Contributions concerning the possibility of implementing the APQP concept in the aerospace industry

Abstract

Abstract. To ensure customer satisfaction, the products made by aviation, space and defense organizations need to be continuously improved from the point of view of safety, security, reliability and maintainability. The improvement goal is to be at the customers' requirements and legislations level, if not even to overcome it. The occurring problem with the final products is the challenge to ensure their quality in a shorter time. In this research the importance of implementing the APQP concept in the aeronautical industry is highlighted. To achieve this purpose, the methodologies needed to ensure that the product development processes of the aviation, space and defense industry are fully integrated processes ranging from concept and design to planning, manufacturing and production, aiming the product good use, a quality service and finally getting a positive customer feedback. The final goal of this concept implementing is the Production Part Approval Process (PPAP), which is actually the main result of APQP confirming that the manufacturing process has demonstrated the potential to achieve products that consistently fulfil absolutely all the expressed and not expressed customer requirements.

Exploring EN 9100: current key results and future opportunities – a study in the Spanish aerospace industry

“…The APQP proposed the integration of quality principles from design to series manufacturing focused on the product, not the quality system, and applied to each of the products individually or to product families. Its use can change the way the company works, since all departments related to the design, development, manufacturing, and logistics of products must work together (Oberhausen et al, 2018).…”

“…More than half of the interviewees do not find that the EN 9100 framework can help in this development. However, several tools already used in quality management and required by the 9100 certification are integrated in the APQP, such as Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (DFMEA), Process Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (PFMEA), and First Article Inspection (Pop et al, 2018). Each of the phases of the PDCA cycle is based on risk management, as is the new edition of the EN 9100 (Quality One, 2019).…”

Regarding Quality Management System in Aerospace Industry Organizations

“…3. The IAQG standard overview [13] In addition to the Quality management system, the big aircraft producers develop their own set of requirements, which can overlap to the IAQG standard.…”