PPAP and APQP
The five development phases, the submission elements, the numbered submission levels, and which of the evidence a supplier can keep as a by-product of running the run.
APQP is the automotive product development framework, structured as five phases from programme planning through feedback and corrective action. PPAP is the submission at the end of it, proving the production process can make parts that meet the design record consistently at the quoted rate. Approval is granted part by part by the customer, not by an auditor.
A structured planning method and an approval package that together prove a supplier can produce a part consistently at the quoted rate.
Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG)
Suppliers of production and service parts at every tier, for any part that is new, changed, or made by a changed process, tool, or location. The customer's notification table decides when a resubmission is needed, and it catches more changes than most suppliers assume, including a new source for a subcomponent.
There is no certificate. PPAP approval is a customer decision, recorded on a Part Submission Warrant that the customer signs with full approval, interim approval, or rejection. Interim approval is time-limited or quantity-limited and requires an action plan. Shipping without approval is a breach of the purchase order.
Suppliers at every tier of the automotive supply chain, before a part is approved for production.
| Requirement | Module | What It Does |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensional and material test results | Quality | Two of the submission elements are dimensional results and material or performance test results for the parts off the run. Inspection templates define the characteristics to check and AQL sampling plans set how many parts get checked, with results entered against the operation and the lot already attached. The ballooned drawing, the layout inspection form, and the laboratory scope documentation that has to accompany test results are not generated by WorkCell. What you get is the measured values with the part, the lot and the operator already attached, which is the part teams usually transcribe twice. |
| The significant production run itself | Production | PPAP parts have to come from a significant production run at production tooling, gaging, process, materials, operators, environment and rate, over a duration and a part quantity your customer's PPAP requirement specifies rather than you. Operators clock on to the operation and record quantity, scrap and time at the machine, which gives you the actual duration, the actual yield and the actual sequence the run was made under rather than a reconstruction. |
| Records of design and process revision | Engineering | The design record and the process flow behind the submission are versioned and effective-dated, and a new revision supersedes rather than overwrites, so you can show which structure and operation sequence the submitted run was made to. That matters most at resubmission, when the customer asks what actually changed. This is revision control, not a routed engineering change approval, and the PPAP package itself is not assembled or submitted from WorkCell. Customer portals, warrant generation and the submission workflow are all outside the system, as is the design record itself. |
| Part and lot traceability for the submitted run | Inventory | The submitted sample parts and the master sample have to be identifiable years later. Receiving records the material lot and the certificate that came with it, every issue to a job preserves the link, and completions assign serials, so the parts in the customer's hands resolve back to the heat they came from. Material certificates store against the item and the lot rather than living in a supplier email thread. |
| Rate and capacity the run was quoted at | Production | PPAP asks you to demonstrate the quoted rate, and APQP phase four exists to validate it. Finite capacity scheduling plans against real machine and labour capacity rather than infinite capacity, and proposal runs let a planner test a sequence before committing it. Material planning nets the demand behind that run against on-hand and open orders, so the component availability side of a capacity demonstration comes from the same plan as the labour side. |
| Corrective action feedback into phase five | Quality | APQP phase five is feedback, assessment and corrective action, which in practice means what the run taught you about variation and what you did about it. Severity-classified nonconformances and 8-D corrective actions attach to the job and lot that generated them, with the dates on each step. The measured values the initial process study and its Ppk rest on are captured against the designated characteristic at the operation, so the statistical half and the corrective action half come from the same run. |
The warrant is the cover sheet: part number, design record level, submission reason, submission level, and the declaration that the parts meet all requirements. The customer wants it signed by an authorised supplier representative and matched to the retained set behind it. WorkCell holds the records the submission is assembled from — the design record level in effect, the dimensional and material results, the nonconformances, the capacity evidence and the approved sources — so the warrant and the retained set read from the same place.
Not a summary sheet saying everything passed. The reviewer wants measured values for each designated characteristic, identified to the individual parts they came from, with the design record level in effect. Results recorded at the operation with the lot and routing revision already attached make that an export of existing records rather than a transcription exercise across spreadsheets.
Measurable characteristics the customer designated as special need an initial process study, typically expressed as Ppk, with a defined action if the index falls short. The measured values the study runs on are captured against the designated characteristic at the operation, with the gage and the inspector named, so the index and the measurement system analysis behind it are computed from recorded readings rather than from a separate log.
Two of the submission elements are the process FMEA and the production control plan, and a reviewer reads them against each other: every high-severity failure mode should appear as a control. WorkCell authors neither. What it holds is the inspection and nonconformance evidence showing the controls were executed, which is a different artefact from the plans themselves.
The supplier keeps the full package and the master sample for the length of time the part is active for production and service, as the customer's retention requirement defines it, and has to produce them on request. Effective-dated versions keep the as-built structure retrievable. The physical master sample, its storage and its labelling are a shop-floor discipline no system solves for you.
What are the PPAP submission levels?
The levels are numbered, and each sets how much of the package you send the customer and how much you keep on file to produce on request. Your customer names the level part by part, usually in its supplier requirements, so confirm it in writing before you assemble anything or submit.
What is the difference between APQP and PPAP?
APQP is the process; PPAP is the deliverable. APQP runs five phases from programme planning through product and process design, validation and feedback. PPAP is the evidence package submitted at the end of validation, proving the production process makes conforming parts at rate. You cannot do PPAP well without APQP underneath it.
Does a system do our PPAP for us?
No. No software confers approval, and PPAP approval is granted by your customer, part by part, on a signed warrant. WorkCell holds dimensional results, material certificates, run quantities and lot traceability. Assembling the package, authoring the control plan and PFMEA, and submitting it remain your work.
When does a part need resubmission?
Whenever the design record, the process, the tooling, the material source or the manufacturing location changes, plus after a production interruption of the length your customer specifies. The customer's notification table governs, and it catches more than suppliers expect, including a new supplier for a purchased subcomponent. Notify before you ship.
What counts as a significant production run?
Parts must come from a run made with production tooling, gaging, process, materials, operators, environment and rate, which is the point: the run proves the process, not the parts. The duration and the quantity come from your customer's PPAP requirement, so get both confirmed in writing by your authorised customer representative.
Keep the records as the work happens.
Tell us which PPAP elements your team rebuilds by hand each submission and we will tell you straight which of them WorkCell would already hold.