Manufacturing Project Planning Checklist

Capture the customer name, program identifier, target SOP date, and annual volume forecast. Pull the customer's RFQ and any design records — incomplete scope at this step is the most common reason NPI launches slip.

Level 3 is the AIAG default; automotive customers often require Level 4 or 5 for safety-critical features. The level drives which 18 PPAP elements you owe at submission — get this wrong and the customer rejects the launch package.

List every deliverable the customer expects at PPAP: control plan, PFMEA, MSA, capability study, dimensional results, material certs, appearance approval. Tie each to a named acceptance criterion so the program manager can sign off cleanly at the gate.

Lock dates for the kickoff, design freeze, tooling release, run-at-rate, and PPAP submission gates. Assign a gatekeeper per gate and define the exit criteria — gates without exit criteria become rubber-stamp meetings.

Weekly status to the customer program manager, daily stand-up on the floor, monthly steering review for leadership. Name the owner and channel for each cadence.

Walk every operation in the routing with the cross-functional team — manufacturing engineer, quality, operator, maintenance. Score severity, occurrence, and detection per AIAG-VDA; flag any RPN above the customer's threshold for mandatory mitigation.

Pull the DFMEA from the design team and identify any failure modes that the process must detect or prevent. Closing the DFMEA-to-PFMEA loop is the most common gap auditors flag in IATF 16949 surveillance.

Attach the consolidated risk register covering process, supply chain, tooling, and ramp risks. Each row needs a current RPN, a target RPN, and a planned mitigation.

Every high-RPN item gets a named owner with a due date — usually the manufacturing engineer, supplier quality engineer, or maintenance manager depending on the failure mode. Unowned mitigations sit untouched until launch.

PFMEA is a living document. Schedule reviews after pilot run, after run-at-rate, and any time an ECN changes the process. Process-changes-without-PFMEA-update is a classic IATF non-conformance.

Quote dies, molds, fixtures, gauges, and any custom end-effectors. Build in 10–15% contingency for tooling tryout and rework — first-shot tooling rarely runs to print.

Capture machine quotes, install costs, utility hookups, and IQ/OQ/PQ validation effort. For regulated product (medical, food contact, aerospace), validation can equal 30–50% of the equipment cost — don't underestimate it.

Roll tooling, capital, prototype material, validation labor, and outside services into a phased budget aligned to the gate schedule. Show monthly cash needs so finance can fund without surprises.

Route the Authorization for Expenditure through the approval chain — typically plant manager, controller, VP manufacturing, and CFO above threshold. Attach the signed AFE so procurement can release tooling POs without re-litigating the spend.

Set a weekly burn-rate review against the AFE baseline. Flag any line item tracking >5% over and route to the program manager — early flags get corrective action; late flags become surprises at gate review.

One row per characteristic per operation: spec, gauge, sample size, frequency, reaction plan. Pull the special characteristics list from the customer drawing — missing a customer-designated SC at PPAP is an automatic rejection.

Aerospace and defense customers typically require AS9102 Form 1/2/3 at first article. Some commercial customers waive the AS9102 format and accept a customer-specific FAI form. Confirm with the customer quality contact before planning the FAI activity.

Plan the bubbled drawing, ballooned print, and AS9102 Forms 1, 2, and 3 for the first production run. CMM time on critical features needs to be booked early — CMM queue is the most common bottleneck at FAI.

Run a 10-part, 3-operator, 3-trial study per AIAG MSA-4 on every customer-designated SC. Target %GR&R below 10% for critical, below 30% for acceptable. Failing gauges block the capability study downstream.

Pick the inspection level (typically II) and AQL per characteristic class — tighter for safety, looser for cosmetic. Document the switching rules between normal, tightened, and reduced inspection so the floor knows when to escalate.

For each routing operation, assign the work center and compare cycle time to takt. Any operation where cycle time exceeds takt is a planned bottleneck — either rebalance, add a parallel station, or invest in faster equipment.

List every operation, the operators qualified to run it, and the gap to staff three shifts at full ramp. Cross-train at least two operators per critical station — single-operator dependency kills launch ramp.

Run a capacity model at PPAP volume and at peak forecast. Account for OEE assumptions — 65–75% is typical for new processes, not the 85% planners often assume. If actual capacity sits below customer demand, flag No here so the expansion plan triggers.

Lay out the path to close the capacity gap: added shift, parallel cell, outside processing, or capital. Each option needs cost, lead time, and risk so the steering review can pick before the gap impacts customer ramp.

Publish the baseline schedule in the ERP/MES — pilot run, run-at-rate, PPAP build, ramp curve. Baseline becomes the reference for variance reporting; changes after this point require a documented program manager approval.