Control Plan – what you should know during development?

Control Plan is one of the three basic quality documents that are created by suppliers after a new project assignment from the customer (OME).

In the following article, we explain what types of Control Plans are, when this document has to be updated and other useful information that should be known.

Control Plan – types depending on the development phase

In the automotive industry, we usually deal with three types of documents:

Control plan for prototype parts. It’s the document that will be developed least frequently by the production plant. This is due to the fact that prototype parts are most often prepared by supplier engineering, which is located outside the structures of the production plant.

In automotive terminology, such a location is defined as a Remote Location. One of the few exceptions, when the production plant will build prototypes, is related to the specificity of the production line. Most often it occurs for electronic components. Such a line is developed and implemented directly in the production plant, bypassing the development center due to its complexity and costs.

Control plan for pre-series production. Some customers require the implementation of an additional Control Plan in their requirements. It differs from the standard document, among other things, with the increased frequency of controlled parts for inspection and their increased number. An example would be a GM that requires the implementation of GP-12 or Stellantis xFCA that requires the implementation of a Safe Launch Plan in accordance with the SQ.00009 standard.

Control plan for current production. It is used after the completion of the enhanced inspection and relates to ongoing production.

Control Plan vs. development phases

Fig. 1. Control Plan types in relation to the development phase.

What else is worth knowing?

Characteristics matrix

One of the most important elements of this document is the correct application of the customer’s special (critical and / or significant) characteristics. In a situation where a given supplier carries out shipments to many customers, it’s easy to make a mistake with this element.

For this reason, a common practice that is used is the characteristics matrix application. It presents a unified designation of special characteristics accepted by the organization together with their equivalents used by individual clients.

Control Plan approval

Each client, during the evaluation of the supplier’s production process, will also verify the relevant documentation. It also includes the Control Plan. It’s worth remembering that the client approval for this document does not automatically mean that the client must physically sign it. Such approval may be tantamount to no comments during the audit.

Requalification tests – where to include

Some customers have their specific requirements with respect to IATF Section 8.6.2. They concern the periodic carrying out of qualification tests for the manufactured product in current production. Usually in the Control Plan they should be placed at the very end after the Final Product Audit section.

When Control Plan should be updated?

As a rule, this document should be updated in the following cases:

  • Including special characteristics, for example in relation to the Special Characteristics Communication and Agreement Form (SCCAF) used in cooperation with the FORD customer. During one of the recertification audits, the production plant in which I work received a non-compliance for this reason.

Control Plan - template example

Fig. 2. Control Plan form example

  • Change implementation – it is always worth noting the fact of reviewing the Control Plan. This is to eliminate the possibility of a quality claim from the customer. On this occasion, it should be mentioned that this document in terms of names of operations and their numbering must be consistent with two other quality documents. These are PFMEA and the Process Flow Chart.
  • Quality notification from the customer – document in such a case should be updated when the root cause is assigned to the production process. Another scenario may be for a non-compliance on a component. In such a situation, the organization may proactively update the controls carried out as part of the Incoming Inspection.

You can download an automatic, editable Excel form for free on the Free Quality Tools

Document name: Control Plan – Excel form

Dariusz Kowalczyk

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