PPAP Submission Levels for Automotive Plastic Components: What Each Requires

PPAP levels 1 to 5 set what a supplier sends the customer and what stays on file. Level 1 is the warrant alone. Levels 2 and 3 add samples with limited or complete data. Level 4 is defined by the customer. Level 5 reviews complete data at the plant. The customer’s instruction decides which level applies.

What Is PPAP?

The Production Part Approval Process is the automotive industry’s method for showing that a supplier understands a part’s design record and can meet it under real production conditions. AIAG, which publishes the PPAP manual, describes it as the standard for ensuring engineering design record and specification requirements are consistently met during an actual production run at production rates.

Three ideas sit inside that description.

• Design and production consistency: the process has to hit the requirements repeatedly, not once
• Actual production conditions: parts should come from the real tool, press, material, and process at rate, not from a special sample run
• Customer approval: the supplier submits, and the customer decides

For a molded part, that ties the approval to specifics: this mold, this resin grade, this process. A later change to any of them may need to go back to the customer.

Who Determines Submission Level?

The customer does. AIAG’s manual is the reference, and it is sold under license, so the details below come from a published supplier summary rather than the manual itself. Check any working decision against your licensed copy and your customer’s documents.

• Customer direction: the level is whatever the authorized customer contact specifies for that part
• Customer-specific requirements: a customer may publish its own rules that add to or alter the manual
• Documented supplier communication: get the level in writing before you assemble the package, as an email or a purchase-order note beats a memory of a phone call

Kaizen Institute, a consultancy, calls Level 3 the default across most automotive and manufacturing contexts in its PPAP guide. One customer’s own supplier document, from TI Fluid Systems, sets Level 3 as its default and requires written authorization for any exception. Neither is the AIAG text, so confirm rather than assume, because submitting at the wrong level can mean redoing the work.

PPAP Level 1

Level 1 is a warrant-focused submission. One supplier’s published level summary words it as the warrant only, and for designated appearance items, an Appearance Approval Report, submitted to the customer.

Customer-specific exceptions can sit on top of that. A molded part with a color or texture requirement is exactly where the appearance report may come into play. In that summary’s matrix, product samples and the other records are retained at this level rather than sent. Level 1 reduces what is sent. It does not reduce what the supplier must be able to show later.

PPAP Level 2

Level 2 is the warrant with product samples and limited supporting data, per the same summary.

“Limited” is not left open in that summary, whose first page has an item-by-item matrix. At Level 2, it marks records such as dimensional results, material and performance test results, laboratory documentation, the design record for non-proprietary details, and sample product as submitted. Process flow, PFMEA, control plan, measurement system analysis, and initial process studies stay on file. That is one supplier’s rendering, so read the matrix in your licensed AIAG copy. The summary gives no sample quantity, and a customer can change the split, so ask about both and record the answer.

PPAP Level 3

Level 3 is the warrant with product samples and complete supporting data submitted to the customer. This is the fullest package sent out the door.

For a molded plastic part, the data can carry dimensional results across cavities, so a multi-cavity tool multiplies the measurement work. Check whether your customer wants all cavities reported for this part.

Planning arithmetic helps here. With a hypothetical print of 40 characteristics on a four-cavity tool, reporting every cavity means 160 results for each sample set, before any repeat measurements. Critical characteristics may also need capability data, and that needs a production-rate run with parts identified by cavity. A molder that plans these as a single measurement task at the end of the program can find the press schedule, the gauges, and the CMM queue all competing in the last week. Cavity-numbered parts and a run plan at tool trial stage avoid much of that. Appearance items add their own step, with an approved color or texture standard agreed before samples are made.

PPAP Level 4

Level 4 is the warrant and other requirements as defined by the customer. It is the open-ended level, and its content is whatever the customer writes down.

Written agreement matters most here. “Level 4” tells you nothing by itself, so obtain the customer’s list and treat that list as the requirement.

PPAP Level 5

Level 5 is the warrant with product samples and complete supporting data reviewed at the organization’s manufacturing location. The summary’s matrix marks every item at this level as retained and available on request, including the warrant itself. In that matrix, the complete records stay at the manufacturing location for review, and the customer may specify other submission or review arrangements.

Customer review conditions need planning. A reviewer may want to see the process running, so the press, tool, and records should be available together. The depth of a Level 5 data review resembles that of Level 3, but the logistics and preparation differ.

Typical Supporting Records

A full package draws on records like these. Applicability depends on the part and the customer.

• Design records: the released drawing and any math data
• Engineering change documents: for anything not yet on the print
• Process flow: the sequence from resin receipt to shipment
• PFMEA: the process failure analysis
• Control plan: what is checked, how, and how often
• Dimensional results: the measured values against the print
• Material and performance results: resin certifications and test data
• Measurement system analysis: whether your gauges can be trusted
• Process capability studies: variation of the process relative to tolerance
• Part Submission Warrant: the summary document, signed by the supplier

The list above is not the complete element list from the manual, and it is not a substitute for the manual.

Level	Sent to customer	Samples	Data
1	Warrant, plus appearance report for designated items	Retained	Retained
2	Warrant, plus limited data	Sent	Part sent, part retained
3	Warrant, plus complete data	Sent	Sent, with some items such as master sample retained
4	Warrant, plus what the customer defines	As defined	As defined
5	Not routinely sent; PSW retained for customer review on site, and any routine submission follows customer instructions	Retained, reviewed on site	Complete data retained, reviewed on site

This is an editorial summary of one supplier’s published level sheet. It is not the licensed AIAG submission and retention matrix, and the customer’s instructions take priority over it.

Submission Versus Retention

Submitting and retaining are separate duties. A lower level does not mean less work on the shop floor, because retained records still have to exist.

• What is sent: the items the level and customer call for
• What is retained: the supplier summary cited above uses three codes. S means submit to the customer and retain a copy. R means retain at appropriate locations and make available upon request. An asterisk means retain and submit upon request
• Traceability: records should tie to the specific part revision, tool, and process
• Record availability: can you find them quickly when asked? A record that exists but cannot be found is of little help during a customer request

A Level 1 supplier who cannot produce a capability study on request has a problem, even though the study never had to be mailed.

PPAP, IATF 16949, and Customer Approval Are Different

These three are easily blurred.

• Quality-management certification: IATF 16949 is a quality management system standard, audited at the organization or site level
• Part approval: PPAP addresses a specific part and process
• Customer-specific authorizations: a customer’s approval signature on a warrant, and any added requirements, belong to that customer

A certificate on the wall does not approve a part. An approved part does not certify the quality system.

Some customers use other systems. VDA 2 and its production process and product approval (PPF) can apply in supply chains that follow the German automotive framework. If your customer specifies VDA, follow its document set, and do not map it to PPAP levels on your own.

Lot inspection is yet another activity, and a passing lot does not stand in for part approval. How AQL sampling supports lot acceptance decisions sets out that distinction.

PPAP FAQ

Can a customer require a different PPAP submission level for the same part?

Yes. The customer controls the level, so a new program, a process change, or a new tool can bring a different instruction for the same part number. Two customers buying similar parts can also ask for different levels. Get the level for each submission in writing, and do not reuse the previous one by default.

Preparing for the Level You Were Actually Given

Ask for the level in writing, along with the customer’s specific requirements, before assembling anything. If the customer names Level 4, get its list before you start. Build the complete record set regardless of level, since retained items can be requested at any time. For a molded part, plan cavity-by-cavity dimensional work early, and use the actual production tool, resin, and process settings for your samples. Then assemble what the level calls for and submit it, keeping a record of what was sent and when. If a change to tool, material, or process comes later, check with the customer whether a resubmission is needed before shipping parts from the changed condition.