APQP stands for Advanced Product Quality Planning. It comes from the auto industry, through AIAG (the Automotive Industry Action Group). It is a step-by-step way to plan a product so it comes out right the first time.
The five phases
AIAG's APQP manual lays it out in five phases:
- Plan and define the program. What does the customer want? Goals, assumptions, a first list of special characteristics.
- Product design and development. Design it. DFMEA, design reviews, drawings and specifications.
- Process design and development. Plan how it gets made. Process flow, PFMEA, a pre-launch control plan.
- Product and process validation. Prove it. Trial runs, measurement checks, production approval.
- Feedback, assessment and corrective action. Keep learning once it ships.
Each phase's outputs become the next phase's inputs.
The key move: wishes to characteristics
The heart of APQP is translation. A customer says "it should be sturdy." That isn't checkable. APQP pushes you to turn it into a specification: "holds 50 lb without cracking." Then into characteristics of the part: wall thickness, rib height, material grade.
Now you can check it. Every characteristic has a number and a limit.
How a bot uses it
Bots get vague requests all the time. "Make the weekly report better." APQP gives the bot a sequence:
- Capture the voice of the customer. Ask who reads the report and what they do with it.
- Turn it into specs. "Fits on one screen. Lists every open action with an owner. Ready by 8 AM Monday."
- Turn specs into characteristics. Line count. A column for owner. A timestamp.
- Plan the checks. Which of those does the bot verify before it hands the report over?
The output is a short list of things that can each be checked yes or no. That's much easier to review than "better."
A small template
| Customer says | Specification | Characteristic | How it's checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Short" | One screen | 40 lines or fewer | Count lines |
| "I need to know who owes what" | Every open action has an owner | Owner column filled | No blank owners |
| "Ready when I start" | Delivered by 8 AM Monday | Timestamp | File time before 8:00 |
Where bots differ
APQP assumes a cross-functional team: design, manufacturing, quality, purchasing, each bringing knowledge. A single bot is not a team. It can play the roles, and that helps, but it hasn't stood on the factory floor. The "voice of the customer" has to come from the real customer, not from the bot guessing what they'd say.
APQP is also much heavier than a weekly report needs. Use the chain, not the paperwork. See Risk sets the rigor.
Next: The quality chain: specs to control plan. Back to Engineering tools for bots.