How do you calculate the cost of a first article inspection?

Multiply the articles by the measurement hours per article, add the shared planning and reporting hours, and multiply by the loaded rate; then add any program cost and outside test charges. Three articles at 2 hours plus 2.5 reporting hours at 60 an hour with a 200 program is 710, 236.67 per article, the First Article Inspection Cost calculator's own example.

Why do reporting hours not repeat for every article?

Planning the inspection, ballooning the drawing and writing the report are done once for the package. Only the measurement repeats per article. If your customer wants a separate report for every article, add those hours to the reporting hours.

What goes in program cost?

CMM programming, checking fixtures or gauges made for this FAI and charged on their own. Do not also count the programmer's hours in the labour hours, or the cost is counted twice.

Why work out cost per characteristic?

It lets you compare packages of very different size and quote new ones from your own history. In the example eight of the ten packages cost 7 to 26 per characteristic; the hinge pin's hardness and lab tests take it to 51, and the turbine clip's outsourced CT scan to 109.

Does the cost include rework or failed characteristics?

No. It covers the planned FAI package. Re-inspection after a corrective action is its own FAI row with Corrective action as the reason.

Does the workbook use macros?

No. It is a plain .xlsx with ordinary formulas, tables and native charts. The Verify sheet re-checks the formulas against fixed test packages and shows Self-check: PASS.

Quality Systems and Compliance

First Article Inspection Cost Excel Template

First article inspection cost = (articles × measurement hours per article + planning and reporting hours) × loaded rate + program cost + outside tests. Give every FAI package a row and see its cost against the charge you quoted, per article and per characteristic, and where the cost comes from.

Free, and a plain .xlsx with no macros to enable. A CSV with live formulas and a printed how-to guide come with it.

Overview

This first article inspection cost template is a working Excel workbook for quality managers, inspection leads and estimators. Each FAI package is one row with its part, the reason for the FAI, the inspection resource, the number of articles and ballooned characteristics, the measurement hours per article, the shared planning and reporting hours, any CMM programming or fixture cost and outside test invoices, and the charge your quote or budget allowed. The resource's loaded rate comes from Setup. The workbook gives the labour hours and cost, the total, the cost per article and per characteristic, and how far each package came in over or under its quote. It ships with ten packages at a fictional aerospace machine shop, so every tile and chart is filled in when you open it.

In the example a pump bracket FAI covers three articles at 2 hours each with 2.5 hours of reporting at 60 an hour and a 200 program: 710, 236.67 per article, inside a 750 quote. An actuator housing was quoted at 3,600 for one article, but the customer asked for one per fixture: three articles at 9 hours, 10 hours of reporting, an 1,800 CMM program and 850 of penetrant and material testing come to 5,425, 51% over. A turbine clip's outsourced CT scan makes it the dearest package per characteristic at 109. Three of the ten packages cost 2,281 more than quoted in all.

The cost covers the FAI package only, not production inspection or rework, and says nothing about whether the first article was accepted. The download is a plain .xlsx with no macros. A CSV with live formulas is also included for other tools; the dashboard, charts, dropdowns and self-check are in the .xlsx.

What this template includes

Setup sheet with your company, currency and near band, and the inspection resources with their loaded hourly rate
FAIs table, one row per package: FAI, part, reason, resource, articles, characteristics, hours per article, reporting hours, program cost, outside tests and quoted charge, with a Check column
Per package: labour hours, labour cost, program and tests, total cost, cost per article and per characteristic, measurement minutes per characteristic, the amount over quote and a status in words
Dashboard with four tiles (FAI packages, total FAI cost, packages over quote, cost over quote), cost against quoted charge, each package's cost split into labour and program and tests, and the package table
Method sheet with every formula, and a Verify sheet that re-checks the formulas against an independent reference and the First Article Inspection Cost calculator (Self-check: PASS)
CSV with live formulas for the FAIs table; the dashboard, charts, dropdowns and self-check are in the .xlsx

Suggested use case

Use it to quote FAI charges from your own hours and rates, to find the packages that cost more than you recovered, or to see whether labour or programming and outside tests drive the cost of your first articles.

How to use it

On Setup, type your company and currency, and list your inspection resources with their loaded hourly rate.
On FAIs, give each package a row: part, reason, resource, articles, characteristics, hours per article, reporting hours, program cost, outside tests and the quoted charge.
Fix anything the Check column names.
Open the Dashboard: cost against quote, and where each package's cost comes from.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you calculate the cost of a first article inspection?: Multiply the articles by the measurement hours per article, add the shared planning and reporting hours, and multiply by the loaded rate; then add any program cost and outside test charges. Three articles at 2 hours plus 2.5 reporting hours at 60 an hour with a 200 program is 710, 236.67 per article, the First Article Inspection Cost calculator's own example.
Why do reporting hours not repeat for every article?: Planning the inspection, ballooning the drawing and writing the report are done once for the package. Only the measurement repeats per article. If your customer wants a separate report for every article, add those hours to the reporting hours.
What goes in program cost?: CMM programming, checking fixtures or gauges made for this FAI and charged on their own. Do not also count the programmer's hours in the labour hours, or the cost is counted twice.
Why work out cost per characteristic?: It lets you compare packages of very different size and quote new ones from your own history. In the example eight of the ten packages cost 7 to 26 per characteristic; the hinge pin's hardness and lab tests take it to 51, and the turbine clip's outsourced CT scan to 109.
Does the cost include rework or failed characteristics?: No. It covers the planned FAI package. Re-inspection after a corrective action is its own FAI row with Corrective action as the reason.
Does the workbook use macros?: No. It is a plain .xlsx with ordinary formulas, tables and native charts. The Verify sheet re-checks the formulas against fixed test packages and shows Self-check: PASS.