Submitting the Checking Aids on the PPAP's

[Eduardo - 2003]

Does some one has any idea how to submitt the checking aids on the PPAP's? as I understood on the QS 9000 Manual there are required to check the content of the control plan to find the applicable part specific checking aids such as holders, fixtures etc. that are to be used to hold the part while measuring the parts. is this applicable for the Calipers, Manometers, Optical Comparators, etc?

 

[Al Dyer]

My understanding is that checking aids are visual standards and would not have much to do with physical measurements.

 

[Howard Atkins]

IMHO we are talking about specific gauges to check adimension on line, go/ no go gauges etc. A drawing of the gauge should be enougth. Standard measuring equipment is not included.

 

[Sam]

Eduardo, checking aids are those gages that are specific to the characteristic being inspected,i.e., the characteristic cannot be verified with out a specialy designed fixture,gage or template.
Also see 1.2.2.18 of the PPAP manual "If requested by the customer . . . . "
In my experience with Ford their primary concern were those checking aids that they paid for; however that may vary with different STA's.

 

[A. Stuart Dyer]

Possibly consider a checking aid as a mylar template that is placed over a product to ensure conformity. A checking aid does not have to be something that measures down to microns.

In one instance we were putting down a bead of glue on a part and could not test it without damaging it with usual instruments. At that point we contracted to get a mylar template that we could cover with a non-stick surface that we could use for inspection purposes.

We ordered 4 of these "checking aids", kept 3 and sent one to the customer so we both knew we were checking the part in the same manner.

Worked like a charm.

Al...

 

[Chemlab]

Checking Aids

Recently I had a corrective action for parallelism. When checked on three points in one direction, it was well within specification. However, the customer was rotating the part 180 degrees on the 3 pts. The concave nature of the blanked steel part caused us to believe we were making a good part, but when turned in the other direction it was out of spec. I am told this is called the crowning effect due to rotation about the x-axis. From this point on we either ask for datum targets to be added to the drawing for new programs, or if the customer engineers just don't get around to addressing the APQP concerns, I include the checking fixture on the PSW with a copy of the drawing in the PPAP and reference the fixture on the layout. Of course the customer still could argue that the parallelism still must be in spec no matter the orientation off the datum surface. But at least it was on the PSW that showed how we were measuring the part and that they gave approval. It is in your interest to provide this information for fixturing and gaging if you have experienced a lot of problems with your zealous SQA who questionably rejects product. To be honest, freshman, smartass SQAs who believe the customer is always right no matter how stupid he/she is, will approve the PPAP and not know why you are providing this information beyond the fact that it is a blank space on the warrant
and that you are complying with their demands. I had this customer complain to me over dinner about a fellow SQA co-worker because he asked for so many documents beyond the PPAP requirements, held up PPAPs for misspellings, and jokingly said that suppliers offered 10% price reductions just to get rid of him. He has since signed many beautiful PPAPs in which every effort was made to accomodate his desire for information.

Chemlab