My background is QS-9000 but I now work for a company that is strictly ISO-9000 (custom plastic vacuum thermoforming). I am use to submitting PPAP's and the requirements for what, when and how to submit one. ISO-9000 does not have a section that addresses inital sample submissions; however, some of my customers require them. I have not been able to find nformation concerning 1st articles and how to address them in my procedures. If I use the AIAG requirements for all products some of my customers are overwhelmed by the process. Some of my orders are just not big enough for a 1st article submission. Any advice?

What are your Customers expecting?

You may find that everyone has different expectations, so you may have to create many different submission plans. As you accumulate the information, you will probably pick out some of the typical items. With these, you may want to consider adding them to your ISO Quality Program. ISO is a far more vague guideline than you are use to, so the QP you have inherited may not be as specific as you would like/expect.

Regards,

Kevin

And the bottom line is ISO does not address 1st article. Thus, as Don pointed out--> you rely on customer requirements. With several clients we have made up a spreadsheet. Reading down was a list of process elements - design review, etc., to machine runoff (high volume) or whatever right on to final inspection and test. In my first ISO implementation years ago I did this with the ISO requirements, BWM, FORD, etc. We ended up with a list of ISO and customer requirements.

You could do this with the APQP skeleton in mind. Customer A may just want a full layout to print. Customer B may just want a functional test. Customer C may want both of those and maybe capability studies from a runoff.

What the customer asks for should be considered during contract review. If the customer wants 15 widgets and wants runoff data from a 300 piece run (sounds insane, but you never know), you would want to negotiate exact terms and conditions and quote appropriately.