Want to know how bad the
current Supplier PPAP process is? Ask a
Supplier Quality Engineer.
Don’t believe them? Ask the
suppliers.
I recently came across an
interesting document - Production Part Approval Process Evaluation, A Case
Study at a Large OEM, Master’s Thesis in the Master Program Quality and
Operations Management, by Albert Rydström Joakim Viström, January 2020. (Source)
I felt compelled to share this
research because it clearly documents that Executives really don’t know how the
Supplier and internal Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) is full of waste
(non-lean) and variation (non-6 sigma) and is a barrier to Flawless Product
Launches and Zero Defect efforts.
Supplier PPAP is intended to minimize risk and reduce costs!
The research is clear. Want to know how bad the current Supplier
PPAP process is? Ask a Supplier Quality
Engineer! SQEs will tell you it is
highly administrative and perceived as non-value added.
Another aspect of this that can be linked to the high
administrative workload is the lack of system support in connection to PPAP.
This makes it hard for the SQEs to keep track of activities and manage the
incoming documents in a straightforward way. When historical documentation is
needed this also puts a strain on the SQEs since they need to go to the
supplier and ask for it. This was cumbersome by the SQEs and was deemed to
increase the administrative burden.
PPAP documentation handling was deemed to be
administrative, and it is an example of when the employees do not see the added
value for the end customer.
Anyone who has read my previous
articles, or attended my webinars, knows my focus on People, Process, then
Software (PeProSo). I am not suggesting
software solves all the People and Process issues documented in the research,
but I do know that trying to emphasize that PLM apps, highly engineered QMS
apps, just project management software, and Supplier Portals do not address the
People and Process issues. Simply
uploading spreadsheets to other systems does not work.
Why does uploading spreadsheets
not work? Because the Supplier and
SQEs know that it is viewed as a simple project management task that needs to
be checked off to ship parts. I had a
Supplier tell me that they simply take old spreadsheets, do a File Save As, and
simply change the part number and submit, because “the Customer never reviews
these documents.”
The most important reason is the
SQEs really want to help suppliers. SQEs
walk into a supplier that has been providing high precision machining,
stampings, plastic inject modelling, and more, for two to three generations and
they do not get PPAP. SQEs explain it is
not big deal, because what we are asking is part of your culture that makes you
successful. PPAP is just asking:
· How are your going to make it? (Process Flow)
· What are the risks? (PFMEA)
· How are you going to manage the risks? (Control Plan)
This is an opportunity to change from the Supplier / Sourcing conversation from “PPAP will cost you more” to “we have a robust PPAP process, do the low cost suppliers I am competing with have the same?”
Imagine the ability, when reviewing a Supplier MRB/NCM, to go into the PFMEA and see if either we did not even know about the risk, or we knew about the risk and simply missed it. Review Severity, Occurrence, and Detection values to drive a conversation with the Suppliers. The SQEs will love it.
Imagine the ability, when reviewing a Supplier CAR, to go into the PFMEA and look at the right side of the form to see Recommended Actions (Corrective Actions) to see RPN reduction.
If companies can provide a simple Supplier PPAP document authoring tool as a “baby step” that can be taken today and will be accepted by the SQE and Supply Chain. I know this because I have spent the last three years talking with hundreds of Suppliers and SQEs.
Here are the recommendations:
· Short Term - Focus on Improving Knowledge Sharing Internally and Externally
· Medium Term – Conduct an External Study and Implement IT System
By having a transparent communication channel, the OEM and supplier will be able to decrease
product development and PPAP risks.
Also, it will mitigate the risk of losing valuable information and
documentation from the supplier in case a SQE is absent or quits or is laid off.
The external study means asking Suppliers. The number of software purchase for Supplier
PPAP that fail is huge, because you never asked the Suppliers. Several software tools start with the DFMEA,
which of course, most Suppliers do not have design authority. This immediately turns them off.
Here is a software demo recording
that shows what a simple, yet powerful, next step to a relational database to
replace spreadsheets looks like, that was designed by Suppliers using
spreadsheets.
Need help convincing your
executive team? I can help.
John M. Cachat
PeProSo, LLC
jmc@peproso.com
