1. Purpose of the gate
A production trial only proves something if it is a production trial. This gate checks, before parts start, that every element of the production system is the one that will be used for series supply: equipment and tooling released, test hardware and programs released, materials from approved sources, instructions released and people trained, with the pre-launch control plan in use.
Problems found here are cheap to fix; problems found after the trial can invalidate its results and force a repeat. The gate also confirms how measurement systems will be judged, because the trial produces the data for both measurement and capability studies.
Customers often set their own expectations for the trial, such as a minimum run or attendance by their quality engineer, and some call it a run at rate with a defined method. The customer specific requirements for the trial should be checked at this gate and the customer invited where it asks to be. Qualification samples are also drawn from the trial, so the readiness of the qualification plan, the stress equipment and the failure analysis support is checked here as well, to avoid a qualification that starts late and finishes after the approval date.
10 more sections for registered members.