The Significant Impact of APQP Implementation on Forging Plants

2026-05-27

In the development of many traditional forging manufacturer, “quality” is often viewed as the result of inspection rather than the outcome of process control. Based on a true understanding of the essence of quality, INNOVAW Mechanical Co., Ltd. introduced APQP (Advanced Product Quality Planning) fifteen years ago. APQP is not merely a set of documentation; it is a systematic approach that shifts risks forward and eliminates problems before mass production begins. For an industry as complex as forging—where processes are intricate, defects are often hidden, and the cost of trial and error is high—the impact of APQP is particularly profound.

I. From “Firefighting After the Fact” to “Prevention Beforehand”

Over its 20-year history, INNOVAW Mechanical Co., Ltd. has served as a prime example of this shift in quality philosophy. In the early years of the company, before APQP was implemented, our typical workflow was as follows:

Receive order → Open mold for trial production → Defects appear (shrinkage, cracks) → Repeatedly modify the process → Finally achieve a barely stable result.

This led to extremely high trial-and-error costs and unstable delivery schedules. After introducing APQP, projects were broken down into multiple phases before mass production:
1. Product design review
2. Process feasibility analysis
3. Risk identification (e.g., FMEA)
4. Control Plan Development
5. Pilot Production Validation

The core change this brought about is that issues are anticipated during the design phase rather than passively exposed on the production floor. Many problems are resolved before production even begins.

II. A Comparison Based on a Real-World Case

We previously developed an automotive component (an aluminum forging) for a client before we had adopted APQP, and the process went as follows:

Round 1 prototyping: Severe underfill and folding defects
Round 2: Adjusted blank dimensions and preforming method → Limited improvement
Round 3: Optimized heating schedule → Stability issues persisted
Round 4: Modified local die structure and runner configuration

The entire process took nearly three months, with a scrap rate that at one point exceeded 30%.

However, after formally adopting the APQP methodology, we strictly followed APQP procedures for subsequent similar projects.

Unreasonable molten metal filling path → Prone to entrapped air
Localized uneven deformation or excessive cooling rates → Prone to forging cracks
Insufficient mold venting/lubrication → Prone to mold sticking and surface defects

Subsequently, measures were implemented during the process design phase:
Optimized blank shape and die-forging flow line design
Rationally established heating temperatures and deformation rates to control temperature drop
Optimized lubrication and die venting design to improve metal flow

As a result, acceptable quality levels were achieved in the first trial production run, with the scrap rate controlled below 5%, and the development cycle shortened by approximately 40%. These improvements exemplify the typical value delivered by APQP.

III. Changes to Organizational Capabilities

The impact of APQP extends beyond the technical level and is also reflected in how the organization operates.

1. Breaking Down Departmental Barriers

In traditional foundries, process, quality, and production departments often operate in isolation. APQP, however, emphasizes cross-departmental collaboration:
Design, process, and quality teams participate jointly in reviews.
Issues are resolved at the conference table rather than through on-site disputes.

2. Standardization of Expertise

The forging plant industry relies heavily on experience, but this expertise is often concentrated in the hands of a few individuals.

Through tools such as FMEA, control plans, and process flowcharts, APQP transforms this expertise into standardized documentation, reducing reliance on “master craftsmen.”

IV. Practical Impact on Costs and Efficiency

Many companies that have not implemented—or have not fully implemented—APQP believe: “APQP adds a lot of paperwork and slows down efficiency.”

However, in practice:

While there is indeed an initial increase in short-term investment (meetings, analysis, documentation), in the medium to long term, implementing APQP leads to benefits such as fewer prototype runs, lower scrap rates, and reduced change costs, resulting in an overall decrease in costs. Costs shift from “waste during manufacturing” to “prevention during development,” and the cost of prevention is far lower than the cost of failure.

V. Conclusion

The true significance of APQP lies not in the number of forms filled out, but in changing a mindset: quality is not achieved through inspection, but is determined during the design and planning stages.

For forging company like INNOVAW, introducing and truly implementing APQP often marks a turning point—a shift from a traditional model reliant on experience and trial-and-error to a modern manufacturing system characterized by systematization, reproducibility, and sustainable improvement. If equipment determines the lower limit, then APQP often determines the upper limit.