-everything line. That block is usable.
What to tell sourcing: send this checklist with the CAD. If FAI is required for the first production lot, write that. If only T1 photos are required, write T1 photos and do not call them FAI. Hold the number as inspection-complete only after the report type is named.
Common mistakes at submit:
- Writing FAI T1 PPAP in one box.
- Attaching an unmarked PDF and calling it ballooned.
- Asking for inspect to commercial and tight on the same edge.
- Leaving the quality field blank because the drawing exists in another folder.