Special Process: AS9102 glossary definition

What Special Process means

A special process is a manufacturing or treatment process whose output cannot be fully verified by later inspection alone, so qualification, approval, and certificate evidence matter.

Common examples in aerospace work include heat treat, plating, coating, welding, nondestructive testing, and other processes controlled by specifications or customer approvals.

Use this term as a review cue: it should help connect a drawing requirement, specification, certificate, result, or approval field to the evidence a customer will inspect. If the purchase order or customer portal uses stricter wording, follow that controlled source instead of this glossary entry.

Where it appears in AS9102

Special process evidence is commonly recorded on Form 2 with the process name, specification number, supplier, customer approval verification when applicable, certificate number, and comments. AS9102 Rev C 1.3 also leaves room for a detailed Certificate of Conformance path when the customer accepts that evidence route.

In an Articul review, this term is treated as part of the traceability path from source drawing or flowed requirement to form field, evidence, validation issue, and final approval. Use the AS9102 standard text as the controlled source, and use this glossary to clarify reviewer-facing meaning before export. When the term is ambiguous, keep the reviewer note close to the row or field it affects.

Review notes

• Confirm that the supplier or processor, approval status, specification revision, lot traceability, and certificate match the flowed requirement. When a detailed CofC is the accepted path, point the FAIR to the controlling certificate evidence rather than implying every processor record must become a separate FAIR line.
• Do not treat a process certificate as interchangeable across jobs; special-process evidence must match the actual part, lot, specification, and approval path.
• Keep wording, units, identifiers, and attachment names consistent across the drawing, Forms 1-3, evidence files, and any customer portal submission.

Related guides

Related glossary terms

FAQ

What does Special Process mean in an AS9102 FAIR?

A special process is a manufacturing or treatment process whose output cannot be fully verified by later inspection alone, so qualification, approval, and certificate evidence matter. Confirm that the supplier or processor, approval status, specification revision, lot traceability, and certificate match the flowed requirement. When a detailed CofC is the accepted path, point the FAIR to the controlling certificate evidence rather than implying every processor record must become a separate FAIR line.

Source notes

This Articul glossary entry is based on the public AS9102 field matrix used in product validation and on the internal review patterns linked from the related guides. It is not a replacement for purchased AS9102 text, customer requirements, or purchase order flowdowns.