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Burcu FELEKOGLU

time with minimum cost in all stages from the receipt of the order to the after-sales services in the production of

NPs. In an attempt to solve this critical problem, our study focuses on the application of advanced product

quality planning (APQP) technique, which is one of the most effective methods used in new product

development (NPD) process control to ensure survival and continuous improvement of company and reduce the

cost, time, labor and customer losses in the process of new product development. In this study, first, the NPD

process and the use of APQP in NPD were explained and then an example of APQP application in a factory

producing heat exchangers with order-based production system was given. APQP has been completed in three

sections; process design and development, product and process validation, feedback and corrective actions.

Process management and control activities and tools such as establishment of team, selection of NP, feasibility

studies, determination of workflow, reduction of risks, determination of process capability and measurement

Introduction

The order-based production system is a production model used to create a new service or product. It is a

production system covering a small quantity but high level of product range. In addition to the similarity of the

products to be produced at some points, a special effort is required in order to achieve innovation in the order-

based production system. It is a production model that is mostly privatized according to customer and has the

least standards. Nowadays, with the changing market and competition conditions, the companies realize

customer specific production in order not to fall behind the market and not to decrease their market share.

product, pre-determination of the failures and risks that may occur, taking the necessary measures, reducing of

scraps, re-processing time, time and cost losses, customer losses and quality losses, offering the products to the

market quickly are important requirements for companies to be ahead of their competitors. In line with these

reasons, in today's conditions, application of the quality management by the companies which has this type

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production system provides excellent advantages to them. Quality management is defined as a fullest extent of

planned and systematic activities applied to ensure sufficient confidence in the fulfillment of the requirements of

a new product or service.

have a project-based production system. For companies that have such production systems, APQP technique,

which is an effective method for NPD process management, has been proposed. APQP technique is thought to

provide significant benefits for both literature and enterprises.

New Product Development

NPD means the research and development efforts that are revealed by the firms to develop original products,

product changes or new brands that are required by the customer (Armstrong, Kotler, Saunders, & Wong, 2005).

The new product may be something that has never been produced or changes in the existing product such as

Performance Criteria in NPD Process

There are many factors to achieve success in developing a new product to a new market or to the existing

market. Cooper (2000) collected the performance criteria in the NPD process in 10 different categories. These

factors include; differentiated and superior products, preliminary studies - homework, listening to the customer's

voice, clear, stable and early product definition, market research, go / kill decision points for the project, cross-

functional project teams, determination of strong points and using them is the creation of a market and the

support of top management (Cooper, 2000). Ernst (2002) based on the literature studies on NPD, divided critical

attractiveness, experience and foundation competences.

Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) in NPD

APQP defines the activities that determine customer needs and develops products and processes to meet these

needs. In short, product quality planning is a structured method for identifying and realizing the steps in all

processes such as production and marketing, where a new product idea is designed, researched, and designed to

ensure customer satisfaction (Sanongpong, 2009). In APQP, directing resources to appropriate activities,

determining the changes in advance, avoiding late changes, providing a quality product on time and at low cost

The success of a project depends on meeting customer needs and expectations on time. Product Quality

Planning provides failure prevention works with time diagram. If the problem solving methodology is not

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sufficiently comprehensive, the solution will not be correct and the problem will reappear sooner or later. As

shown in Figure 1, problems with an activity schedule will be prevented from occurring with Concurrent

Engineering studies. The Product Quality Planning Team is responsible for ensuring that the timings are

appropriate or earlier than the customer schedule (Kaushik, Khanduja, & Mittal, 2012; Book, Fick, Hopkins,

Figure 1 Advanced product quality planning time diagram (Book et al., 2008, s.5)

As shown in Figure 1, the APQP process consists of a total of five main stages. These stages are; project

identification and planning, product design and development, process design and development, product and

process validation, evaluation of feedback and corrective actions.

In this study, the name of the application company is kept anonymous for privacy purposes and is referred to as

the ABC company. ABC Company has order-based production system where each order is in the scope of the

new product. Approximately 15% of the production amount is reproduction in terms of product types produced

on annual basis. The remaining 85% production is evaluated within the scope of new product. Many factors,

such as product type, dimensional characteristics of the product, material type, product circuit, direction and

notation are differentiated the order. For this reason, material properties and production methods are varied for

each product which is differentiating. There are exponentially increasing risks in the process of delivering the

product on time, in quality and in desired quantity to the customer due to changing conditions. Such risks lead to

increased scrap rates, time and cost losses and, most importantly, prestige and consequently customer losses.

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nonconformities. It was communicated to the customer by the sales and marketing department and customer

approval was obtained. According to the meeting resolution, Sales and Marketing Manager was selected as the

leader for this project.

production line

Process failure mode effects analysis (PFMEA): In order to determine risks in advance and to take precautions,

the following PFMEA application steps were performed: Determination of Scope, Formation of the Team,

Examination of the Process, Determining Possible Failure Types, Determining Possible Causes of Failure,

Determination of Possible Failure Effects, Identification of Existing Controls, Determination of Severity,

Occurrence, Detection Values, Calculation of R.P.N Value according to Equation 1, Evaluation of R.P.N. value

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Measurement statistical analysis (MSA): Method of measurement analysis was used to determine the adequacy

of measurement systems. MSA Steps involved; determining the critical part and critical characteristics, to make

the necessary settings to the instrument, selection of parts, numbering of parts, selection of operators, informing

operators about measurement, 3 repetition of measurements, calculation of ranges, range average, UCLR value,

According to MSA, the GRR value was calculated as 12.88%. The value was acceptable because it was between

10% and 30%. The APQP team decided not to make improvements based on the accuracy of the part. The ndc

value was calculated to be 10.888 as a result of the analysis. Since the value was over 5, the part category value

was acceptable.

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Section 5: Feedback and Corrective Actions: The product has been checked by the customer and the product

has received customer approval. No corrective action was requested for the product. On the customer side, the

product was included in the approved product list in the approved supplier category.

Application Evaluation and Results

According to the MSA, the GRR value was found to be 12.88%. Since the measurement system was between

10% and 30%, it is determined that the measurement systems are acceptable. In addition, the ndc value was

found to be 10.858. Since the ndc value is greater than 5, it has been found that the measuring equipment has

were calculated to measure process capability. Cp value was calculated as 1.96 cpk values was calculated as

1.94. According to the common conditions of the customer and ABC company, Cpk value was required to be

control plan was prepared in which all the processes that would enable the possible failures to be minimized

were included. Information training was organized for all departments related to the control plan and necessary

documentation was provided. Dimensional measurement and leakage test was performed on the product which

was produced according to the determined work flow and provided accuracy according to the control plan.

Dimensional measurements were within tolerances. According to the leakage test, it was confirmed that there

was no brazing leakage on the new product. All these analyzes, dimensional measurements and performance

Discussion and Conclusions

The APQP technique in NPD provides benefits such as ensuring product quality in new product production,

reduction in delivery speed, customer satisfaction, lowering costs, and controlling processes. This technique

ensures the systematic management of the processes by sustaining the participation of all employees with the

continuous improvement of all activities in this technical organization. The APQP technique, which ensures that

product realization activities are carried out under controlled conditions, was proposed and applied in ABC

company which has an order-based production system where 85% of the product variety is evaluated as a new

product and where the competitive conditions are the most difficult, and has a costly product and production line

such as a heat exchanger. All activities to implement the APQP model in the production of new products in the

company where the research is conducted were planned. APQP team was determined and new product to be

applied was selected among the demands from the customer. The application was completed in five main

investigated. Product workflow was determined. The sections were completed according to the determined

product flow. Some statistical techniques were used in practice. These are PFMEA, SPC, Process capability

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analysis, MSA. Using these statistical techniques, TV was measured, capabiilities were evaluated and risks were

reduced. Then, production was made according to work flow. The whole process was controlled according to

the determined control plan. Dimensional measurements control and performance tests have been performed on

the completed product and it has been proved that it meets customer requirements and company requirements.

the advantages of APQP technique such as ensuring the right production of the product at one time and thus

reducing the labor, time, cost and scrap rates, detecting and eliminating the failures at the source before

supplying them to the customer, ensuring customer satisfaction, preparing the control plan for the product. Since

85% of the production is a new product, APQP technique has been used in the production of all products. In this

way, the company has achieved a significant advantage over its competitors in terms of both price and quick

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