Free template
Control plan template
A control plan lists, for each step of a process, the product and process characteristics that are controlled, the specification or tolerance, how each one is measured, how many parts are checked and how often, how the result is recorded and what the operator does when a result is out of specification. It is how the risks found in the process FMEA are kept in check every day. This template has the usual columns, a product or process mark and a special class for each characteristic, and a reaction plan column on every row. Page 2 has more rows, a change log, a checklist before sign-off and approvals.
Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.
When to use it
When to use a control plan
- For every new part or process before production starts, often as part of a customer's launch requirements.
- When the process FMEA changes, so each high-risk line has a check and a reaction on the floor.
- After a customer complaint, to add or tighten the check that should have caught the problem.
- When operators are unsure what to check, how often, or what to do with a bad result.
- Not as a list of every dimension on the drawing: it covers the characteristics that need controlling in production.
How to fill it in
- 1
Fill in the header
Control plan number, part number and revision, part name, process, key contact, team and dates. Circle the phase: prototype, pre-launch or production.
- 2
List the steps and characteristics
Follow the process flow. For each step, write the characteristics you control and mark each one as a product feature or a process setting. Mark special characteristics with your customer's symbol.
- 3
Give the specification
The limits for each characteristic, from the drawing, the customer or the process sheet, such as 5.20 mm ± 0.05.
- 4
Say how, how many and how often
The measurement method or gauge, the sample size and the frequency. A gauge must be able to measure to the tolerance.
- 5
Say how it is controlled
The control method: a check sheet, an SPC chart, a first-piece check, a poka-yoke or an automatic stop.
- 6
Write a reaction plan for every row
What the operator does when a result is out: stop or adjust, hold the suspect parts made since the last good check, tell someone and restart only after a good check. The Excel version flags rows missing a reaction plan.
- 7
Approve it and keep it current
Sign it off, put the checks into the work instructions and update the plan with the FMEA whenever the process changes.
A filled-in example
Illustrative, not a benchmarkAn example: two rows of a control plan for a hose crimping step.
- Row 1, product characteristic: crimp diameter 5.20 mm ± 0.05. Measured with a micrometer, 5 parts every hour, recorded on a chart at the station.
- Reaction plan: stop the crimper, hold every part made since the last good check, tell the team leader, and restart only after a good first piece.
- Row 2, process characteristic: crimp pressure within the range on the setup sheet. Read from the machine display at every setup and every two hours.
- Reaction plan: reset to the setup sheet, check the diameter on the last 5 parts, and call maintenance if it drifts again in the same shift.
- Both rows come from the process FMEA line for a crimp diameter that is too large, so that high-severity failure mode has a check and a reaction.
Anyone running the crimper can see what to check, how often and what to do when a result is out, without waiting for the engineer.
Common mistakes
Reaction plan: notify supervisor
It leaves the suspect parts in the flow. Say what happens to the process and to every part made since the last good check.
A control plan that does not match the FMEA
High-severity lines in the FMEA need a row here. Update the two together.
A gauge that cannot measure the tolerance
A check with a gauge that is too coarse passes bad parts. Confirm the gauge with a measurement system study where it matters.
Frequencies nobody can keep
A check every 15 minutes on a busy station gets skipped. Set frequencies people can do, and use mistake-proofing where a check is not enough.
Written for the audit, not the operator
If the checks are not in the work instructions and at the station, the plan sits in a folder. Put them where the work is done.
Download the template
Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.
Run this template in LeanSuite
In LeanSuite you run the same quality checks at every stage with number limits, required photos and signatures, and an out-of-spec answer can raise a tag or start a CAPA automatically.
In the lean glossary
Free tools
FAQ
Control plan template: common questions
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