Satinder Singh

APQP, stands for “Advanced Product Quality Planning” it is a framework of techniques and procedures to develop new products in manufacturing and extensively used in the automotive industry. Basically, it is a structured approach to the new process or product development which ensures that the voice of customer is clearly translated into technical specifications.  
 
It is Implemented in 5 Phases, which are as follow:
Phase 1: Planning.
Planning is directed at understanding the customer’s requirement and includes gathering data to define what the customer wants and then using the information to create specifications. The output of this phase is product design and quality goals.
 
Phase 2: Product Design and Development.
This phase is directed at finishing the “product design” followed by defining material specifications, equipment requirements, doing FMEA and then finally establishing product prototype.
 
Phase 3: Process Design and Development.
This phase focuses on planning the manufacturing “process” that will produce the new product keeping product specifications, product quality, and production costs in mind.
 
Phase 4: Product and Process Validation.
This is the test phase for validating the manufacturing process and the final product. This involves performing trial runs for testing product output, reconciling adjustments before moving to the final phase.
 
Phase 5: Feedback and Continuous Improvement.
This Phase focuses on the full-scale production, with emphasis on evaluating and improving processes by reducing process variations, identifying issues, and implementing corrective actions.
 
Where as DFSS, stands for Design For Six Sigma. It is more of an approach than a defined methodology used to develop new processes or products at Six Sigma quality levels. It focuses on gaining a deep insight into customer requirements and using them for creating new product or service. The aim is to design products and processes by minimizing defects and variations in the process.
 
There are multiple methodologies for implementing DFSS, one of the most common technique is DMADV which is as follow:
1. Define
The Define stage is meant for defining the Project Charter, Communication Plan and Risk Assessment / Management Plan.
 
2. Measure
In measure stage the focus is on collecting customer requirements.
 
3. Analyze
In measure stage the focus is on understanding customer requirements and then translating them into measurable design performance or functional requirements which is then converted to develop multiple concept level design.
 
4. Design
In measure stage the preliminary “design is determined”, few tools used in this phase are Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Tolerance Stack Analysis, Design Of Experiment (DOE)
 
5. Verify
In this stage, the team introduces the design of the product or process and performs the validation testing to verify if it meets the customer requirements.
 
Both APQP and DFSS are used for new product development but the aim is bit which becomes the reason for using one approach over the other and the difference in the aim is as follow:
 
The primary goal of DFSS is to “reduce variation”, it is intended for use when you must replace a product instead of redesigning. Its application is in various industries like finance, marketing, basic engineering, process industries, waste management, and electronics
 
The primary goal of APQP is to create a “product quality plan” which will support development of a product or service for customer satisfaction. It is primarily used in automotive industry