Looking back at 2023 and into 2024
APQP4Wind celebrated 5th anniversary as an independent organization
2023 was the 5th year of APQP4Wind being an independent organization. During the five years, the organization moved steadily towards achieving the vision of lowering the cost of poor quality and becoming the go-to quality assurance methodology for the entire global wind industry supply chain. We celebrated the anniversary with great support from our three approved training providers: Bureau Veritas Certification, DNV, and TÜV Rhineland Greater China.
With a membership discount for new members and a special training price from our training providers, the APQP4Wind concept reached a wider audience. During the celebration between June and September, we welcomed more than ten new APQP4Wind Company Members, and the community now has 140 companies worldwide.
Read more about our five-year journey here.
More utility companies joined the APQP4Wind Community
In 2022, we welcomed the first two utility companies becoming APQP4Wind Company Members: Ørsted and Vattenfall. Three important utility companies followed their steps in 2023: BP, RWE, and TotalEnergies. The voice of utility companies will enable APQP4Wind to get great insight into the wind customers´ perspectives and develop the APQP4Wind concept further.
APQP4Wind organization´s mission is to enable and strengthen cooperation across the entire supply chain; adding utility companies is closely aligned with this mission, as they can provide APQP4Wind with their vast market knowledge. Covering the whole supply chain, APQP4Wind can better drive a common industry language and a common approach to quality assurance in the wind industry.
See the complete APQP4Wind member list here.
TIM Wind project launched with guidelines available for purchase
Due to a common wish to simplify and strengthen the entire quality planning and product release process, TIM Wind - Technical Information Management for the Wind Industry – started a collaboration with APQP4Wind with the purpose of aligning the methods for technical information structure and management in the global wind industry.
In September 2023, the TIM Wind project was published with five active workstreams: 1: DCC for Wind, 2: RDS for WTG, 3: Content Requirements, 4: Standardized data flows, and 5: RDS for Foundations. Workstream 1 and 2 guidelines are ready and can be purchased by contacting the APQP4Wind Secretariat via email.
Read more about the TIM Wind project here. Follow TIM Wind's LinkedIn here.
An excellent year for APQP4Wind in China
In July 2023, approved APQP4Wind Trainer Bureau Veritas Certification held the first offline Chinese APQP4Wind Summit since 2021. During the event, more than 120 participants from 60 companies learned from various experts as they shared their best application practices of APQP4Wind, and three Chinese companies were welcomed into the APQP4Wind Community as new company members.
Three months later, representatives from the Secretariat joined CHINA WIND POWER in Beijing and participated in two seminars held by APQP4Wind Training Provider Bureau Veritas Certification and TÜV Rheinland Greater China. An APQP4Wind Company Member Exclusive Discussion Forum was successfully held during the conference, and multiple companies were visited to deepen the Secretariat´s understanding of the Chinese market.
Read more about APQP4Wind´s business trip to China here. Read more about Bureau Veritas Certification´s seminar in July here.
Ever-growing APQP4Wind Community
In 2023, the APQP4Wind Community reached 140 company members. Since our journey started in 2017, more than 8600 APQP4Wind Manuals have been sold, and our three global training providers have provided training for people from more than 50 countries. More than 1400 companies have certified employees, and more than 7200 certificates have been issued.
The APQP4Wind Secretariat is growing too. In 2023, Per Rasmussen joined the team as the new Project Quality Lead. He works on developing the future APQP4Wind Manual and Toolbox with the APQP4Wind Working Group as part of his role. Additionally, he is responsible for answering customers' technical questions and updating training material in collaboration with our approved training providers.
Jingchen Xi/Christina, who helped APQP4Wind with the Chinese material since 2020, joined the Secretariat as a full-time Communication and Marketing Coordinator in May. She will manage APQP4Wind communication and marketing while Communication and Marketing Lead Marie-Louise Köllner is on maternity leave until the summer of 2024. Christina´s Chinese language and culture ability provides the Secretariat with deeper insight into the Chinese market.
2024: An exciting new year awaits
In November 2023, the APQP4Wind Board of Directors gathered in Billund, Denmark, to set a development strategy for the coming year. Encouraging more companies to join APQP4Wind and to apply the APQP4Wind concept is still the main goal in 2024, while a series of new ideas were brought up and will be discussed in the following meetings.
We would like to thank you all for an amazing 2023, and we look forward to a new year full of exciting news we can reveal for you in the near future!