Journal of Engineering Education Transformations, Volume, No, Month 2015, ISSN 2349-2473, eISSN 2394-1707

Implementation of Advanced Product Quality

Planning In Engineering Project
Aditya M. Deshpande1, Siddhalingeshwar I. G. 2, Nagaraj Ekabote3

1Department of Automobile Engineering, B.V.B.C.E.T., Hubballi

2Department of Automobile Engineering, B.V.B.C.E.T., Hubballi
1
aditya@bvb.edu
2
igs@bvb.edu

Abstract: Engineering Design (ED) process is the

1. Introduction
foundation on which Automobile Engineering students
currently base their project work. Though efficient in Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) is a
addressing the primary academic requirements, it is framework of procedures and techniques used to develop
nevertheless open ended and hence the methodology for products in industry, particularly the automotive industry.
project execution will differ from team to team. ED at It is a structured method for defining and establishing steps
higher semesters, in the author’s perspective, is less for a product development system for General Motors,
structured and feel there is a need for a defined industrial Ford, Chrysler and their suppliers [APQP Reference
methodology based on ED, especially to address the needs Manual, 1995]. APQP supports the development of a
of automobile engineering students. product and product quality plan to meet the needs of
internal and external customers.
This requirement can be fulfilled by Advanced Product
Quality Planning (APQP), a framework of procedures and
APQP is comprised of one pre-planning stage and five
techniques followed by the automotive industry worldwide.
concurrent, collaborative sections. This process is
An attempt was made to implement APQP on experimental represented in a continuous cycle and is often illustrated
basis in a project titled Solar Array Electric Vehicle. The with the Plan, Do, Study, Act Cycle. Each section has a
following four stages were incorporated in the project: Plan logical sequence of analytical techniques and tools used to
and Define Program, Product Design and Development, discover risk and weakness. APQP team members are cross
Feedback and Corrective actions and Control Plan functional, able to identify each risk, and take actions to
Methodology. This paper highlights the scope, reduce or eliminate the potential failure [APQP Reference
implementation methodology and results of application of Manual, 1995].
APQP in Solar Array Electric Vehicle project.
Key words: Engineering Design, APQP, Solar Array Six Sections of APQP:
Electric Vehicle.
1. Plan and Define
2. Product Design and Development
3. Process Design and Development
4. Product and Process Validation
5. Feedback, Assessment and Corrective Action
6. Control Plan Methodology

Each section has inputs, outputs and gateway reviews with

management. Gateways are timed to coincide with key
decisions impacting project Quality, Cost or Delivery.
APQP culminates in a sample submission as evidence that
the product quality, as planned, was achieved. This activity
is called PPAP (Product Part Approval Process). PPAP
Aditya M. Deshpande highlights the proof or evidence collected through APQP
Department of Automobile Engineering, and validated with results from the first trial run. The trial
B. V. Bhoomaraddi College of Engineering and run cannot be a prototype. This trial must represent the
Technology, Vidyanagar, Hubli - 580031 production environment, with correct tools, machines,
aditya@ bvb.edu
processes, personnel and conditions that may affect part Keeping in mind the limitations posed in terms of
quality [http://quality-one.com/apqp/]. resources, the complexity of incorporating all the stages
and tasks of APQP only 3 stages and their respective task
APQP clearly highlights project issues quickly when they were selected for initial implementation as described below
are relatively easy and inexpensive to resolve. in table 1.

Deming's Plan, Do, Check and Act (PDCA) is a four-step Table 1: APQP stages finalised to be implemented and their respective
tasks
management method used in business for the control and Sl. APQP Stage Task Description
continuous improvement of processes and products. The No.
first three stages are devoted to the up-front development 1 Plan & Define Problem statement, Team
and planning. Lastly, Act is the implementation phase - organisation, Project
focusing on customer satisfaction and continual timeline, Market research
improvement. APQP practically applies PDCA to the (online survey),
project management process [APQP Reference Manual, Benchmarking, Design goals,
1995]. Preliminary BOM
2 Product Design & DFMEA, DVP, Design for
A. The Necessity of APQP in Projects Development manufacturability and
assembly, list of engineering
Lot of emphasis is placed on different technical approach and material specs, CAD and
to Design problems as they tend to be ill structured and analysis
open-ended, but attention to details of the process remain
3 Feedback & Corrective Check design adherence to
neglected. This can be largely attributed to ED problem
actions rules and goals set in Stage 1
solving process/structure being open ended [Dym, C. et al.,
2005]. While helping nurture student creativity at lower
semesters it can be an impediment at higher semesters and 3. Results and Discussions
during employment especially as organisations rely on
established processes and systems to deliver results The application of APQP streamlined the project. The
[Dutson, A.J. et al., 1997]. There is a need to address this competition required the students to design the vehicle
lacuna through incorporation of an industry developed keeping commercialisation in mind. Hence the design was
framework in higher semesters of Automobile Engineering based on potential customer inputs and the changes and
projects. This will create a uniform process throughout as problems in design were identified early in the process.
students will follow an established and proven project Also, an early planning was ensured for the complete
execution structure. With the technical aspects of the design process.
project still remaining open-ended, individuality/ The team SAEV successfully implemented all the stages
uniqueness of the projects can be maintained. and tasks outlined in table 1 and were also able to carry out
The same can be summarised in form of the objectives of an addition step in terms of Control Plan Methodology
this paper as follows after the completion of the project. Details of important
tasks of each stage are highlighted in the following sections
1. Primary objective: Structured process in project as example.
execution.
2. Secondary objective: Bridging the gap between industry A. Plan & Define Program
and academia.
High emphasis was placed on this stage as it would be the
3. Tertiary objective: Addressing Outcome Based
foundation for the following stages. A problem statement
Education criteria.
was developed, project timeline and team was organized
(Fig. 1 and Fig. 2), team carried out a market research and
2. Implementation Methodology analysis on customer needs and requirement through an
online survey (Fig. 3), benchmarking was done considering
APQP was implemented on an undergraduate project Solar
similar competition vehicles and the results of previous
Array Electric Vehicle (SAEV) running in Electric Solar
year, design goals were established (table 2), preliminary
Vehicle Championship organised annually by Imperial
bill of materials was listed out.
Society of Innovative Engineers. It was for the first time
that a student team was participating in this competition.
B. Product Design & Development
The competition is divided into two phases, Virtual round Inputs derived from the outputs of the first stage were used
and Dynamic round. In virtual round the students have to for DFMEA (Design Failure Mode Effect Analysis) extract
submit only the completed design of the vehicle, once of which is shown in table 4, Design for Manufacturability
qualified they have to fabricate it and compete in Dynamic and Assembly, DVP (Design Validation Plan) as in table 3,
round at national level against student teams from other along with the listing of engineering & material
educational institutions [https://www.imperialsociety.in]. specifications, CAD (Computer Aided Design) drawings
and technical validations of the SAEV.
Journal of Engineering Education Transformations, Volume, No, Month 2015, ISSN 2349-2473, eISSN 2394-1707

C. Feedback and Corrective Actions

The specifications of the developed design were matched
with the rules and regulations laid down for the technical
specifications of the vehicle by ESVC committee and
corrective actions were taken. Example: The initial electric
motor chosen was 600W but as the power to weight ratio
suffered, a 1kW motor was selected and this change was
within the framework of the rules provided.

Table 3: Extract of Design Validation Plan

Sl Test Test Acceptan Assigne Test
No Method ce d Team Result
Fig 1.Work distribution (Design phase) Criteria Membe
r
1 Braking Theoreti Stopping Roshan, Stoppi
from cal distance Mahesh ng
50kmph not more distan
than 5m ce
4.43m
2 Battery Laborat Individual Venkatr 3.7V,
ory 18650 cell ao 2.2Ah
should Abhinav
produce , Rahul
not less K
than 3V, 2
Ah
3 Solar Laborat Power Akshay, 250 W
Panel ory output Rejin
should not
be less
than
Fig 2.Work distribution (Fabrication phase) 200W
4 Material Laborat Required Charles, 465
ory yield Rahul T MPa
strength :
more than
400 MPa
5 Suspens Theoreti Min. Manjun 5 inch
ion cal suspensio ath,
n travel: 2 Pradeep
inch
6 Steering Theoreti Turning Akshay, 2.95m
cal Radius: Rejin
2m – 5m

D. Control Plan Methodology

A written description of the system for controlling parts &
Fig 3. Extract of marketing survey results processes was carried out, which will be a reference for
Table 2: Extract of Design goals set and achieved
quality planning for future development in design of the
Sl. Design Goals Set Design Goals Achieved SAEV. Table 5 shows an extract of the lessons learnt and
No. their corresponding plan developed for the next vehicle.
1 Light weight frame (under 35 Kg
45kg) Errors being identified in the design stage also ensured
2 Design to achieve high 6.6 W/kg (1kW/150kg) reduced variations between the design and actual product
power to weight ratio highest in the entire along with faster fabrication/production time. Fig. 5 and
competition Fig. 6 highlight the CAD model and completed vehicle, the
3 Design to achieve max. 2.5 m2 camparison of which shows meticulous work during the
Surface area for solar design phase and attainment of the same through
panels
manufacturing.
4 Battery pack weight below 9.2kg (Lowest in the
10kg entire competition) Also worth noting is the stage of Control Plan
Methodology. Through implementation of this stage we
can ensure continuous improvement process, something
that is missed out in ED projects. This was done at 3rd year
level and laid a strong platform for visualising better
implementation of capstone projects.
4. Conclusion
Students imbibed APQP for the transformation of initial
idea into real solar vehicle. Though the milestones covered
in this process were many, but the emphasis was more on
the objectives stated earlier. The following section
discusses the major objectives achieved from this process.
Fig 4: Front impact analysis

Table 4: Extract of DFMEA of electrical system

Table 5: Extract of Control Plan Methodology chart

Sl. No. Process or part Problems Encountered Control Plan Reaction Plan
Name/ Operation
Description
1 Frame Excess Weight of Procured Use of different c/s for frame Intense analysis of designed
Material/Overdesigned Frame material frame and optimization of frame
c/s to be used in the Designing
phase itself
2 Material Cut angles Mismatched cut angles Proper developments for cut Proper calculation of cut angles
for joining process influencing improper welding angles and considering welding
processes in the designing phase
3 Driver seat Uncomfortable entry & exit/ Modification of driver’s seat Frame modification required at
Longer entry & exit time the driver’s compartment/ To be
carried out during designing
phase
4 Impact Bumpers Too high Repositioning of front and Redesigning of bumper
rear bumpers attachments
Journal of Engineering Education Transformations, Volume, No, Month 2015, ISSN 2349-2473, eISSN 2394-1707

 Primary Objective References

Through implementation of APQP the student team had a [1] Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) and
clear idea of the tasks that needed to be completed at the Control Plan, Reference Manual, Copyright 1994, 1995.
respective stages of the project development. This is clearly Chrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company and General
evident from the data mentioned in the previous sections. Motors Corporation.

[2] http://quality-one.com/apqp/ (last accessed

 Secondary Objective 30/09/2015)
Many Indian and multi-national companies based in India
like Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors Limited, [3] Dym, Alice, Ozgur, Daniel and Larry, “Engineering
BorgWarner Inc and DivgiWarner Private Limited Design Thinking, Teaching, and Learning,” Journal of
etc...follow APQP. Implementation of APQP at Engineering Education, Vol. 94, No.1, 2005, pp. 103-
undergraduate project level will ensure industry process 120.
ready engineers from our educational institutes along with
creating higher placement opportunities for students. [4] Dutson, A.J., Todd, R.H., Magleby, S.P., and
Sorensen, C.D., “A Review of Literature on Teaching
 Tertiary Objective Design Through Project-Oriented Capstone Courses,”
The authors would like to underscore the achievements in Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 76, No. 1,
competencies, Abet criteria 3d and 3e, which deal with the 1997,pp. 17–28.
student’s ability to function in multidisciplinary teams and
his ability to identify, formulate and solve automotive [5] https://www.imperialsociety.in/ (last accessed
engineering problems respectively. 30/09/2015)

Fig. 5: CAD model of the vehicle after APQP stage 2

Fig. 6: Completed vehicle