PPAP Submission Checklist

What this tool does

CM8-213 tracks a production part approval submission one element at a time. Each row is a single element of one submission: whether it is required at the level the customer asked for, who owns it, where the evidence lives, what state it is in, when it is due, and — if the customer sent it back — exactly what they said. From that it works out the only number that matters before you press send: the share of required elements actually in the pack.

One file can hold several submissions, and the tiles, the pack table and the status ring follow the most recent one. Everything runs inside this single file: no account, no upload, no network request of any kind.

What a submission is for

A production part approval submission is a pack of evidence that answers one question: can you make this part, to this drawing, on this process, repeatably — before anyone commits to volume? It is not a first-article inspection and it is not a certificate. It is documents and physical parts that together demonstrate you understood the requirement, designed a process capable of meeting it, measured the result with instruments that can be trusted, and put controls in place to keep it that way.

Approach it as paperwork and it feels like bureaucracy. Approach it as the evidence you would want if you were buying the part — which is where the framework came from, and why it spread from automotive supply chains into aerospace, medical devices and general contract manufacturing — and every element has an obvious reason to exist.

The submission levels

The level says how much of the evidence you send. It does not change how much work you do: every element behind a level 1 submission still has to exist, be complete and be retained.

• Level — What is sent — Typically used for
• Level 1 — The warrant only — Low-risk parts, minor changes, a long good record
• Level 2 — Warrant with samples and limited data — Modest changes on a proven process
• Level 3 — Warrant with samples and complete data — The usual default for a new part
• Level 4 — Warrant and whatever the customer defines — Customers with their own list
• Level 5 — Complete data, reviewed at your site — High risk, a new supplier, a recovery

Two traps: treating a low level as permission to skip the work — if a customer asks for level 1 and later audits you, the missing studies are still missing — and assuming the level is fixed. A customer can raise it after a problem, and level 5 means someone comes to look at the pack on your premises.

The element set

The eighteen elements here are the commonly required set — not a rule, and not universal. Your customer's own requirement always governs. Untick required on anything waived: it then drops out of both sides of the readiness calculation rather than counting against you. Read the set in four groups.

Design evidence — what the part is meant to be. Design records are the drawing or model set at the revision the pack is raised against. Authorised engineering change documents cover any change since. Customer engineering approval records that the customer accepted the design where they hold that authority. Design FMEA shows the product's failure modes were thought about, where the design is yours.

Process evidence — how you will make it. The process flow diagram is the route from goods-in to despatch. The process FMEA works through where each step can fail and what that would do. The control plan answers the FMEA: what is measured, with what, how often, and what happens when a check fails. These three should read as one document in three parts — a step in the flow with no FMEA line, or an FMEA line with no control, is the gap a reviewer finds first.

Measurement evidence — proof the numbers mean something. Measurement system analysis proves the gauges can see the tolerance; without it every other measurement in the pack is an assertion. Dimensional results is the layout: every feature on the drawing measured on real parts. Material and performance test results cover chemistry, coatings, strength and endurance. Initial process studies show the process is stable and capable over a run, not that one part passed. Qualified laboratory documentation establishes that whoever tested was competent to.

Physical and administrative evidence. Sample production parts must come off production tooling at production rate — parts from a trial cell prove nothing about the process you will run. The master sample is the retained reference for future disputes; checking aids are fixtures and gauges built for the part; the appearance approval report applies where colour, grain or finish matter; customer-specific requirements records catch what fits nowhere else.

The warrant

The part submission warrant is the one-page summary the customer signs against: part number, revision, reason for submission, level, weight, the declaration that the parts were made on production tooling at production rate, and your signature. It is the only element every level sends, and the element every other element exists to support.

Sign it last. A warrant signed while a layout is open declares something true that you have not checked — and it is the document produced two years later when a field failure becomes a commercial argument.

When a submission is triggered

A new part is the obvious case. The ones people miss are the changes:

• An engineering change to the design, material or specification.
• A change to the process — a different operation sequence, a new method, a new machine.
• A change of manufacturing location, including moving a cell within the same building.
• Tooling that has been replaced, refurbished or moved.
• A change of sub-supplier for a material, component or outsourced operation.
• A long gap in production, after which the process is no longer proven.

The last two cause the most trouble, because they happen without anyone in quality hearing: purchasing changes a plating supplier, a cell is moved during a shutdown. If in doubt, ask before the parts ship.

Readiness is a gate

Readiness is the share of required elements that are complete, submitted or approved. It exists to be driven to 100% and then acted on — not watched. Sixty per cent readiness is not "most of the way there": two fifths of the evidence does not exist, and what is left is almost always the slow work, because easy documents get done first. A pack is not partly submittable.

The tile that deserves attention is blocking: required elements not started, in progress or rejected, named worst first. Rejections rank above not-started, because a rejection has a customer waiting behind it. Work that list, not the percentage.

When an element is rejected

Set the status to rejected and record what the customer said in their own words — the tool insists on it, because the rejection reason is the specification for the rework. "Rejected" alone tells the next person nothing; "3 features out of tolerance on the layout" tells them exactly what to fix and re-measure.

A rejection usually means an interim arrangement while you rework — often a deviation for a limited quantity or period, which belongs in the notes with its expiry. Treat the resubmission as a new attempt: the sample is named "PPAP 3" for that reason, and keeping each attempt separate preserves what was rejected and why.

Where the elements come from

Almost every element is the output of work done elsewhere, which is why a submission assembled at the end is painful and one assembled as you go is not. The FMEA Worksheet produces the design and process FMEA elements. The Control Plan Builder produces the control plan and should agree with the FMEA line by line. Gauge R&R produces the measurement system analysis. The SPC Control Chart produces the initial process studies. Point the document reference at wherever those live, so the pack is a set of pointers to real work rather than a second copy of it.

The spreadsheet workflow

Element checklists usually start life in a spreadsheet, and the toolbar keeps that route open.

• Spreadsheet template saves a CSV whose headings are exactly this tool's column names, with a guidance row showing what each column expects — the date format, and the accepted values for the submission level, element and status lists.
• Keep a master copy with the submission, part number, customer, level and element columns filled in: that is your blank pack. Copy it for each submission, add owners and dates, and delete the guidance row before saving. Keep the file as CSV.
• Import spreadsheet reads it back. Columns are matched by heading, so their order does not matter and extra columns are ignored. Rows missing a required column, or failing a validation check — a rejected element with no reason — are skipped and reported by row number.

The file is read by this page in your browser: nothing is uploaded, and importing adds to what is already here rather than replacing it.

The formulas

Readiness and blocking are exact complements: an element either counts towards readiness or it blocks the submission, never both and never neither. A submitted element counts as ready, because it is in the pack — otherwise readiness would fall the moment you sent it. Approval is the customer's decision and sits beyond readiness, which is why the pack table shows status in full.

FAQ

One row per element, or per document? One row per element, per submission. If an element needs three documents, put the folder or index in the reference and list them in the notes.

Which elements are required at my level? Ask your customer. The tool ships every element ticked as required, so unticking a waived one is a recorded decision rather than a silent omission.

What if the customer never formally approves? Common, and awkward. Leave the elements at submitted and record the chasing in the notes. Do not mark them approved on the assumption of silence.

Saving your work

Elements, settings and the report header are written to this browser's local storage as you type, and the toolbar shows the time of the last save. That storage belongs to one browser on one computer: another browser, a private window, a second machine or a clean-up tool that clears site data will not have it.

Treat Export .json as the real save — one file containing everything, which Import .json restores anywhere. Export CSV gives you the register for spreadsheet work. Reset asks twice, then erases everything this tool has stored. There is no undo. A submission register names customers, parts and rejections — treat exports as confidential.

Accuracy & disclaimer

This tool records what you enter and summarises it faithfully. It cannot open a document, judge whether a layout is complete, tell whether a capability study used enough parts, or know what your customer actually asked for. Readiness measures ticks in this file, not evidence in a folder.

The element set here is the commonly required one, not a mandated list: requirements, levels, formats, submission routes and retention periods differ by customer and by industry, and the customer's own requirement always governs. Nothing here is certification, compliance sign-off or engineering advice.