# APQP Timing Plan Worksheet

> Source: https://netray.co/tools/apqp-timing-plan-worksheet
> Publisher: Netray (netray.co), AI and integration engineering for ERP and manufacturing systems.
> Section: Free Tools

## Short answer

An editable APQP timing plan by phase with owners, dates and weighted completion, exportable to Excel.

## Category

quality

## Industry

Automotive

## Audience

- APQP team leader
- Program manager
- Supplier quality engineer

## Tool

**Kind:** worksheet

**Mode:** editable

**Columns:**

#### APQP phase

**Key:** phase

**Type:** select

**Options:**

- 1 Plan and define
- 2 Product design and development
- 3 Process design and development
- 4 Product and process validation
- 5 Feedback, assessment and corrective action

#### Activity

**Key:** activity

**Type:** text

#### Owner

**Key:** owner

**Type:** text

#### Start

**Key:** start

**Type:** date

#### Due

**Key:** due

**Type:** date

#### Planned days

**Key:** days

**Type:** number

#### Percent complete

**Key:** pct

**Type:** number

**Unit:** %

#### Earned days

**Key:** earned

**Type:** number

**Expr:** days * pct / 100

**Format:** decimal

#### Status

**Key:** status

**Type:** select

**Options:**

- Not started
- On track
- At risk
- Late
- Complete

**Rows:**

#### 1 Plan and define

**Activity:** Review customer requirements and design goals

**Owner:** Program manager

**Start:** 2026-09-01

**Due:** 2026-09-12

**Days:** 10

**Pct:** 100

**Status:** Complete

#### 2 Product design and development

**Activity:** Design FMEA and drawing release

**Owner:** Design engineer

**Start:** 2026-09-15

**Due:** 2026-10-10

**Days:** 20

**Pct:** 80

**Status:** On track

#### 3 Process design and development

**Activity:** Process flow, PFMEA and control plan

**Owner:** Process engineer

**Start:** 2026-10-01

**Due:** 2026-10-30

**Days:** 20

**Pct:** 40

**Status:** At risk

#### 3 Process design and development

**Activity:** Tooling and gauge build

**Owner:** Tooling lead

**Start:** 2026-10-05

**Due:** 2026-11-20

**Days:** 35

**Pct:** 25

**Status:** On track

#### 4 Product and process validation

**Activity:** Run at rate and capability studies

**Owner:** Quality engineer

**Start:** 2026-11-23

**Due:** 2026-12-04

**Days:** 10

**Pct:** 0

**Status:** Not started

#### 4 Product and process validation

**Activity:** PPAP package and warrant submission

**Owner:** Supplier quality engineer

**Start:** 2026-12-07

**Due:** 2026-12-18

**Days:** 10

**Pct:** 0

**Status:** Not started

**Totals:**

#### Total planned days

**Key:** days

**Agg:** sum

**Format:** number

#### Total earned days

**Key:** earned

**Agg:** sum

**Format:** decimal

**Summary:**

#### Weighted progress

**Key:** progress

**Expr:** sum_earned / sum_days * 100

**Format:** percent

**Primary:** true

**Description:** Earned days divided by planned days.

#### Activities listed

**Key:** acts

**Expr:** count

**Format:** integer

**Notes:** Planned days are effort or duration you enter yourself; the worksheet does not calculate days from dates. Add rows for each deliverable your customer requires.

## Content

**Intro:** The APQP timing plan is the schedule that ties together design, process, tooling and validation work for a new automotive part. This worksheet organizes activities by the five APQP phases and gives a weighted progress figure for status reviews.

**Sections:**

#### How to use it

**Body:** Start from the customer's milestone dates: sample delivery, PPAP due date and start of production. Work backwards, adding rows for each activity under its phase, with an owner, start and due date. Enter planned days and update percent complete before each team meeting. Earned days and overall weighted progress update automatically. Export to Excel to share with the customer or paste into a Gantt chart tool.

#### The five phases

**Body:** APQP, Advanced Product Quality Planning, structures a launch into plan and define, product design and development, process design and development, product and process validation, and feedback, assessment and corrective action. Each phase has typical outputs, such as design FMEA in phase 2, PFMEA and control plan in phase 3, and run at rate and PPAP in phase 4. The timing plan makes sure none of these deliverables is missing.

**Bullets:**

- Phase 1: customer needs, goals, preliminary bill of materials
- Phase 2: DFMEA, design verification, drawings
- Phase 3: flow diagram, PFMEA, control plan, packaging
- Phase 4: run at rate, MSA, capability, PPAP
- Phase 5: reduced variation, customer satisfaction, lessons learned

#### Reading the progress figure

**Body:** Weighted progress is earned days divided by total planned days. In the example, the program is about half done, but the process design work carries more weight and sits behind plan. Compare progress against the calendar: if the program is 70 percent through its time and only 50 percent complete, escalate. Weighted progress is only as honest as the percent complete entries, so define done criteria per activity.

#### Common mistakes

**Body:** Planning tooling and gauges too late, leaving MSA and capability studies until the week before PPAP, ignoring customer holidays and shutdowns, and treating phase 5 as optional. Include time for rework of failed first runs, since a first run at rate rarely passes untouched on complex parts.

**Cta:** Netray can connect project, routing and tooling data from your ERP to a private launch dashboard if you want status without manual updates.

**Faq:**

#### What is an APQP timing plan?

**Answer:** It is the schedule of all activities needed to launch a new part, organized by the APQP phases, with owners, dates and status. It is usually reviewed weekly by the cross functional team and shared with the customer at agreed milestones.

#### Who owns the APQP timing plan?

**Answer:** The APQP team leader or program manager owns it, with each activity assigned to a named function owner such as design, process, tooling or quality. A cross functional team reviews it regularly so risks are raised early.

#### How many phases does APQP have?

**Answer:** APQP has five phases: plan and define, product design and development, process design and development, product and process validation, and feedback, assessment and corrective action. Some customers also map them to their own gateway systems.

#### Does the worksheet calculate dates automatically?

**Answer:** No. You enter start and due dates and planned days yourself. Earned days and weighted progress are calculated from planned days and percent complete. This keeps the plan flexible for calendar differences between sites and customers.

## Search terms

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