For automotive and other regulated suppliers, PPAP is the gate between making a part and being allowed to ship it in volume. If the customer has not approved your PPAP, you are not in production, however good the parts look. It is one of the most important and most misunderstood requirements in supplier quality. This guide explains what PPAP is, the elements that go into a submission, the five submission levels, and how it fits with APQP.
PPAP (Production Part Approval Process) is a standardized way for a supplier to demonstrate, with evidence, that it can manufacture a part that consistently meets the customer's requirements at production volume and rate. It was developed through the AIAG and is a core expectation under IATF 16949. The deliverable is a package of documents, usually with sample parts, that the customer reviews and either approves, approves on an interim basis, or rejects.
The core question PPAP answers is not "is this one sample good?" but "has the supplier understood every requirement, and is the production process capable of meeting them repeatedly?"
A PPAP submission is typically triggered by events such as:
Whenever something material changes, the customer wants fresh proof that the process still makes conforming parts.
A full PPAP can include up to 18 elements. The exact set depends on the part and the customer, but they commonly include:
Not every document is physically sent to the customer. PPAP defines five levels that set how much is actually submitted versus retained at the supplier:
The customer specifies the level. Level 3 is the most frequently requested because it balances thorough evidence with practicality.
PPAP does not stand alone. It is the formal output of APQP (Advanced Product Quality Planning). The FMEAs, control plan, MSA, and capability studies created across the APQP phases are exactly the elements a PPAP package pulls together. If APQP is done well, assembling the PPAP is largely a matter of organizing work you have already done. If APQP is skipped or rushed, PPAP becomes a scramble.
The parts of a PPAP that cause the most delay are usually the data-heavy ones: dimensional results, MSA, and initial process capability studies. When that data is collected by hand and compiled into spreadsheets at the last minute, submissions are slow and prone to questions about accuracy. When production and quality data are captured straight from the line through real-time monitoring, the capability studies behind a PPAP are based on real, traceable process data, and re-submissions after a change become much faster to produce.
This is the same principle that underpins everything downstream: clean, structured, real-time operational data is the foundation that makes capability analysis, audits, and any future predictive or AI work trustworthy. Fix the data layer and PPAP stops being a fire drill.
APQP is the planning process used throughout product development. PPAP is the package of evidence submitted at the end to prove the production process can make conforming parts. APQP creates the evidence; PPAP submits it for approval.
The Part Submission Warrant is the summary cover document of a PPAP package. It records the part details, the reason for submission, and the supplier's declaration that the parts meet requirements. Every PPAP level includes a PSW.
A full PPAP can include up to 18 elements, though the exact set submitted depends on the part and the customer's required submission level.
Level 3, which includes the part submission warrant, product samples, and complete supporting data, is the most commonly requested default.
The capability and dimensional data behind a PPAP are only as good as how they were captured. Fabrico collects production and quality data directly from your machines in real time and keeps it clean and structured, so the capability studies and process evidence a PPAP needs are ready when you are. Book a short demo to see how it would streamline your submissions.
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