Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) & Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) Training Course

Companies that have implemented ISO/TS16949 may use Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) to ensure that their products and production processes meet the market requirements and customer expectations. The production Part Approval Process provides client organizations with the evidence required to show that – “All customer engineering design record and specification requirements are properly understood by the supplier and that the process has the potential to consistently produce products meeting those requirements during an actual production run”.

This 2-Day course shows suppliers how to compile the evidence required during the development process and explains how client organizations can use the information supplied to gain confidence in their suppliers.

APQP (Advanced Product Quality Planning) and PPAP (Production Part Approval Process) are methods used in the automotive and some other industries. Their purpose is to ensure that the supplier understands the customer’s requirements and is capable of providing the required quality and quantity of product on time.

APQP sets out a clear path for planning, implementing and verifying a process.

The APQP process has five phases. What phases a company has to complete depends on what they do. There are checklists provided in the back of the guide published by AIAG that are very helpful in keeping on the right path. They provide the organization and consistency needed to ensure a successful product and process launch. If I needed to boil the whole idea down to a few words, it would be “Matching the voice of the supplier’s process to the voice of the customer, VOP = VOC”.

PPAP is the hard proof that the supplier understood the customer’s requirements. It principally involves gathering all the data and information that was generated throughout the APQP stage and presenting in prescribed method and format to the customer for review and, hopefully, approval. The customer reviews the PPAP submission and renders one of the three possible decisions:

1. Product and process approved as submitted
2. Interim approval with a request for additional information on samples
3. Not approved - start over

Key session topics:

• Business need for APQP and PPAP processes

• Requirement for APQP and PPAP in ISO/TS 16949

• Overview of APQP process

• 1) Project Management and Timing Plans

• 2) Defining project scope and requirements

• 3) Product design and development

• 4) Process design and development

• 5) Product and process validation and control plans

• Production Part Approval (PPAP)

• 1) PPAP process and requirements

• 2) Scope and limitations of approval

• 3) Evaluation of evidence submitted

• 4) Ford phased PPAP requirements

• 5) Level of Submission and Evidence required

• 6) Parts submission warrant

• 7) Supporting evidence

• 8) Materials data and use of IMDS database

• 9) Process capability

Some of the things we’ll talk about it in class are: Setting up and managing the program, Getting an understanding of the entire APQP and PPAP process, Using the Plan/Do/Check/Act (PDCA) process model, Determining where in the five phases an organization begins, When is APQP appropriate?, Cross-functional Teams, and Definitions and Acronyms.

Engineers and engineering managers responsible for developing and managing supply chain relationships. Design, manufacturing and quality engineers involved in the preparation, submission or evaluation of PPAP documentation.

APQP and PPAP principals are needed to ensure that an organization’s marketing brand image stays ahead of its competition. They are the foundation for any continual improvement effort to achieve faster, better and cheaper cycles for the organization. APQP and PPAP were originally designed for manufacturing organizations and cover the foundations of what every company needs to strive for in customer satisfaction.