First round of APQP4Wind training courses completed

Representatives from various organization levels at Vestas Wind Systems, Siemens Wind Power, LM Wind Power, and KK Wind Solutions have recently found themselves back on the school benches – this time around to go through training courses designed to support the successful deployment of the new quality standards, also known as the APQP4Wind standards. The training courses have been developed in close cooperation with two of the leading training providers in Denmark, DNV GL and Bureau Veritas, who have both been certified as official APQP4Wind training providers due to their merits, global footprint, and international presence.

As General Manager Kim Nedergaard Jacobsen underlines, the training concept is now up and running, but there may still be a need for future adjustments to ensure that the APQP4Wind manual and training concept is thoroughly tested on industry professionals:

“At this stage of the process, we are focused on adjusting and adapting the APQP4Wind concept, which means fine-tuning both the manual and the training concept to ensure that its content fits the many future users. Only after our go-live four weeks ago, we have been fully able to do this given that there is now an actual product for the companies to implement into their own work processes, rather than just an opaque concept. This process of fine-tuning will most likely carry on through the rest of 2017 and of course, we encourage all users including sub-suppliers to give us their feedback – it’s extremely valuable to us.”

First to complete a training course

The training concept is a vital part of establishing a common mindset and terminology in the industry when working with quality assurance processes. As Henrik Hjortkjær, Head of QE Processes & Systems from Siemens Wind Power, explains, the concept is designed to build competencies and mature the industry as a whole:

“APQP4Wind is the common frame of reference that the industry needs in order to strengthen the cooperation between manufacturers and suppliers and to ensure that parties on all levels communicate at eye level when it comes to quality assurance processes. What is most important here is that competencies in quality planning and quality assurance are strengthened through a series of well-designed APQP4Wind training course that focuses on both practical and procedural learning tailored to our specific needs within wind power.”

The platform for open dialogue

According to Henning Bach Jokumsen, Head of QSE & D MVOW in Vestas Wind Systems, the first round of training courses has proven successful in establishing the desired platform for open dialogue:

“These first APQP4Wind training courses, where representatives from the supplier level, with LM Wind Power and KK Wind Solutions, together with representatives from the manufacturer level, with Siemens Wind Power and Vestas Wind Systems, have already proven successful in promoting a fruitful and open dialogue. There is no doubt that both parties have gained new and valuable insights from being able to sit down in this setting to receive training and to work together in mixed working groups with both managers and APQP specialists. The training concept is a unique platform for promoting that common framework which creates value for both manufacturers and suppliers. The successful completion of these first courses promises well for the future when the training providers intensify their training activities both in Denmark and abroad”, Jokumsen finishes.

The two certified training providers, DNV GL and Bureau Veritas, offer courses targeted at multiple levels of the organization - from management awareness training over APQP specialist training to internal auditor training. The courses are run as mixed group courses with participants from different companies or can be held as corporate courses.

For more information about APQP4Wind training courses, please visit the training providers’ websites.