Three Questions About Control Plan Content and Requirements

[Dawn]

Every company has their own definition for control plans. We do not do control plans on every part. Are we in compliance with QS? We have process sheet packets which state every operation and give details on measuring etc, for every part. I believe they are a very good form of control plan.Can you clarify?
2. Do all control plans from the day of existence of the company need to state pre-launch, prototype, or production or can we grandfather them into the procedure?
3. Do our process sheet packets need to state prelaunch, prototype, and production also? Can you clarify what type of documentation needs to state this, and can you tell me if the process sheet packets need to state this on every page? Our packets include mold spc charts, sinter charts, tumble charts, etc. ; everything needed to fulfill the job requirement.

[Marc]

I suggest you download the APQP and FMEA presentations from the pdf_files directory.

1a. Do these documents on equipment - not parts.

1b. Process sheets are not control plans. There is a control plan forma with certain columns required. Their purpose is problem solving in nature whereas process sheets are process oriented. You can distill some items from your process documentation and in fact there should be links such as inspections and tests. Your control plan defines them and they are then (typically) included on process documentation.

2. They're the same document - you define the document by it's status at any given position in a timeline (by date). Often all three look the same anyway.

3. Just rev other documents as appropriate. You don't have to stamp Pre- and such on documents. You just have to be able to show standard control and be able to relate revisions to your timeline as to status.

[Dawn]

So, what you are telling me is we have process sheets which do say sample when they are in the sample stage, and we are in compliance with this?
They are also on different color paper to signify they are samples.
Oh yeah, how do we know what we need control plans for and what we dont?
Right now, we are only doing them when the customer requests them? Are we ok with this?

[Marc]

I'd have to see your process sheets. If they have the same info as the control plan requires you might be able to sell the idea. But I'm skeptical. Again, there are some standard control plan formats but they each must have certain common elements.

[This message has been edited by Marc Smith (edited 11-09-98).]

Dawn-

I dont know if I am confusing the issue, but here goes:

Are you QS certified? If you are you should have control plans for each product of family of products, if they are sold to automotive customers or customers who subscribe to QS-9000. For example we sell several different products. Each product is pretty much made by the same process. Therefore the control plan is almost the same for each product. Once we created one the rest were easy.

Now each product can be made to a different thickness. We did not create control plans for each thickness. Technically the product is different since our customers use it for different applications. But since only thing that changes is the thickness, we call this a "family" of products. It is QS compliant to have one control plan for a family of products if your customers says so.

As far as all the documentation you currently have to control the process, I believe we have something similar. We have detailed operating procedures, set-up checklists, data forms etc... BUT they do not meet the control plan requirement. On the other hand our control plans do not replace all the detailed documentation. They work together. We reference the detailed docuemntation in the the control plan.

Hope this helps

Christian-

How do you go about setting up a product family if specs are required on the control plan? We have many parts, many specs all going through similar processing and control points. Can we define all these parts as a family and reference the specs in an appendix?

Does this same thinking apply to Measurement Systems Analysis (MSA)? In other words, do one MSA study on a piece of equipment that may run hundreds of specs through it?

[Dawn]

Chris,
Thanks for the reply. You were very helpful. I have put into our procedure that we do control plans when the customer requires it, and our process sheets serve as our control plan other wise. Will we be ok with this? Our process sheets state every step of the process.
Thanks, Dawn

Originally Posted by Steven Sulkin

Christian-

How do you go about setting up a product family if specs are required on the control plan? We have many parts, many specs all going through similar processing and control points. Can we define all these parts as a family and reference the specs in an appendix?

Does this same thinking apply to Measurement Systems Analysis (MSA)? In other words, do one MSA study on a piece of equipment that may run hundreds of specs through it?

Have anybody discovered about this? What i have to write on the specifications if i do a control plan for a family of products????

Hi, i asked once about this but had no response. Here it goes.

If i create a control plan for a family of products, what must i do on the specification collumn? Can i link this information on a process sheet or other document, just writing this link on the control plan?

Where can i get more information about QS and mainly about APQP and PPAP. But i am looking for a more detailed information, because i need to evaluete what is important or not for us, because we are not going to be certified by QS.

We are not a automotive industry, but our custumers are asking to move to QS parameters, like an APQP developing. We are trying to adjust our system to this procedure.