Start of Production

The point when a product formally begins mass manufacturing, a term borrowed from the auto industry.

In the auto industry, SOP marks the point when a given vehicle model or component formally begins batch manufacturing, preceded by prototype validation stages (EVT/DVT/PVT) and component approvals, after which volume ramps up gradually. The humanoid-robot industry has adopted the same language, and a manufacturer announcing “SOP in [month]” means its line has started shipping at mass-production standards. Note that the same abbreviation is also used in quality management for “standard operating procedure,” a different thing — for example, a “collection SOP” in data-collection work refers to the latter, so context matters for telling them apart.

ExampleA component maker says its humanoid-robot joint module is scheduled to reach SOP next year.

Also called

SOP

Related

Mass Production · Engineering / Design / Production Validation Test · Sampling / Supplier Nomination · Yield Rate / Manufacturing Consistency · Data Collection SOP

Sources

Advanced product quality planning - Wikipedia