At Forward Industrial, we have been carrying out the Production Part
Approval Process (PPAP) for over 10 years. This vital and long-established
process in the automotive supply chain was designed to make sure that any
supplied parts are fit to use.
After 10 years of carrying out the process I have noticed that
there are a low number of customers who actually follow the requirements of
PAPP fully, no matter what the product. It’s not unusual for us to be sent a
drawing and be asked for a quote on a particular type of fastener – without
being told how important the fastener is to the safety of the product. And the
further we go down the supply chain, the lack of understanding becomes even
greater and we then have customers asking us to carry out PPAP retrospectively.
This is when problems and frustrations arise and I believe
customers need to start embracing the principles of PPAP in order for the
process to not become a meaningless process.
When things go wrong in the specification and supply of components
such as bolts and fasteners, they have the potential of going disastrously
wrong and there are examples in the automotive industry of where this has
happened. Along with a safety risk, it will also mean costly product
recalls and damage to the reputation of the product.
These are extreme situations and a day-to-day occurrence for us but
it is a situation that could be easily avoided, and it doesn’t matter how far
along the supply chain you operate, as long as the requirements of PPAP are
understood.
It all comes down to lack of information so don’t leave us
guessing. Give us all of the information up front and we can ensure that the
product we supply has been fully evaluated against the requirements for its
performance.
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