Quality insights for manufacturing teams
Practical guides on FAI, GD&T, CMMC, metrology, and the workflows that keep aerospace and defense suppliers shipping on time.
Why Every Feature on a Drawing Needs a Tolerance
This article explains what the rule requires, how a feature gets its tolerance, and why complete tolerancing matters when a part goes through first article inspection (FAI) under AS9102.
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CAD Model vs. Drawing: Which Basic Dimension Should Your CMM Program Use?
When CAD nominals and boxed basic dimensions disagree, your CMM program and FAIR depend on which document governs—and how you record the decision.
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How to Balloon an MBD Model for First Article Inspection
This guide walks through three ways to balloon a model-based definition, what to confirm with your customer before you start, and how to account for the requirements that never appear as an annotation at all.
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How to Read a Feature Control Frame
A feature control frame is read left to right. Here's what each compartment means, from the geometric symbol to the datum references, per ASME Y14.5-2018.
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Rising A&D Volume, Limited Skilled Labor: Where Automation Actually Helps
A&D manufacturing is seeing a historic surge and OEMs are ordering more than ever, but paperwork limits how fast shops can accept more work.
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How to Ace Your Customer Scorecard
Improve your customer scorecard rating: get the rubric in writing, align on delivery clocks, prevent FAI documentation rejections, and close SCARs on time.
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Introduction to aerospace ordering: quotes, purchase orders, and what a review looks like
PO vs quote checklist for aerospace and defense suppliers: what to compare on a customer purchase order before production, including revision, flow-downs, FAI, DPAS, and invoice matching.
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Software That Automates Ballooning of Drawings for FAI Submissions: A 2026 Buyer's Guide
How to evaluate automated ballooning software for AS9102 FAIRs, what extraction methods actually mean, and what to test before you buy.
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GroundControl Government-Cloud Security Update
An update on the security assessment and deployment options available to regulated manufacturing customers.
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How to Actually Fill Out an AS9102: Forms 1, 2, and 3
How to complete AS9102 Forms 1, 2, and 3 for Rev C FAIRs
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What Is an FAI? FAI vs. FAIR Explained
FAI and FAIR aren’t the same thing. Here’s the difference between First Article Inspection (the process) and the FAIR (the AS9102 report).
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Title Block Red Flags: What to Look For Before You Start Ballooning
A pre-ballooning title block checklist for AS9102 FAIRs, drawing revisions, referenced documents, approvals, and aerospace quality teams.
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MBD Rollout Checklist for Suppliers: A Practical Implementation Guide
A step-by-step checklist for aerospace and defense suppliers adopting model-based definition workflows, with guidance on PMI readiness, CMM traceability, FAIR reporting, and phased deployment.
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Model-Based Definition (MBD) Inspection vs 2D Ballooning: What Quality Teams Need to Know
A practical guide to how MBD inspection differs from traditional 2D drawing workflows, where CMM traceability improves FAIR quality, and what to look for in 3D PMI-driven inspection software.
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Supply Chain Inspection and Visibility for Aerospace Suppliers
How aerospace manufacturers and suppliers can improve supply chain visibility, monitor inspection compliance globally, and flag out-of-tolerance results faster.
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CMMC 2.0 Starter Guide
A practical CMMC 2.0 overview for aerospace and defense suppliers, including levels, timeline, and readiness steps.
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Top 4 ITAR-compliant AS9102 First Article Inspection (FAI) Software (2026)
A practical guide to ITAR-friendly AS9102 tools, how to evaluate them, and which options are best for different aerospace teams.
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A Guide to OCR on PDF Drawings
Why extracting dimensional data for AS9102s is hard, and what aerospace quality teams should expect from OCR.
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AS9100D Starter Guide for Quality Managers
What AS9100D is, why it matters, and how to plan an implementation or transition from ISO 9001.
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Choosing a CMM in 2026
A practical guide to selecting between bridge and portable CMMs, and matching capability to inspection needs.
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How Manufacturers Can Eliminate FAI Errors, With or Without a CMM
A practical workflow for error-free AS9102 reports using CMMs or manual tools.
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Migrating FAI Data to a New Software
How to move AS9102 FAIR data without losing history, traceability, or momentum.
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Top Five Reasons for an FAI Rejection
The most common causes of AS9102 FAIR rejection and how to prevent them.
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U.S. MFG pursuing CMMC should choose FedRAMP-Certified Cloud over On-Premises
CMMC is mandatory for defense suppliers. Here is why FedRAMP cloud reduces compliance burden.
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Understanding GD&T: A Practical Guide for Aerospace Quality Teams
A clear, inspection-focused guide to GD&T concepts, feature control frames, and common aerospace characteristics.
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