APQP

TS 16949 CORE TOOLS

Core tools 

It is noting but  understand the basic requirements of the ISO/TS 16949 Quality Management System Requirements, and the 5 Core Tools.

1. Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP)
2. Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)
3. Production Part Approval Process (PPAP)
4. Fundamental Statistical Process Control (SPC)
5. Measurement System Analysis (MSA)

Advanced product quality planning (or APQP) is a framework of procedures and techniques used to develop products in industry, particularly the automotive industry. 

It is a defined process for a product development system for General Motors, Ford, Chrysler and their suppliers. According to the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG), the purpose of APQP is "to produce a product quality plan which will support development of a product or service that will satisfy the customer." The process is described in the AIAG manual, 

History 

Advanced product quality planning is a process developed in the late 1980s by a commission of experts gathered from the 'Big Three' US automobile manufacturers: Ford, GM and Chrysler. This commission invested five years to analyze the then-current automotive development and production status in the US, Europe and especially in Japan. At the time, the success of the Japanese automotive companies was starting to be remarkable in the US market.

APQP is utilized today by these three companies and some affiliates. Tier I suppliers are typically required to follow APQP procedures and techniques and are also typically required to be audited and registered to ISO/TS 16949. This methodology is now being used in other manufacturing sectors as well.

The APQP process is defined in the AIAG's APQP manual, which is part of a series of interrelated documents that the AIAG controls and publishes. The basis for the make-up of a process control plan is included in the APQP manual.These manuals include:

• The failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) manual
• The statistical process control (SPC) manual
• The measurement systems analysis (MSA) manual
• The production part approval process (PPAP) manual

The Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) is a non-profit association of automotive companies founded in 1982.

[EDIT]MAIN CONTENT OF APQP

APQP serves as a guide in the development process and also a standard way to share results between suppliers and automotive companies. APQP specify three phases: Development, Industrialization and Product Launch. Through these phases 23 main topics will be monitored. These 23 topics will be all completed before the production is started. They cover aspects as: design robustness, design testing and specification compliance, production process design, quality inspection standards, process capability, production capacity, product packaging, product testing and operators training plan between other items.

APQP consists of five phases:

• Plan and Define Program
• Product Design and Development Verification
• Process Design and Development Verification
• Product and Process Validation
• Launch, Feedback, Assessment & Corrective Action

The Advanced Product Quality Planning process consists of four phases and five major activities along with ongoing feedback assessment and corrective action as shown below.

A further indication of the APQP process is to examine the process outputs by phase. This is shown in the table below:

The APQP process involves these major elements:

• Understand customer needs . This is done using voice of the customer techniques to determine customer needs and using quality function deployment to organize those needs and translate them into product characteristics/requirements.
• Proactive feedback & corrective action. The advance quality planning process provides feedback from other similar projects with the objective of developing counter-measures on the current project. Other mechanisms with verification and validation, design reviews, analysis of customer feedback and warranty data also satisfy this objective.
• Design within process capabilities. This objective assumes that the company has brought processes under statistical control, has determined its process capability and has communicated it process capability to its development personnel. Once this is done, development personnel need to formally determine that critical or special characteristics are within the enterprise's process capability or initiate action to improve the process or acquire more capable equipment.
• Analyze & mitigate failure modes. This is done using techniques such as failure modes and effects analysis or anticipatory failure determination.
• Verification & validation. Design verification is testing to assure that the design outputs meet design input requirements. Design verification may include activities such as: design reviews, performing alternate calculations, understanding tests and demonstrations, and review of design documents before release. Validation is the process of ensuring that the product conforms to defined user needs, requirements, and/or specifications under defined operating conditions. Design validation is performed on the final product design with parts that meet design intent. Production validation is performed on the final product design with parts that meet design intent produced production processes intended for normal production.
• Design reviews . Design reviews are formal reviews conducted during the development of a product to assure that the requirements, concept, product or process satisfies the requirements of that stage of development, the issues are understood, the risks are being managed, and there is a good business case for development. Typical design reviews include: requirements review, concept/preliminary design review, final design review, and a production readiness/launch review.
• Control special/critical characteristics. Special/critical characteristics are identified through quality function deployment or other similar structured method. Once these characteristics are understood, and there is an assessment that the process is capable of meeting these characteristics (and their tolerances), the process must be controlled. A control plan is prepared to indicate how this will be achieved. Control Plans provide a written description of systems used in minimizing product and process variation including equipment, equipment set-up, processing, tooling, fixtures, material, preventative maintenance and methods.