PPAP and gauge studies

PPAP submissions and gauge studies both link to Inspections through their operating record reference. That connection matters: a part submission or measurement reading should be traceable to the inspection case it supports. Inspector chooses that inspection before entering the specialty evidence, then checks the parent context before sending work forward.

A PPAP submission stores the part number, revision, submission level, customer and status. Its path begins in Preparation and moves to Submitted after the Inspector validates those details and the linked inspection. The submission record holds a customer label. Agree separately how the team sends a package and reconciles any response from that customer.

• PPAP preparation. Inspector links a submission to the selected inspection and checks the part and customer details before submission.
• Gauge capture. Inspector records the gauge number, study date, appraiser, part sample, trial number and measured value.
• Inspection handoff. The gauge study supports the linked inspection, which goes to Review for the responsible Quality Reviewer decision.

Agree how the inspection’s subject reference identifies the part or operating lot used by the PPAP record. Decide which submission levels the team uses and how customer names are entered consistently. Agree who checks a Submitted record against the intended inspection and how the team reconciles an external customer response.

For gauge studies, agree how gauge numbers and appraiser names are entered, what a part sample means in local practice, and how trial numbers are used. The measured value is a decimal reading. The app needs the team to decide the acceptable measurement criteria during its operating setup and to relate the study to the correct inspection requirement.

Start with an in-process inspection for a known part revision. Inspector opens a PPAP submission, links that inspection, enters part number, revision, level and customer, then moves Preparation to Submitted. Open the submission again from its linked inspection and confirm every label belongs to the same case. Confirm that Submitted reflects the internal handoff and that the team can identify the intended customer channel.

Next, record a gauge study for the same inspection with a gauge number, study date, appraiser, sample, trial and measured value. Quality Reviewer opens the inspection in Review and checks that the study points to that case. A study linked to a different inspection must be corrected before it can support this decision. Repeat the case with a missing measurement value to confirm the capture rule stops an incomplete study.

• PPAP submissions in progress — Part records in preparation or submitted, with customer, revision and linked inspection.
• Submitted PPAP — Internal submissions ready to check against the linked inspection.
• Inspections in review — Parent cases where the reviewer considers linked gauge evidence.

Use specialty evidence for PPAP and gauge capture, and inspection to disposition for the parent decision.