# Control Plan

> Source: https://netray.co/glossary/control-plan
> Publisher: Netray (netray.co), AI and integration engineering for ERP and manufacturing systems.
> Section: Glossary

## Short answer

A control plan is a document listing, for each process step, the characteristics to control, the specification, how it is measured, sample size and frequency, the control method and the reaction plan when results go out of limits.

## Aliases

- quality control plan
- production control plan
- process control plan

## Category

manufacturing

## Full Definition

A control plan turns the risks found in a process FMEA into concrete checks on the shop floor. Typical columns are part and process number, machine or tool, product and process characteristics (flagged special where they affect safety or fit), specification and tolerance, evaluation or measurement technique, sample size and frequency, control method (SPC chart, poka-yoke, first-piece check) and reaction plan.

In automotive the AIAG Advanced Product Quality Planning guide defines three phases: prototype, pre-launch and production. The control plan is a required PPAP element under IATF 16949, and the 2024 AIAG and VDA alignment emphasises that it must stay consistent with the PFMEA, process flow diagram and work instructions. Aerospace uses the same idea under AS9100 through inspection plans and key characteristics, and AS9102 first article reports confirm the design characteristics once.

The control plan is a living document. A process change, a customer complaint, a CAPA or a new FMEA finding should update it. A frequent failure is a control plan that says 100 percent inspection or SPC on a characteristic that nobody actually checks on the floor, which auditors find by comparing the plan to travelers and records.

Inside the ERP, control plan content shows up as inspection plans and operation steps: SyteLine inspection plans and quality control steps, or LN inspection definitions tied to routing operations. Linking each routing operation to the characteristics and frequencies in the control plan makes the shop floor traveler enforce what the plan promises.

## Why It Matters

- It closes the loop between risk analysis (FMEA) and what operators and inspectors actually do each shift.
- It is a mandatory PPAP element for IATF 16949 customers and a common audit sampling target.
- A clear reaction plan means operators know whether to stop, sort or escalate when a check fails.
- When the plan is built into routing operations in the ERP, compliance is recorded automatically instead of relying on paper discipline.

## In Practice

For a shaft journal diameter of 25.000 mm plus or minus 0.010, the control plan lists: measure with a calibrated micrometer, 5 pieces every hour, X-bar and R chart, reaction plan stop the machine on any point outside control limits and sort back to last good check. The routing operation in the ERP carries the same frequency so the shop traveler prompts the readings and the results post to the lot record.

## Faq

### What is the difference between a control plan and an FMEA?

**Answer:** The FMEA identifies what can go wrong and ranks risk. The control plan states how those risks are detected or prevented in production, with methods, frequencies and reaction plans.

### Who owns the control plan?

**Answer:** Usually a cross-functional team led by quality or process engineering, with manufacturing, design and sometimes the customer's supplier quality engineer contributing.

### What goes in the reaction plan column?

**Answer:** The immediate steps when a check fails: stop or continue, contain suspect parts, who to notify, and when to open an NCR.

### How often should a control plan be updated?

**Answer:** Whenever the process, equipment, materials or specification changes, after any CAPA or customer complaint, and at periodic review, commonly annually.

## Search terms

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