If you have worked in a manufacturing environment you may have heard of the acronym PPAP, a process primarily used in the automotive industry. As the manufacturing industry becomes increasingly competitive and risk averse, more companies have begun to use the PPAP methodology in order to consistently provide high-quality products year after year, to maintain an advantage over the competition. So, what is PPAP and how can your company, regardless of the industry, enjoy its benefit in order to maintain a distinct competitive edge?
Origins and Purpose
PPAP, or Production Part Approval Process, was developed by the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) in 1993 to create a “standard method” as part of the Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) process. PPAP promotes the use of common production engineering principals, requirements, terminology and forms to document a project from design conception through full scale production manufacturing. More specifically, PPAP was developed to provide objective evidence and verification to ensure that a component supplier has built their production processes in-line with the client’s requirements and specifications to minimize or eliminate the risk of product failure.
The Purpose of the PPAP is to:
- Ensure that a supplier can meet a customer’s manufacturing and quality requirements for their products.
- Prove, with objective evidence, that the supplier fulfilled all customer specifications and engineering drawing requirements.
- Verify that the supplier can successfully manufacture the customer’s product using their established and approved manufacturing process.
SRI’s PPAP Process Today
Since 1993, the Production Part Approval Process has expanded into many other industries including aerospace, agricultural, commercial, and food & beverage manufacturing.
Specialty Resources uses the PPAP methodology for all of our customers, regardless of what industry they operate in, even when our customers don’t require it. SRI knows that PPAP addresses and eliminates risks at the start of any product development project and assures that repeatable high-quality products will meet customers’ expectations lot after lot, throughout the production life-cycle. All SRI PPAP documentation is maintained and controlled by our in-house Quality Engineering Department located at our Chester Springs facility.
To learn more about our SRI’s Quality Engineering function, click here to visit our Quality Control page. You can also visit the AIAG website at www.aiag.org to learn more about the Production Part Approval Process.
About the Author:
Dominick Esposito is the Director of Quality at Specialty Resources. He has led quality and engineering initiatives with start-ups and major medical, aerospace, semiconductor and automotive manufacturing companies throughout his career. Dom holds a mechanical engineering degree and is responsible for several design patents.