Case study: VPP management, data-driven decision making and right view reporting

"Thank you QR_ Team for your quick response to project queries and requests. Thanks to QR_ we have greatly improved the management of our parts in Europe" - Programme Manager

Case study: VPP management, data-driven decision making and right view reporting

Getting the right data to the right people at the right time are the fundamentals of data-driven decision making.

A quality team in a global Tier 1 supplier did not track PPAP dates for hundreds of parts in several plants and QR_ was called in to enhance visibility and provide right-view reporting of next steps, promising or confirming dates.

Case study: VPP management, data-driven decision making and right view reporting

Our client, the ninth-largest automotive supplier globally, selected QR_ to manage its VPP to enable better informed, data-led decision-making.

As a new entrant to the market, the client faced the challenge of developing and manufacturing their first-ever vehicle – the latter always the critical hurdle for new OEMs. While their small team had already developed prototypes of the unique and innovative vehicle, it quickly became apparent that a larger team and more robust processes were needed to bring the client’s full-scale ambitions to reality.

1. Challenge

This lack of visibility meant no data was available for the quality team to make strategic decisions. Consequently, this led to many of the PPAP dates falling behind, placing substantial pressure on the client’s Quality team to make effective changes within tight timelines and, ultimately, impeding production efforts. In addition to working with limited data, the client’s operations were also hindered by a lack of process awareness and systems training, with many engineers without access to systems and possessing a limited understanding of the approval process. Knowing that the solution lay in robust and data-driven reporting to enhance operational performance, QR_ sought to develop a solution that would do just that.

2. Approach

To achieve this, started with requirement definition, clarifying what was needed and then delivering clear actions and notifications regularly to help the client manage the critical path to success. With requirements determined, VPP and PPAP tracking could then be implemented. This tracking would report the states of all the parts, latest levels and PPAP dates on a plant-specific basis - a key activity to highlight upcoming due dates. Lastly, to increase visibility further, managing PPAPs updates in the system was key. QR_ created the process to do this, including verifying, confirming or extending those dates with suppliers in the VPP system, ensuring timely delivery.

3. Outcome

QR_'s reporting has been instrumental in helping the client meet their deadlines, improve their processes, and enable data-led strategic decision-making. This has resulted in a substantial reduction in many of the client’s unmet deadlines. By notifying future changes more than one month in advance, the client now has time to react to future requirements before they become issues.

4. Feedback

"Thank you QR_ Team for your quick response to project queries and requests. Thanks to QR_ we have greatly improved the management of our parts in Europe" - Programme Manager