![Advisera Strahinja Stojanovic](https://advisera.com/wp-content/uploads/blog_authors/strahinjastojanovic.jpg)
September 13, 2017
Listening to the voice of the customer is what Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) is all about. The purpose of APQP is to get a clear understanding of customer wants, needs, and expectations regarding the product, and to develop necessary plans to ensure customer product expectations are met in every way.
Failures are always possible when designing a complex product. APQP provides organizations with a structured process to ensure customer satisfaction with new products or processes.
In order to implement a Quality Management System (QMS) according to IATF 16949, an organization needs to implement APQP, because it incorporates five core tools that the standard requires (for more information, see: What are the five core tools of IATF 16949?). Even if you exclude design and development of products, IATF 16949 doesn’t allow the exclusion of design and development of processes, so APQP is still a valuable tool. APQP will minimize the risks inherent to the production processes, such as process failures, and effective risk management brings better quality control and business success.
Major players in the automotive industry started using APQP during the late 1980s. General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler all had an APQP deployment and saw the need to come together to create a common core of product quality planning principles for suppliers. Considering the importance of supply chains to the automotive industry, the aim was to ensure that supplier partners also met the demands of customers in terms of quality.
As a result, these manufacturers created a set of guidelines in the early 1990s to ensure that APQP is applied in a standardized way. Since then, APQP has gained momentum and the interest of manufacturers in many industries. The latest update of the APQP guidelines was published in 2008.
APQP is meant to cover all automotive OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) requirements for planning activities into one process. Suppliers apply APQP to ensure the quality of their new products and to drive continual improvement.
APQP provides a framework for a structured approach to product and process design. It represents a standardized set of quality requirements that enable suppliers to design a product that satisfies the customer. The primary goal of product quality planning is to facilitate communication and collaboration between engineering activities.
APQP requires the engagement of a Cross Functional Team (CFT) that includes marketing, product design, procurement, manufacturing, and distribution. The objective is to ensure a clear understanding of the Voice of the Customer (VOC), and to translate it into requirements, technical specifications, and special characteristics.
APQP provides a standardized way of sharing results between suppliers and automotive companies, as well as guidelines for an effective development process. APQP comprises three basic phases: Development, Industrialization, and Product Launch.
The aim of APQP is to enable an organization to achieve one task, and that is to develop a product quality plan for developing and producing products aligned with customer requirements. According to APQP standards, this planning uses a five-phase process that includes:
APQP supports the never-ending pursuit of continual improvement. The first three sections of APQP focus on planning and prevention, and make up 80% of the APQP process. The fourth and fifth sections support the remaining 20% of APQP, and focus on validation and evidence. The fifth section specifically allows an organization to communicate its findings and provide feedback to further develop the standard and processes. A list of APQP benefits are:
Besides the requirements of IATF 16949, all these benefits make APQP appealing to organizations that are not part of the automotive industry, but want to improve their design and development process.
Use this free IATF 16949:2016 Implementation Diagram to learn when to use APQP during IATF 16949:2016 implementation.