PPAP for wiring harnesses: documents and the series release process
Before a wiring harness goes into series production, many customers want evidence that the design and the manufacturing process meet the requirements consistently. That is exactly what the Production Part Approval Process provides.
What is PPAP?
PPAP stands for Production Part Approval Process, in German roughly Produktionsteil-Freigabeverfahren. The procedure comes from the automotive industry (AIAG), where it is part of advance quality planning. Using defined documents and samples from series production, the supplier demonstrates that it has understood the customer requirements and can meet them consistently. In the German automotive sector, sampling to VDA volume 2 (PPF) is a comparable and widely used procedure.
The 18 elements
The PPAP standard describes 18 possible elements. Which of them are submitted depends on the agreed submission level, level 1 to 5:
- Design records and engineering change documents
- Customer engineering approval, where required
- Design FMEA and process FMEA
- Process flow diagram
- Control plan
- Measurement system analysis
- Dimensional results plus material and performance test results
- Initial process capability studies
- Test laboratory documentation
- Appearance approval, where applicable
- Samples from series production and master samples
- Test equipment
- Customer specific requirements
- Part submission warrant (PSW)
What this means for wiring harnesses
For wiring harnesses the focus is typically on the drawing and the bill of materials with their revision levels, the test plan covering crimp and electrical testing, dimensional reports on lengths and branches, crimp records such as crimp heights and cross section micrographs, and the results of the electrical test. Added to that are samples from the series process and the signed part submission warrant.
Which elements and which submission level apply is agreed before the project starts, ideally as early as the enquiry.
PPAP at Powertune
For series projects we prepare the documentation to PPAP and continue to support the series afterwards, with documented revision levels and complete batch and process traceability. More under Development & design and Testing & documentation.
