Advanced product quality planning for an automotive part, from the customer award and planning through product and process design, validation at rate, the production part approval package and a safe launch to feedback, changes, requalification and the end of production.
APQP and PPAP lifecycle: 9 stages and 14 gates, from Plan & Define the Program to End of Production & Service.
9 stages and 14 gates. Each stop opens its stage; each sign opens its gate. Point at a stop or tab to it to read what the stage is for. What the codes mean
In collaboration with The Digital Electronics Blog (opens in a new tab)
In collaboration with The Digital Electronics Blog (opens in a new tab)
Turning a customer award or a new part request into a quality plan: the voice of the customer, the customer specific requirements, design and reliability goals, a preliminary bill of materials and process flow, the first list of special characteristics, and a product assurance plan, all owned by a cross-functional team with a named leader.
Program award and team launch gatePlanning outputs approved gate
Designing the chip, package and test to the agreed goals and proving the design on paper and on prototypes: the design FMEA, design reviews, the design verification plan and report, drawings and specifications, the prototype control plan, confirmed special characteristics and the team feasibility commitment.
Designing the manufacturing route that will build the part consistently: the process flow from wafer to shipped unit, the process FMEA, the pre-launch control plan, work instructions, the measurement system analysis plan, the plan for process capability studies, packing and labelling, and the floor and line layout at every site in the route.
Proving that the production process, run with production tools, people, materials and test programs at the planned rate, makes parts that meet every requirement: a significant production run or run at rate, measurement system studies, initial process capability studies, production validation testing and qualification, packaging evaluation, the production control plan and quality planning sign-off.
Assembling the production part approval package at the submission level the customer asks for, checking every element against the customer specific requirements, signing the part submission warrant, submitting it and working through the customer's review to full or interim approval.
Starting series production under extra protection: a safe launch or early production containment plan with added inspection and tighter reaction, daily quality and delivery reviews, capacity confirmed against the customer's call-offs, and exit from containment once the agreed evidence of stability is there.
Learning from production and the field: reducing variation, acting on customer complaints and returns with structured problem solving, tracking delivery and service performance, and closing quality planning with lessons learned that feed the next program and the organisation's lessons learned database.
Handling every change to the product or its process after approval: classifying the change, notifying the customer before it is made where the customer requires it, assessing risk through the FMEAs and control plan, requalifying by the agreed plan, resubmitting PPAP where required and implementing the change only after approval.
Ending series supply in an orderly way: a discontinuance notice with the period and terms the customer agreements require, last-time-buy handling, service and spare part supply where agreed, keeping records for the retention period the customer and the regulations set, and archiving the quality planning file.
The full lifecycle detail, with its charts, flows, tables and every section, is for registered members. Registration is free and takes a minute. You come back to this page afterwards.