Pre-production
The objective of pre-production work is to provide and test a suitable framework for the production processes that follow. This may include the verification of assembly drawings, bill of materials, verification documents and other literature that will support the product as well as establishing standard operating procedures (SOP) and configuration information for any production, assembly and test tooling. Often, a production sample, which will be representative of the main production process will be fully tested and scrutinised prior to full product release and sign off.
Factory Acceptance Test (FAT)
In many cases, pre-production sign off occurs during a factory acceptance test process, where the customer examines the process, product and test to ensure that all elements of the specification and any down stream modifications have been implemented satisfactorily.
