A risk assessment method for production part approval process

Production part approval process (PPAP) is originally designed and used in the automotive industry to assure supplier parts integrity and manufacturing processes maturity. As an effective risk reduction process prior to product/service release, PPAP has been widely used in many other industries including aerospace industry. In this research, the existing method of assessing part risks for PPAP implementation within the United Technology Corporation (UTC) is investigated. Risk assessment has been based on seven risk categories of a part and a multiplicative risk calculation algorithm is used to determine if a PPAP is needed or not. A refined risk assessment algorithm based on logistic regression is proposed using the seven risk categories which include both quantitative and qualitative risk measurements. The logistic regression risk assessment model is trained and tested using past program PPAP data sets. The advantages of the proposed risk assessment method are illustrated through economic analyses of the two PPAP risk methods under the cost estimates of the PPAP standard and elements being practiced at UTC.