Wind turbine manufacturers unveil new quality standards
Today, APQP4WIND has matured to the point where the parties involved are ready to unveil how the new standards will be deployed across the industry. By putting emphasis on quality planning and assurance rather than just quality control, APQP4WIND will help to eliminate errors and thereby lower costs. The new quality standards are focused on quality assurance early in the production process to systematically reduce production-related defects in the final product (the wind turbine).
The pivotal part of the project is a manual developed by Siemens Wind Power, Vestas Wind Systems, KK Wind Solutions and LM Wind Power. The manual defines common standards and best practices on how to plan and execute quality management in wind turbine production. The goal is that with the APQP4Wind manual in hand, and the right amount of training, the new quality standards can be used as the common frame of reference in the industry, so the production processes become more streamlined and quality management becomes more transparent.
An enhanced business case for customers, producers, and suppliers
The quality management tool APQP (Advanced Product Quality Planning) is a tool especially known from the American automotive industry, where the focus on production processes and quality standards have helped to strengthen product development and improve the quality of the final products. Therefore, the APQP4Wind project is inspired by the automotive industry's success in creating uniform standards for quality.
APQP4Wind is the industry-specific tool that will now be rolled out in the wind industry to ensure that customers, producers and suppliers benefit from more uniform quality management processes. Both Siemens Wind Power and Vestas Wind Systems, who have set themselves at the forefront of the development of the new standards, have high expectations for the success of the project:
"APQP4Wind supports collaboration throughout the entire value chain and creates measurable value for all parties involved. As a manufacturer, we can provide a product of higher quality at lower warranty and production costs, and it helps to guarantee high customer satisfaction because the product meets the specification of functionality requirements. At the same time, we are strengthening our collaboration with suppliers, so they now have a clear framework for the requirements of the products and components they supply. Therefore, it will serve as a tool to verify and document internal processes and outcomes," explains Henrik Hjortkjær, Head of QE Processes & Systems from Siemens Wind Power, who has been involved in the project from the start.
Vestas Wind Systems highlights the industry's overall advantage as an important reason for their engagement in the project:
"The major strength of this project is that Denmark will be a ‘first mover’ in an area which, not only ensures that the cost of wind energy can be reduced, but also effectively changes the way we are working with suppliers, contributing to higher productivity in much of the product realization process. In Denmark, we are famed for - and used to - a close cooperation across the entire value chain. We also have an invaluable advantage over many other countries, since most of the value chain is located within the country. This gives us an ideal framework to develop common standards, making wind energy even more competitive. These are just some of the parameters that promote and underpin the success of this project, " says Henning Bach Jokumsen, Head of QSE & D MVOW in Vestas Wind Systems, which is also one of the leading forces behind the development of the new APQP4Wind standards.