Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) is used in the automotive supply chain for establishing confidence in suppliers and their production processes. Actual measurements are taken from the parts produced and are used to complete the various test sheets of PPAP.

"All customer engineering design record and specification requirements are properly understood by the supplier and that the process has the potential to produce product consistently meeting these requirements during an actual production run at the quoted production rate." Version 4, 1 March 2006

Although individual manufacturers have their own particular requirements, the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) has developed a common PPAP standard as part of the Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) – and encourages the use of common terminology and standard forms to document project status.

The PPAP process is designed to demonstrate that a supplier has developed their design and production process to meet the client's requirements, minimizing the risk of failure by effective use of APQP. Requests for part approval must therefore be supported in official PPAP format and with documented results when needed.

The purpose of any Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) is to:

1. Ensure that a supplier can meet the manufacturability and quality requirements of the parts supplied to the customer
2. Provide evidence that the customer engineering design record and specification requirements are clearly understood and fulfilled by the supplier
3. Demonstrate that the established manufacturing process has the potential to produce the part that consistently meets all requirements during the actual production run at the quoted production rate of the manufacturing process.