What are APQP and PPAP?

QS-9000 indicated that the QS 7 Pack should be used within a companys quality system.
Two manuals received particular attention: APQP and PPAP. Looking at PPAP first, QS9000 4.2.4 Product Approval Process, 4.2.4.1 General states: "The supplier shall fully
comply with all requirements set forth in the Production Part Approval Process manual." The
term "shall" requires use of the manual, and the next sub-clause states that suppliers should
use a part approval process as the PPAP for their subcontractors.
The PPAP foreword states: "In the past, Chrysler, Ford and General Motors each had their
own procedures for reviewing supplier submissions of production parts for customer approval
(initial samples). Differences between these three processes resulted in additional demands
on supplier resources. To improve upon this situation, Chrysler, Ford and General Motors
agreed to develop, and, through AIAG, distribute this procedure.
"While this procedure is intended to cover all situations normally occurring during the sample
submission process, there will be questions that arise during this process. These questions
should be directed to your customers part approval activities."
Now in its third edition (effective Feb. 1, 2000), the PPAP requirement includes language to:
Allow for third-party auditors to better understand the processes
Provide better alignment with typical process flows
Revise the "initial process studies" process to better align with the SPC manual
Clarify when PPAP submissions are required
Incorporate sanctioned interpretations of previous editions
Add U.S. truck OEM-specific language
Add requirements for bulk material suppliers
Add a tire industry-specific appendix
Enhance the glossary of terms.
The AIAG training program states that PPAP "defines generic requirements for production
part approval, including production and bulk materials. The purpose of PPAP is to determine
if all customer engineering design record and specification requirements are correctly
understood by the supplier and that the process has the potential to produce product
consistently meeting these requirements during an actual production run at the quoted
production rate."

Link to QS-9000
QS-9000 contains nine references to APQPfive "shalls" and four "shoulds"which
includes both Advanced Quality Planning (AQP) and the need for control plans. QS-9000,
paragraph 4.1.2.4 Organizational Interfaces, states: "The supplier shall have systems in
place to ensure management of appropriate activities during concept development through
production (refer to the Advanced Product Quality Planning and Control Plan reference
manual)."
Again in QS-9000, paragraph 4.2.3.1 Advanced Product Quality Planning, the standard
states: "The supplier shall establish and implement an advanced product quality planning
process." Thus, the APQP was the second of the two manuals to be mandated by QS-9000.
The other manuals were specifically referred to as reference manuals.
The APQP foreword states: "This manual provides general guidelines for preparing plans
and checklists for ensuring that Advanced Product Quality Planning is in actuality carried out
at the supplier. It does not give specific instructions on how to arrive at each APQP or control
plan entry, a task best left to each component review team.
"While these guidelines are intended to cover all situations normally occurring either in the
early planning, design phase or process analysis, there will be questions that arise. These
questions should be directed to your customers supplier quality activity."
The main reason the reference manual design team added the word "product" to the old
AQP process was to try to get the quality engineers out of the lead for the process and
emphasize product design engineerings responsibility for product quality. This goal has not
always been realized, however, since many organizations still mistakenly default anything
with the word "quality" back to the quality department.
APQP phases
The APQP process includes five basic phases:
Plan and Define Program
Product Design and Development
Process Design and Development
Product and Process Validation
Feedback Corrective Action.

The product quality planning phases are made up of tools, procedures and reporting
requirements specific for each phase of the design phase of a new part. Each phase can be
expanded or contracted to fit the desired outcome, and the boundaries are defined to ensure
that the outputs of each phase become the inputs of the next phase.
Moreover, each phase re-emphasizes the need for management support. The APQP manual
design team wanted to ensure that supplier personnel would have the resources to complete
the tasks needed to satisfy their customers. The control plan section of the manual describes
the process of monitoring production after launch.
Both the PPAP and APQP manuals are required documents for the U.S. automotive industry
and are being used throughout the supplier base at all levels.
The new ISO 9001 calls for a focus on continual improvement (part of APQP), a satisfaction
of customer requirements (part of PPAP), and the need for a preventive action process (part
of control plans) and to communicate with suppliers and customers to ensure quality (part of
APQP).