Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) is a structured method of defining and establishing the steps necessary to ensure that a product satisfies the customer. Effective product quality planning depends on a company’s top management’s commitment to the effort required in meeting customer specifications.

APQP serves as a guide in the development process and also a standard way to share results between suppliers and automotive companies. APQP specifies 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.

The APQP topics cover such aspects as:

• design robustness,
• design testing and
• specification compliance,
• production process design,
• quality inspection standards,
• process capability,
• production capacity,
• product packaging,
• product testing and
• operator training plan, plus other requirements.

APQP focuses on:

• Up-front quality planning
• Determining if customers are satisfied by evaluating the output and supporting continual improvement

APQP consists of five phases:

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

There are five major activities:

• Planning
• Product Design and Development
• Process Design and Development
• Product and Process Validation
• Production

The APQP process has seven major elements:

• Understanding the needs of the customer
• Proactive feedback and corrective action
• Designing within the process capabilities
• Analyzing and mitigating failure modes
• Verification and validation
• Design reviews
• Control special or critical characteristics.