posted 21 February 2000 12:39 PM            

The new edition 3 PPAP Manual contains needed clarification for bulk material suppliers. Also, it is true that the authors reordered the submission requirements (Table I.4.1) so to better compliment the "natural flow" of the real-world process. However, I find the addition of the bulk material requirements checklist (BMRC)to be confusing:

1.) The BMRC appears to be something that is agreed to (with the customer) up front. (e.g. deciding who will implement and when, a pre-launch control plan, etc.). Yet, in the so-called natural flow of the process, the checklist appears as element # 15 (Table I.4.1). Shouldn't the BMRC be listed at the top?

2.) What is the point of the checklist? Why aren't the submission requirements list and underlying new clarifications enough? Comments?

3.) If the bulk material was pre-existing, and then sampled into a new application, would such a checklist be required at all? Most of it seems to apply to a material that was designed for the first time for a specific application.