In the aerospace industry, Foreign Object Debris (FOD) also known as Foreign Object Damage costs billions of dollars in the form of schedule delays, rework, injuries, and product losses – a bit of debris lodged in the right place could be enough to drop a rocket right out of the sky. The full impact of FOD is difficult to measure, as often times FOD will cause other defects/damage as it migrates within an assembly, creating additional costs that may not be captured. Ultimately, the biggest cost of FOD is your company’s reputation – delivering products that are not FOD-free sends the message that you do not have control over your manufacturing processes or that you don’t care about the product’s performance.

The Foreign Object Elimination (FOE) Program is responsible for the development and management of processes and procedures that will mitigate the generation and damaging effects of FOD. This includes the implementation of training programs, collection and analysis of data from incidents and/or findings, and the continual monitoring of FOE Program activities and personnel.

For more information on the Foreign Object Elimination Program, please click here.