Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP)
and Production Part Approval Process (PPAP)

The Automotive industry has long been one of the most efficient and productive sectors within the global economy as a result of quality management. Many of the Lean and Quality Tools developed by them are now being used across many other organizations in Industry, as well as in the Service, Finance and Public sectors.

Over time, the challenges to industry of Innovation, technology, more complex products, the need to reduce NPD times, a more diverse Supply chain, as well as increasing customer and quality requirements, led to the need for a robust product planning Process.

As a result, the Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) process was developed and implemented by the automotive industry  as a framework of procedures and techniques to be used in the development of products in industry. The goal of APQP is to plan before acting, anticipate and prevent issues, validate before moving forward, and facilitate communication with the supply base. The APQP process therefore serves as a guide in the development of process and product, and also provides a standard way to share results between suppliers and OEM’s.

The APQP process is designed to produce a product quality plan which will support development of a product or service that will satisfy the customer. It does this by focusing on Up-front quality planning, anticipating and preventing issues, and evaluating the output to determine if customers are satisfied and it is also a valuable tool to support continual improvement.

APQP involves 75% up front planning and 25% implementation through production. Each phase has analytical techniques and tools used to discover risk and weakness. It therefore follows the principles of the PDCA “Continuous Improvement Cycle” and promotes continual business improvement by emphasizing defect prevention and reducing variation and waste in the supply chain. Certification to ISO/TS 16949 is often a requirement for doing business internationally in the automotive sector - not only does it help open up global business opportunities, but is now considered a robust management tool to help organizations within the industry grow, compete and succeed.

Course Content:

1. Overview of the APQP process

• Project Management and Timing Plans
• Defining project scope and requirements
• Product design and development
• Process design and development
• Product and process validation and control plans

2. Production Part Approval Process (PPAP)

• Outline of process and requirements
• Scope and limitations of approval
• Evaluation of evidence submitted

3. Levels of Submission and Evidence required

• Parts submission warrant
• Supporting evidence
• Materials data and use of IMDS database
• Process Capability

4. Core tools used

• Design Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (DFMEA) applied in special situations
• Process Flow Diagram
• Process Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (PFMEA)
• Control Plan
• Measurement Systems Analysis (MSA)
• Statistical Process Control
• Process Capability

5.Appearance Approval Report (AAR)
6.Sample Production Parts & Master Sample
7.Checking Aids
8.Customer-Specific Requirements
9.Part Submission Warrant (PSW)