APQP – From the bible of industry to the digital nervous system of manufacturing (7 min)
APQP (Advanced Product Quality Planning) is a proven quality planning framework in manufacturing, especially in automotive, yet the principles are applicable across industries. The ideal process leads from the first signal of a new product all the way to series production. In practice, however, it often runs into data chaos that digitalization can fundamentally bring to order. On paper, APQP appears as a clear set of steps with responsibilities and deadlines. The reality in companies, however, is different: departments operate in data silos, files have multiple versions, and there is often no single source of truth. Then the entire project is "held" in one person's head and others work with outdated information. The result is delays, duplication, and decisions that are hard to audit.From the ideal diagram to the reality of manufacturing data
