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APQP checklist
APQP, advanced product quality planning, is a way of planning the quality of a new product before it goes into production. The work is split into five phases: plan and define, product design and development, process design and development, product and process validation, and feedback and corrective action. Each phase ends at a gate, a short review that asks whether the deliverables are done before the program moves on. This checklist lists 43 deliverables across the five phases in our own words, with a status, an owner, a due date and a place for the evidence. The Excel tracker flags late items, works out the percent complete for each phase and tracks the gate dates; the PDF is the printable version with a gate review record and a worked example. Your customer may require its own forms and dates, and where they differ, theirs win. This is general quality-planning knowledge, not the text of any manual.
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Program header fields above a table of the five phases, each with a gate question, planned and actual gate dates, a deliverables count, pass, conditional or fail circles and a sign-off column.Five phases and gates43 deliverablesStatus, owner and due dateLate flagPercent complete by phaseIssues logGate review recordWorked example
When to use it
When to use an APQP checklist
- When you are launching a new part or product for a customer who expects a planned launch, such as an automotive or other regulated-supply customer.
- When a launch is slipping and nobody can say which deliverable is holding it up.
- To run the gate reviews of a program with a single list instead of a separate status in each person's head.
- To plan the order of the quality documents: the FMEAs, the control plan, the gauge studies, the capability study and the part approval package.
- Not for day-to-day production control, which belongs on the control plan and the shop floor checks.
How to fill it in
- 1
Fill in the program header
Name the project, the customer, the part and its revision, the program owner and the start of production date. One owner, by name.
- 2
Set the gate dates backwards
Start from the start of production and work back. Give each of the five phases a planned gate date, and leave room after phase 4 for the production run and the customer's approval.
- 3
Give every deliverable an owner and a due date
Go down the list and put a name and a date against each item. Mark the ones that do not apply NA and write why, such as a customer waiver.
- 4
Update the status as work moves
Use four states: not started, in work, done and not applicable. Done means the evidence exists and someone can find it, not that it is nearly finished.
- 5
Hold the gate review on evidence
Before each gate count the done items, review the open ones and decide: pass, conditional pass with named actions and dates, or fail. Record the decision and the sign-off.
- 6
Log late items the same day
Anything late, blocked or at risk goes on the issues list with an owner and a date. A conditional pass carries its open items onto the same list.
What's on the checklist
The 43 deliverables in the five APQP phases
Each phase ends at a gate. On the sheet every deliverable has a status (not started, in work, done or not applicable), an owner, a due date and a note of where the evidence is kept; the gate is passed when the phase's deliverables are done or marked not applicable.
Phase 1: Plan and define
Gate question: do we know what the customer needs, and can we commit to it?
- 1Customer requirements written down: function, appearance, volume, price target and delivery dates
- 2Design goals agreed: function, weight, cost and appearance targets
- 3Reliability and quality targets agreed, such as life, failure rate and defect rate or yield
- 4Preliminary bill of materials with the long lead-time parts flagged
- 5Preliminary process flow from receiving to shipping
- 6Preliminary list of special characteristics (safety, fit and function features that need tighter control)
- 7Benchmarking and lessons from earlier programs reviewed
- 8Program timing plan with gates, milestones and the start of production date
- 9Cross-functional team named and management support confirmed
Phase 2: Product design and development
Gate question: is the design proven and released, and is it possible to make?
- 10Design FMEA completed, with the high-risk failure modes actioned
- 11Design for manufacture and assembly review held
- 12Design verification results recorded against the requirements
- 13Prototype build done and a prototype control plan written, if prototypes are needed
- 14Engineering drawings and specifications released at a known revision
- 15Material and performance specifications agreed
- 16Special characteristics confirmed on the drawing
- 17New equipment, tooling and facility needs listed with owners and dates
- 18Gauge and test equipment needs listed
- 19Team feasibility review signed: the part can be made to the drawing at the volume
Phase 3: Process design and development
Gate question: is the process designed, with its risks and controls written down?
- 20Packaging standard and specification agreed
- 21Full process flow diagram, step by step
- 22Floor plan and material flow drawn
- 23Process FMEA completed, with the high-risk steps actioned
- 24Pre-launch control plan written
- 25Process instructions and work standards written
- 26Measurement system analysis plan and gauge plan written
- 27Process capability study plan written for the special characteristics
- 28Tooling and equipment installation and tryout schedule set
- 29Operator training plan written
Phase 4: Product and process validation
Gate question: does a production run prove the process meets the requirements?
- 30Production trial run done at the planned rate, with production tools, people and gauges
- 31Measurement system studies completed for the gauges in the control plan
- 32Process capability shown for the special characteristics
- 33Production part approval package submitted to the customer
- 34Production validation testing passed
- 35Packaging evaluated on a real shipment
- 36Production control plan signed off
- 37Quality planning sign-off and management support recorded
Phase 5: Feedback and corrective action
Gate question: is the launch stable, and what did we learn?
- 38Variation on the special characteristics watched after launch and reduced where needed
- 39Customer satisfaction and delivery performance reviewed
- 40Launch problems closed with corrective actions
- 41Lessons learned written down and fed back into the FMEA library and the next program
- 42Service and spare part support set up, if the part is serviced
- 43Program closed out with the final results reviewed
A filled-in example
Illustrative, not a benchmarkAn example (illustrative): a made-up supplier launching a stamped bracket, checked about three months before the third gate.
- Phases 1 and 2 are done and passed. One deliverable in phase 2 is marked not applicable because the customer waived prototypes.
- Phase 3 has ten deliverables and seven are done, so it is 70% complete.
- Two deliverables are late and shown in amber: the process FMEA revision after the die trial (14 days) and the gauge plan (6 days).
- Phases 4 and 5 are not started and not yet due, so they are not counted as late.
- Overall, 25 of the 42 deliverables that apply are done, about 60%.
The gate for phase 3 is flagged at risk two weeks before it is due, while there is still time to add people or move the gate.
Common mistakes
Treating the gate as a formality
A gate that always passes teaches the team to stop reporting problems. Pass only on evidence and use a conditional pass, with dates, when something is open.
Marking items done without evidence
If nobody can find the FMEA or the gauge study, it is not done. Write where the proof is kept in the evidence column.
Planning the gates forward from today
Dates set forward from the start of design leave no buffer before launch. Work back from the start of production and let the early phases absorb the slack.
Leaving the gauge and capability work to the end
The measurement plan, the gauge studies and the capability study need parts and gauges that take time to arrive. Plan them in phase 3, not the week before approval.
Ignoring the customer's own requirements
A generic checklist is a start. Add the customer's required forms, submission levels and dates, and follow theirs where they differ.
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Run this template in LeanSuite
In LeanSuite quality issues are logged as tags, ranked in the QA Matrix and traced to their root cause, and digital instructions and checklists with number limits, required photos and signatures build quality into every task.
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FAQ
APQP checklist: common questions
APQP stands for advanced product quality planning. It is a structured way to plan a new product's quality before production starts, using five phases that each end at a gate review. It is widely used by automotive suppliers and other manufacturers with demanding customers.
Plan and define, product design and development, process design and development, product and process validation, and feedback and corrective action. This checklist lists the deliverables of each phase in our own words.
APQP is the whole planning process for a new product. PPAP, the production part approval process, is the evidence package a supplier submits to the customer, mostly in phase 4. The PPAP is one deliverable inside the APQP.
No. It is a general checklist for planning and tracking. Your customer may require specific forms, submission levels and dates, and where they differ you follow theirs. Add any customer-specific items in the spare rows.
Every deliverable that applies is done, with evidence that someone can find, and the percent complete for the phase is 100%. If something is still open, give a conditional pass with named actions, owners and dates, and log them on the issues list.
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- Fault tree analysis templateA drawing area with the FTA symbols, an event table with probabilities and minimal cut sets, and the gates worked out bottom-up in Excel.
- 5G investigation sheetConfirm the facts before naming a cause: 5W1H, the five G's with 20 prompts, the gap against the principle and the standard, and the countermeasures.
- Yokoten tracker (horizontal deployment)Copy a proven improvement line by line: the source result, each candidate's own before and after, its share of the source's improvement and the standard updated.
- Coaching kata template (improvement kata storyboard)The learner's storyboard (target condition, current condition, obstacles, PDCA cycles) and a fold-over card with the coach's five questions.
- SMART goals templateWrite a goal, test it against the five SMART letters, then track progress toward the target against the time used.
- Lean readiness assessment templateTwenty statements in four factors, scored 1 to 5 by several people on their own, with averages, the spread between them and the actions.
- Nemawashi template (stakeholder plan)Plan the one-to-one conversations before a decision: who to talk to in what order, their concerns, what changed and where they stand.
- Breakdown analysis reportOne equipment breakdown from the stop to the 90-day check, plus a breakdown log with repeat flags, MTBF and MTTR by asset and a Pareto of causes.
- Heijunka box planner (production leveling)Weekly demand turned into containers a day, takt, pitch and slots, a leveled sequence of products and the heijunka box, with a check that the changeovers fit.
- Future state value stream map worksheetThe eight future-state questions worked through in order: takt, pitch, flow, supermarkets, the pacemaker and the mix, with an EPEI check and current against future lead time.
- Value stream plan (VSM action plan)The future-state map cut into loops, each with an objective and a measurable goal, and its kaizen bursts turned into owned, dated projects on a 12-month timeline.
- Kaizen project plan (Gantt chart)One improvement project as a Gantt chart: tasks by phase with owners, predecessors and working days, a 16-week grid, milestones and a status from planned against actual % done.
- Escalation matrix templateWho is called for each type of issue and after how long, with severity rules, contacts and an escalation log.
- Visual management audit checklist29 checks of whether anyone can tell normal from abnormal at a glance, scored by group, with a trend and actions.
- Employee recognition program templateDesign a recognition program on one page, then run it: points per action, prizes, budget, a points ledger, a monthly leaderboard and a fairness check by team and shift.
- Lean transformation roadmapA plant-wide lean program on one sheet: six phases with exit criteria, six workstreams by quarter over 24 months, the model line, metrics with baseline and target, cadence and risks.
- Obeya room plannerPlan the walls, owners, cadence, agenda and rules of an obeya, then run the weekly review of KPIs, problems, actions and milestones.
- Continuous improvement software evaluation scorecardCompare CI software vendors: a must-have gate, eight weighted criteria scored 1 to 5, points out of 100 and a rank, with a demo script and reference questions.
- Lean principles assessment templateThe five lean principles as 25 things you can see on one value stream, answered yes, partly or no on a walk, with a score per principle, the next step and a trend over walks.
- Employee engagement survey templateA short anonymous pulse survey for shop floor staff: 14 statements in six drivers, two open questions, results by driver and team, and the actions.
- Hansei reflection sheet (lessons learned)A written look back at one finished project, event or launch: goals against results in numbers, causes rather than blame, lessons to keep or change, and where else they apply.
- Safety cross calendarA month drawn as the green cross, colored each day by the most serious safety event, with totals and days since the last injury.
- Daily kaizen routine boardA team's 10 to 15 minute daily routine at the board: one problem from each person, small fixes with one owner, counted every week.
- Weekly maintenance schedule templateNext week's maintenance jobs, scheduled only when ready, loaded against each craft's hours by day, with schedule compliance and break-ins at week end.
- Operational excellence assessment templateThe ten principles of operational excellence as 30 behaviors and practices you can see, scored 1 to 5 by several people, with the spread, the three lowest principles and an action plan.
- Scrum meeting agenda templateTimed agendas for the five scrum meetings, a sprint planning sheet, a retrospective sheet, and an Excel sprint backlog with a burndown.
- Toyota Production System (TPS) house templateThe TPS house for one plant or value stream: roof, two pillars and foundation, with what you do today, the evidence, a status and the next step for each element.
- EPEI and batch size calculatorHow often each part can come round on a shared machine (EPEI) and how big each batch must be, from demand, cycle times and changeovers, now and after SMED.
- Process capacity sheet templateEach machine in a part's routing with manual, auto and tool change time, its capacity per shift, and the step that limits the cell against demand.
- Team charter templateA one-page charter for a standing team: purpose, scope, roles, the KPIs it owns, which decisions it makes itself, norms and cadence.
- Chaku-chaku line plannerPlan a load-load cell: time each machine, load and walk, check that every machine is ready when the operator comes back, compare the cell cycle with takt and size the crew.
- Standard operating procedure (SOP) templateA full SOP in the hierarchical step format, from purpose and scope to the steps, records, revision history and approvals, with review checks and an SOP register.
- Process improvement method selectorEight questions about one problem, an example rule that suggests a method and a matrix of nine methods: when each fits, the usual team and time, and the template to start with.
- Safety pillar 90-day model area planThirteen weeks from the incident pyramid to safety standards on one model area, a KPI board, the day-90 gate and expansion waves.
- Autonomous maintenance 90-day model area planAM steps 0 to 3 on one model machine in 13 weeks, a KPI board, the day-90 gate and expansion waves for months 4 to 12.
- Professional maintenance (PM) 90-day model area planThirteen weeks from breakdown analysis to a running PM calendar on one model machine, a KPI board, the day-90 gate and expansion waves.
- Environment and energy pillar 90-day model area planThirteen weeks from waste and energy maps to area standards on one model area, a KPI board, the day-90 gate and expansion waves.
- Focused improvement 90-day model area planThirteen weeks from the loss Pareto to standardized fixes on one model line, a KPI board, the day-90 gate and expansion waves.
- Logistics and customer service pillar 90-day model area planThirteen weeks from the current-state map to pull on one model value stream, a KPI board, the day-90 gate and expansion waves.
- People development pillar 90-day model area planThirteen weeks from the skills matrix to trained cover on critical tasks in one model area, a KPI board, the day-90 gate and expansion waves.
- Cost deployment pillar 90-day model area planThirteen weeks from the loss map to costed, ranked projects in one model area, a KPI board, the day-90 gate and expansion waves.
- Moving from Excel to one system checklistA 34-point checklist and a file inventory for moving trackers from spreadsheets to one system: keep, move, connect or retire, clean, pilot, run both, retire.
- Prioritization matrix templateScore up to 20 improvement ideas on weighted criteria, rank them, test the ranking with equal weights and place each one on an effort and benefit grid.
- Cost per unit worksheet (manufacturing cost per good unit)One product's cost per good unit by materials, labor, machine and overhead, the gap to target, and which cost lever is worth most a year.
- Manufacturing KPI dashboard templateWeekly plant numbers in, 14 KPIs out: OEE and its parts, first pass yield, scrap, on-time delivery, recordable rate, cost and absence, each against a target.
- Training matrix template with expiry datesPeople by required trainings with expiry dates, OK, due, expired and missing flags, compliance by person and area, cover per training and a renewal list.
- Downtime reason codes template26 starter codes mapped to the six big losses, a log with drop-downs, a Pareto by code and by loss, and a code card for the line.
- Kaizen event preparation checklistEverything that has to be ready before a kaizen event and done after it: 44 items with owners and due dates from 6 weeks before day 1 to 30 days after, five go or no-go gates and a day-by-day agenda.
- Critical spare parts list and stocking levelsAssets ranked by consequence, each part classed and given a stocking policy, and min and max worked out from usage and lead time, with the downtime each stock-out would cost.
- Tier 2 meeting agenda and escalation sheetA 15-minute tier 2 agenda in ten timed blocks, fixed roles and rules, escalation triggers with time limits, and a log that ages every escalation and sends the answer back down.
- Forklift operator training and evaluation recordPer-operator training and evaluation record, a register with three-year due dates and refresher triggers, and a weighted practical evaluation scoresheet.
- REBA worksheet (Rapid Entire Body Assessment)Score up to six postures with REBA: body-part drop-downs, Tables A, B and C as lookups, final score and action level, and a before and after comparison.
- ISO 45001 internal audit checklist44 audit questions for the plant floor in 16 safety topics, each with its ISO 45001:2018 clause, the evidence to look for and the sample to take, plus 12 worker interview prompts, a findings log and a summary by clause.
- Plan for every part (PFEP) templateOne row per part: supplier, pack, container, usage, lead time and locations, with ABC classes, market and line kanban counts and a lineside space check.
- Changeover matrix templateA from-to matrix of changeover minutes with the clean each transition needs (allergen, colour, format), and a weekly planner that totals the order and suggests a shorter one.
- Overhead crane inspection checklist: frequent and periodic34 crane checks tied to OSHA 1910.179: an operator's pre-shift card, frequent and periodic inspections with signed records, a deficiency and tag-out log, and a register of next due dates.
- Maintenance job plan templateOne job planned on one sheet: steps and craft hours, parts checked against stock, tools, lockout and permits, documents, a ready check for the schedule, and technician feedback.
- Reorder point and safety stock sheet (many parts)Safety stock, reorder point, order quantity and an order list for up to 500 parts, worked out from each part's own demand and lead time history.
- OSHA compliance calendar (general industry)37 recurring federal OSHA duties with the paragraph, interval, owner, next due date and an overdue flag, plus a 12-month view and counts by owner.
- TRIR and DART rate trackerMonthly hours, OSHA 300 case counts and near misses in; rolling 12-month TRIR and DART rate, a case budget against your target and a trend chart out.
- Energy use and EnPI trackerMonthly electricity, gas and fuel in one unit, a 12-month regression baseline, expected against actual energy for each month, an EnPI ratio, the running saving and the tests that say whether the model can be trusted.
- FIFO lane sizing sheetThe maximum for a FIFO lane from the stop it must cover, in whole containers, with length, refill and wait checks for up to eight lanes.
- Machine guarding inspection sheetA machine register with due dates and a status per machine, 21 checks tied to OSHA 1910.212, .219 and .147, a guard opening check against Table O-10, and an action log.
- Condition monitoring route sheetA route of measuring points with baselines, alert and alarm limits, a check interval from the P-F interval, readings with rising and overdue flags, and an exceptions list worst first.
- Fire extinguisher inspection logOne row for every portable extinguisher: hydro test interval from OSHA Table L-1, annual and 6-year due dates, a 12-month check grid and open issues.
- Quad chart templateA project on one page in four boxes: idea and owner, problem, approach, and cost, schedule and result.
- Toolbox talk topics (52 weekly topics)52 weekly toolbox talk topics, each with a one-line key message and a discussion question, and a tracker for the year.
- Loss tree worksheetBreak one big loss number into area, line, machine, loss type and cause, and stop at the cause a team can fix.
- Equipment register templateOne row per asset, with hierarchy, criticality, PM strategy and owner, and a check that flags what is missing.
- Machine history record templateOne record per machine: components and their life, every breakdown and repair with cost, MTBF and MTTR, and a repair-or-extend check.
- Compressed air leak survey logWalk sheet, printable leak tags and a tracker that puts an annual cost on every leak and follows it to a verified fix.
- Project savings validation checklistThe gate between a project's claim and a reported saving: 20 checks, a claims register and a six-month sustainment check.
- Emergency action plan templateA written emergency plan for a plant: site facts, roles and backups, warden coverage, scenario steps and a drill record.
- Risk register templateOne scored list of operational risks with owners, actions and dates, a heat map and a review log.
- Hot work permit templateA hot work permit with a precautions checklist, fire watch record and close-out, plus an Excel permit log.
- Confined space entry permit templateA confined space entry permit with checks, an air test log, an entry log and cancellation, plus an Excel register.
- Energy loss matrix templateSeven types of energy loss by six energy sources with a cost in each cell, an action plan and an idle-period shutdown checklist.
- Management safety tour formA leader's scheduled safety walk: observation form, operator interview, tally, actions, rota and a tour log with a dashboard.
- Hazard prediction worksheetA pre-task worksheet: score what could go wrong at each step of a job, add a countermeasure and score again.
- Chemical inventory and SDS register templateA register of every chemical on site with its hazard class, safety data sheet and label, and a check that incompatible products are kept apart.
- Safety committee meeting minutes templateMinutes for a safety committee: attendance, nine agenda items, an action log that carries open actions forward, and monthly numbers.
- Environmental compliance audit checklistAn internal environmental audit: 37 questions with what to look for, a findings log with classes and a score by section.
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A shift handover sheet, a red tag log, a changeover checklist for one machine: if your team uses it on the floor, ask.