What is ِAcceptance Criteria?

Acceptance criteria is a definition in measurable terms of the characteristics required of the final product(s) for it/them to be acceptable to the customers and staff who will be affected. In many cases, the Acceptance Criteria will be the same as the quality criteria in the Product Description of the final product. Acceptance criteria of inspection gates shall be identified according to benchmark, and quality standards, or by using quality analysis tools such as FMEA or any other analysis tool.  

How To Design Acceptance Criteria: 

• Define the characteristics based on critical-to-quality definition.For example (If CTQ is dimensional accuracy, then you need to build acceptance criteria for dimensional accuracy…etc.).

• After defining characteristics, you need to select the actual specs, (for example, which dimensions you need to build acceptance criteria for).

• Then you must go through benchmarks, standard and design books, or technical product design to make minimum or maximum limits for the specified dimensions.

• Repeat the process for each part of the product, and for each attribute.
  
  

Case Study: 

The Case Study below is designed for sheet metal products. The primary responsibility was building acceptance criteria for raw materials and finished goods.

The table above is an acceptance criteria document for sheet metal, a raw material for production. It contains:

·        Name of the product and part.

·        The name / description of the material type and a data-sheet if available.

·        The detailed specification of the criteria element.

The below is an example of finished product acceptance criteria containing

1.   Name of the product and part

2.   The name / description of the material type and data sheet if available.

3.   The detailed specification of the criteria element

4.   Detailed tolerances 

5.   Visual aid of product design and annotations