Advanced product quality planning (APQP) is a framework of procedures and techniques used to develop products in industry, particularly in the automotive industry. It is similar to the concept of Design for Six Sigma (DFSS).
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 topics must be completed before the production is started. They include the following aspects: 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.
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, and corrective action
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/critical characteristics
