Advanced product quality planning (APQP)

APQP came out of the American auto industry in the late 1980s, when Ford, GM, and Chrysler standardized through AIAG how hundreds of suppliers should develop parts. The five phases run alongside the customer's new product introduction timeline, and each closes on deliverables: design goals and a preliminary bill of materials in phase 1, a design FMEA and verification plan in phase 2, process flows, process FMEA, and control plans in phase 3, capability studies and measurement system analysis in phase 4, and stabilized production with reduced inspection in phase 5.

The exit gate is the production part approval process: the evidence package proving the supplier's process makes conforming parts at rate. Aerospace runs the same logic through AS9145, with first article inspection in place of PPAP, which is why procurement leaders moving from automotive to aerospace find the framework familiar under different names.

APQP fails when it is treated as paperwork assembled in the two weeks before launch. It works when deliverables start at sourcing kickoff and suppliers show evidence at each gate, not a binder at the end. Procurement teams coordinate the commercial side of a launch in LightSource, keeping supplier quotes, tooling timelines, and qualification status in one place as the gates close.

Frequently asked questions

What is APQP in simple terms?

Advanced product quality planning, or APQP, is a five-phase framework for launching new products with quality engineered in from the start: planning, product design and development, process design and development, product and process validation, and production launch with feedback. It ties engineering, quality, and suppliers to defined deliverables at each phase so problems surface during development instead of after start of production.

Where did APQP come from?

APQP came out of the North American automotive industry in the late 1980s, when Ford, GM, and Chrysler standardized through AIAG how hundreds of suppliers should develop parts. The five phases run alongside the customer's new product introduction timeline, with each phase closing on defined deliverables.

What are the deliverables in each APQP phase?

Phase 1 closes on design goals and a preliminary bill of materials, phase 2 on a design FMEA and verification plan, phase 3 on process flows, process FMEA, and control plans, phase 4 on capability studies and measurement system analysis, and phase 5 on stabilized production with reduced inspection. Each gate is meant to close on evidence, with the timeline planned backward from start of production.

What is the difference between APQP and PPAP?

APQP is the five-phase development framework, while the production part approval process, PPAP, is the evidence package at the end proving the supplier's process makes conforming parts at rate. PPAP is the exit gate that closes an APQP program rather than a competing methodology.

Does APQP apply outside automotive?

Aerospace runs the same logic through AS9145, with first article inspection taking the place of PPAP. Procurement leaders moving from automotive to aerospace tend to find the framework familiar under different names, since the gates and deliverables follow the same development arc.

Why do APQP programs fail?

APQP fails when it is treated as paperwork assembled in the two weeks before launch. It works when deliverables start at sourcing kickoff and suppliers show evidence at each gate rather than presenting a binder at the end. Catching failure modes on paper is the payoff: one process FMEA flagged porosity risk that cost $14,000 to fix in the die, versus an estimated $38,000 a year in scrap had it reached production.