A production part approval process (PPAP) is used by companies to establish confidence and rules in a production process. In a sense, it gives customers a view into their suppliers’ manufacturing capabilities.

A PPAP is required when there is a new part, engineering changes, tooling changes, discrepancy corrections are made, or there are part production changes to a different or additional location. Each of these require the supplier to prove that the change has not affected its capabilities. PPAPs are now used throughout the automotive industry and are spreading into other areas of manufacturing.

Customers want the reassurance of knowing that they are getting what they asked for, and that there are controls in place to monitor the quality of the work and any changes that are made. They want to be assured that the supplier has the capability of controlling its processes as well as the capability of producing the amount of parts needed.

PPAPs are great agreements and references for both the customer and the supplier. However, PPAPs are not standard and can change depending on the industry and even the individual customer. Taking a deeper look, here is how PPAPs affect the supplier.

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