Advance Quality Planning is a process step to gather information on existing quality and production issues in order to develop counter-measures for avoiding similar problems with the development of future new products. This is a team process that depends as much on communicating information as it does on planning. Therefore, it requires manufacturing, quality and supplier engineering involvement.
The first step is to gather data. This process can begin with anecdotal and unstructured data. However, the process suggests a more formal data collection and analysis system to support it. Data would include:
The key is not the data collection and analysis system (although this is valuable), but a dialog to develop awareness of potential issues. With this dialog, comes awareness. With the awareness, comes plans and actions to counter any deficiencies or weaknesses. This process step forces early manufacturing, quality, service, and supplier engineering involvement that is so helpful to improving quality, producibility and cost.