First Article

Why it is called First Article

A first article inspection is the check a part passes before a production run is allowed to continue: the first one off the line, measured against the drawing, before anybody makes a thousand more. The edition does the same job for the week. What cleared, what was recalled, what a standard now requires, checked before it becomes everybody’s assumption.

What an edition holds

• The lead story of the week.
• Six to eight briefs.
• By the numbers: clearances and recalls for the week, each figure linked to the data page behind it, so you can check the count rather than take it.
• One feature.
• The events calendar.
• Sponsor positions, labeled. A presenting position at the top and a secondary position mid edition, and both say what they are.

It sends weekly, on a Tuesday or a Wednesday morning Eastern.

What it will not do

• Send you anything you did not ask for. Every reader confirms by email before a single edition is sent, not only readers in the EU, and every edition carries a one click unsubscribe and a physical mailing address.
• Sell or rent the subscriber list.
• Run an unlabeled sponsor unit. Sponsored is labeled in the edition exactly as it is on the site.
• Ask for anything but an address. No name, no company, no job title. We keep the address and a note of which page you signed up on, and that is the whole record.

What each surface on this site collects, and what it does not, is on privacy.

Where the numbers come from

The FDA data pages publish the numbers an edition draws on: clearances by week, recalls by classification and root cause, product code activity, and company records. They start at the data hub.