A Control Plan is the written description of how a supplier controls its product and process characteristics. For every operation it states which characteristic is checked, against what specification, with which gauge or method, how many parts how often, and what happens when a check fails. Automotive customers expect one for every part made under IATF 16949, and they review it in APQP and PPAP.
AIAG's Control Plan manual (first edition, 2024) gives the plan a reference manual of its own; it was previously an appendix of the APQP manual. Its B-1 form has thirteen header fields and thirteen row fields, numbered 14 to 26, from the operation number to the reaction plan and its owner. Plans are written for the Prototype, Pre-Launch and Production phases, and Safe Launch adds temporary controls for the ramp-up.
The Control Plan is where the process flow and the PFMEA reach the shop floor: every current prevention and detection control the PFMEA counts on should appear on it, and every special characteristic must. That is why Zometric generates the plan from those documents instead of retyping it, and keeps it in sync when they change.
Six problems quality teams describe in their own words, and what changes when the Control Plan is built from the same records as the PFMEA.
The plan is generated, completed, checked and released, then kept in sync as the process flow and the PFMEA change.
Inputs · Process flow and PFMEA
Mark the operations that belong in the Control Plan in the process flow, link their characteristics from the characteristic register, and mark which PFMEA controls are carried to the Control Plan.
Generate · Fields 1–21
Choose the phase and an optional filter: a minimum Action Priority, special characteristics only, or prevention or detection controls. Zometric writes one row per characteristic at each operation, a verification row per error-proofing device and per 100% visual inspection, and marks rework rows. Special characteristics are never filtered out.
Complete · Fields 22–26
Set the gauge or evaluation technique, the sample size and frequency with their statistical basis, the control method and what data it collects, then pick a reaction plan from the library. Zometric proposes the control method from the PFMEA's detection controls.
Phases · Prototype, Pre-Launch, Production
A Pre-Launch plan can start from the Production plan's sampling and reactions, and is flagged until it adds controls of its own. Rework, repair and interdependent-process plans are generated from the process flow, and Safe Launch controls run in a separate plan with exit criteria.
Validate
More than fifty rules check the plan against the manual, many with a one-click fix, and the B-2 checklist answers itself where a rule can. Open errors block the release until they are fixed or waived with a reason.
Release
Release freezes a revision, through an approval route with electronic signature when one is set up. Customer approvals are recorded on the plan or given through the Supplier Portal, and a new Production revision asks the customer again when their profile requires it.
Production
The released Production plan is offered to SPC and Inspection, and each station opens its view from a QR code. Operators verify error-proofing devices there; a failed verification needs the reaction taken and opens an action.
Change
When the process flow or the PFMEA changes, the sync preview shows the effect. Syncing a released plan moves it to "Changed after release", while the released revision stays on the floor until the next release.
Each capability is tied to a decision your team is already trying to make.
Characteristics, controls and methods flow in from the PFMEA and the process flow. Every field shows its provenance — derived, overridden or authored — so a reviewer can see at a glance what came from the risk analysis and what was added on the floor.
When the PFMEA changes, the Control Plan shows the difference before anything is applied: rows added, controls changed, overrides gone stale, rows orphaned. Apply it in one click. Authored fields are never touched.
All three Control Plan phases from the same process definition, plus Safe Launch controls with exit criteria for the ramp-up. Pass-through characteristics get their own register, so nothing the customer sees is left unowned.
Standard reaction plans written once and referenced on every row that needs them. A row without a reaction plan is flagged before release — not discovered by the operator at 2 a.m.
Each station gets its own tablet view of exactly the controls it must run, opened from a QR code. The operator sees the current released revision — never a printout from two changes ago.
Engineering offers each control to operations, and operations sets it up, links an existing check or declines with a reason. The Control Plan row then shows whether the control is really running in In-Process Quality & SPC or Inspection. Connected, not coupled.
More than fifty checks — a special characteristic missing from the plan, a gauge with no measurement system study, a row the PFMEA no longer supports — many with a one-click fix. Release through an approval route, with e-signature when one is set up and a customer re-approval prompt when it is required.
When a check fails, every part made since the last good check is suspect. The row editor turns the frequency in field 23 into that number using the cycle time of the process step: the interval divided by the cycle time, rounded up, with a shift counted as 480 minutes.
| Frequency | Parts between checks | Based on |
|---|---|---|
| Every piece | Parts between checks1 | Based onQuantity |
| Every 50 parts | Parts between checks50 | Based onQuantity |
| Every 30 minutes | Parts between checks150 | Based onTime |
| Every hour | Parts between checks300 | Based onTime |
| 1 per shift | Parts between checks2,400 | Based onTime |
Rows point to the same operations, characteristics and controls as the other documents, so nothing is retyped between them.
Operations marked for the Control Plan, their machines, error-proofing devices and rework loops come from the process flow. Renumber an operation and every row follows.
Prevention and detection controls carried to the Control Plan fill the control method, and Action Priority drives the generation filter. PFMEA changes reach the plan through the sync preview.
SPC rows of a released Production plan are offered to SPC for set-up. The row then shows the floor status, and flags limits or sample sizes that differ from the plan.
Inspection rows at receiving operations are offered as incoming checks and at shipping or packaging as outgoing checks, and their floor status comes back to the row.
The Control Plan element of a PPAP submission links to the Production plan, and the significant production run lists every Control Plan check to confirm.
Gate evidence reads the customer approval of the Prototype, Pre-Launch and Production plans, and the B-2 checklist shares its questions with APQP.
Root-cause analysis can point to the Control Plan row involved, and a D7 prevention step on the Control Plan raises a review flag on it.
Customers review and approve the plan from a secure link, and the decision is recorded on its approval fields. Suppliers provide the data for pass-through characteristics.
Generates and completes the plan, records approvals, runs Safe Launch, sends the plan to operations and releases it.
Generate, edit and sync plans and release them. Project leads can also record approvals, run Safe Launch and send plans to operations.
Approves the exit from a Safe Launch once its clean days and criteria are met.
Sets up, links or declines each control offered to SPC and Inspection, giving a reason when it declines.
Review the plan and approve, approve with comments or reject it through the Supplier Portal.
| Zometric Control Plan vs a spreadsheet template | Spreadsheet template | Zometric Control Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Rows | Retyped from the PFMEA | Generated from the process flow and the PFMEA, one per characteristic and operation |
| PFMEA changes | Found by comparing two files | Sync preview of added, changed, stale and orphaned rows |
| Your own edits | Overwritten by the next copy | Never overwritten; flagged for review when the source moves |
| Special characteristics | Symbol typed by hand | Symbol from the characteristic register, in the customer's symbol where agreed |
| Reaction plans | Free text on each row | Library plans with contain, stop, restore and one owner |
| Checks | None | More than 50 rules; open errors block the release |
| Shop floor | Printouts | Station view of the released revision, opened from a QR code |
| SPC and inspection | Set up separately and left to drift | Hand-off to operations, with floor status on every row |
Bring legacy Control Plans in from the AIAG 2024 B-1 layout or the older APQP layout. Imported rows are matched to generated rows, never duplicated.
Export a plan for editing in Excel and re-import it, with a cell-by-cell comparison that shows conflicts before anything is applied.
The B-1 form in Excel with customer export templates, up to eight extra columns and change bars since an earlier revision, plus the B-2 checklist, the B-3 worksheet and a print layout.
Control Plans, generation, sync preview and apply, rows and approvals are available through the REST API.
Straight answers to the questions teams ask before a demo.
Zometric follows the AIAG Control Plan manual published in 2024. Plans use its B-1 form with header fields 1 to 13 and row fields 14 to 26, its 21-question B-2 checklist, and its Prototype, Pre-Launch and Production phases. The validation rules cite the section of the manual they come from.
Zometric writes one row for each characteristic at each operation marked for the Control Plan, taken from the process flow and from the PFMEA's failure modes and causes. Each row carries the current PFMEA controls marked "Carried to Control Plan". Error-proofing devices and 100% visual inspections get their own verification rows.
Nothing changes until someone applies the sync. The sync preview lists rows to add, controls that changed, overridden values whose source moved, and rows whose source was removed. Values typed by engineers are kept, affected rows get a review flag, and no row is deleted.
No. Special characteristics are never filtered out of a generated Control Plan, even when the plan is limited to a minimum Action Priority. A special characteristic missing from the plan is reported as an error, and field 20 shows its symbol, or the customer's symbol where one has been agreed.
Yes. Safe Launch controls run in a separate plan linked to the Pre-Launch or Production plan, with tighter sampling or extra checks at any operation. A clean-day counter, 90 days by default, resets on logged issues, and the exit needs management approval and, when required, the customer's authorization.
Each operation has a station view opened from a QR code, showing that operation's released checks, specifications, gauges and reaction plans. It can show a second language next to English. Rows added after the last release do not appear until the plan is released again.
When a Production Control Plan is released, its data-collecting rows are offered to the SPC and Inspection modules. Operations sets each one up, links an existing check or declines it with a reason. Every row then shows its floor status, such as pending, in place, declined or drift.
Yes. Control Plans can be imported from the AIAG 2024 B-1 layout or the older APQP layout, and imported rows are matched to the generated rows instead of duplicated. A plan can also be exported for editing in Excel and re-imported with a cell-by-cell comparison.
A 30-minute discovery call. A 2–3 week pilot on real factory data. Then scale at your pace.
