Checklist for Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) Documents

APQP matters because it coordinates the many documents and decisions that determine whether a product can be made and shipped reliably. By working through design reviews, **FMEA**, control plans, and validation before launch, you surface problems while they are still cheap to fix. The checklist keeps those steps visible so that management support, customer requirements, and deadlines are addressed deliberately rather than left to chance.

A complete APQP effort covers six phases. In preliminary planning you review the quality policy, business plans, marketing strategies, and the lessons learned database. Project planning and definition sets objectives, priorities, KPIs, and the project team. Product design and development produces drawings, specifications, a **design FMEA**, and design verification. Process design and development covers the process flowchart, **PFMEA**, control plan, and measurement system analysis. Validation confirms production part approval and process capability. Launch and continuous improvement uses feedback, evaluations, and corrective actions to reduce variation and improve delivery. The checklist organises 63 questions across these phases so that each item is addressed in turn.

Work through the checklist phase by phase. Start with preliminary planning, where you review the quality policy, business plans, marketing strategies, lessons learned, benchmarking, and reliability studies. Then define the project by establishing priorities, objectives, quality goals, and reliability targets, and by selecting the project team and securing management support. Move into product design with drawings, **design FMEA**, design reviews, and prototype verification. Then design the process with a flowchart, **PFMEA**, control plan, and measurement system analysis. Validate through production part approval and process capability studies. After launch, gather feedback, conduct evaluations, implement corrective actions, and review management performance against deadlines. Record who prepared the checklist, where it was conducted, and the date so the record is traceable.

A strong APQP process goes beyond listing documents. It ensures that design and process risks are analysed through **FMEA**, that critical and significant characteristics are identified and controlled, that measurement systems are evaluated, and that process capability is assessed before launch. It also keeps management engaged through feasibility commitments, control plan approval, and management review, and it closes the loop with feedback, corrective actions, and lessons learned so that the next project starts better informed.

The checklist uses a simple two-state scale: **Completed** and **In Progress**. Each item is marked according to how far the work has advanced, giving you a clear view of what remains open.