PPAP
Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) is a valuable tool for establishing confidence in component suppliers and their production processes. In today’s competitive manufacturing environment controlling cost and maintaining a high level of quality have become vital to a company’s success. Increasing costs of equipment, materials and labor combined with expanding world markets have resulted in an increase of outsourced parts. Many component parts are being outsourced to overseas manufacturers. This often results in longer lead times and larger order quantities. Therefore it has become imperative to provide quality parts that meet the customer’s requirements the first time and every time.
Initially PPAP was utilized by the automotive and aerospace industries. PPAP is now being utilized by several industries to improve communication and provide quality products. Within the automotive industry the ultimate resource for PPAP information is the manual published by the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG)
Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) is used to reduce risk prior to release of new product & service, in a team oriented manner using well established tools & technique.
Initially developed by AIAG with the input of big-3 Ford, Chrysler& GM.
Latest edition of PPAP is 4th edition effective from June 1, 2006.
PPAP has now spread to many industry beyond automotive.
What is PPAP?
Provide evidence that all customer's engineering design records & specification requirements are properly understood by organization.
To demonstrate that manufacturing process has capability to produce product or services that consistently meets all requirements during actual production run at quoted production rate.
Purpose of PPAP
New part
Engineering Change
Durable tooling: Transfer, Refurbishment, Replacement, or additional
Tooling inactive greater than 1 year
Correction of discrepancy
Change to optional material
Sub-Supplier or Material source change
Part produced at new or additional location
Change in part processing
When is PPAP required?
Helps to maintain design integrity.
Identify issues early for resolution
Reduce warranty charges & cost of poor quality
Assist in Managing Supplier changes
Prevent use on unapproved & non-conforming parts.
Improve the overall quality of product & customer satisfaction
Identify supplier that need more development or improvement.
Benefits of PPAP
Level-1: Part Submission warrant (PSW) only and (For designated appearance items , AAR (appearance approval report) required)
Level-2: Part submission warrant (PSW) with part samples & limited supporting data
Level-3:Part submission warrant (PSW) with part samples & complete supporting data
Level-4: Part submission warrant (PSW) with part samples & complete supporting data in addition to other requirements proposed by customer
Level-5: Part submission warrant (PSW) with part samples & complete supporting data available at review at supplier manufacturing location
PPAP Submission level
Approved: Product or service meets all the requirements of customer & supplier is authorized to ship production quantities to customer
Interim Approval: Supplier is authorized to ship parts for limited time or limited quantity to customer.
Rejected: Products or services does not meet requirement & specification as per the PPAP requirements.
PPAP approval status
PPAP checks that any process changes has been properly designed & validated and resulting process is capable of producing part consistently under specification.
PPAP element should be a part of Quality Management System and it should not require extra effort because work required to manage internally changes has been implemented already in the process.
Reacting to later issue with product & services can be more expensive & time consuming.
PPAP Summary
Design Records: Copy of Drawing where each features and notes are ballooned and technical specification
Engineering Change document (if applicable): Outlines of any changes to the design
Customer Engineering Approval (if Required): Approval comes from sample or prototype production trial
Design FMEA: Look at the probability of part failure from design and their intended effect on the function of product.
Process Flow Diagram: Graphical outlines of all steps & sequences of manufacturing process for a part from start to finish to meet customer requirement & needs.
Process FMEA: Look at the possibility of failure in process parameters & their effect on function of product.
Control Plan: Control plan is the written description of system for controlling production parts & processes. The control plan is living document & should be updated to reflect the addition/deletion controls based on experienced gain by production parts.
MSA Studies: It is a statistical method to show variation in measurement system, includes Gauge R&R, Linearity, Stability, Bias & Kappa Value.
Dimensional Results: Shows physical part measurement meets drawing requirement.
Material & Performance Test Results: A summary of all test specified in drawing.
Initial Process Studies: Includes SPC charts & Capability index to show process stability & capability
Qualified Laboratory Documents: Shows certification & documentation of testing agency used to generate reports.
Appearance Approval Report: An AAR is for the physical appearance only. It certifies that parts meet customer aesthetic & design requirement.
Sample Product: Sample from initial production run.
Master Sample: A sample which is signed off by customer & supplier to tarin operator & inspection of parameters like visual
Checking Aids: List of special tools for checking parts which show a picture of tools & calibration records, including dimensional report of tools.
Records of compliance with with customer specific requirements: Any checklist to show fulfilment of customer specific requirement
Part Submission Warrant: A form that summarize the whole PPAP package for a part.