The wonderful world of the PPAP
There is an intriguing little phrase I came across in a trombone technique book that hovers in a limbo between right and wrong: "It's not what you play but how you play it"
There is a lot to be said for giving your best at all times, no matter what music you have been asked to play. It is a matter of pride, of professionalism, of maturity - of character, too. I can certainly say that I gave my best to (and received a lot back from) playing in a Shropshire brass band, even though I really do not like much of the music we played.
However, one cannot really be expected to be able to find one's best when playing the wrong sort of music for you. The talent isn't there, the fluency goes, the "Selbstverständlichkeit" is lost. Asking a striker to play in defence can work, but, if it goes on for too long, his motivation will drop to the extent that he becomes a liability, or he will ask to leave the team.
And so I come to PPAPs. PPAPs are the scourge of the auto industry, a chain of disinterest ending in a dark pool of valuelessness. Nominally, it is an acronym; Production Parts Approval Process. Its meaning and raison d'être lies in ensuring that each and every part that goes onto a car is tested, approved and well managed. A noble pursuit, naturally - and of course impossible to argue against. Even when every single type of screw in a vehicle has a 20 MByte PPAP file associated with it. Each car has around 30000 parts, maybe 10000 unique part numbers; so perhaps each model of car has a 200 GByte file associated with it that nobody uses. (Except when something goes wrong and the lawyers start crawling around, which is the reason for the whole PPAP escalation)
So when I was working on managing fittings for my company, and PPAPs were a major part of this, I swiftly found myself playing the wrong sort of music. Each and every PPAP had to be exhaustively inspected; are test results all present and complete (usually not); all dimensions understood and properly measured (ditto); control plans, process flow plans, material data sheets all present...? It was very rare for a PPAP to be completed in a single sitting, so I ended up with a backlog of semi-complete, interim-approved files awaiting further information from their suppliers (who were sometimes less keen than me on getting things done properly). It was - and is - a never-ending controlling position in a company; one that requires a Kafkaesque, bureaucratic mind, a mind I categorically do not possess.
Alas, those that do possess such minds, and (is that 'and' necessary?) the lawyers, also own the process, so that it has embedded itself deeply into its own work groove; a record that only a small clique would find cool. Similarly a shame, the process does not seem to be enough of a financial burden on each and every supplier in the industry for there to be a concerted effort to remove it, or at least streamline it.
Every industry has its administrative and proofing methods, but few outside of the medical industry seem as fat as the auto industry's. If you're the type of person who enjoys being the controller, or can simply accept such a role, then fine. If you're not - then avoid at all costs; PPAPs and their ilk will ruin your day, every day.
There is a lot to be said for giving your best at all times, no matter what music you have been asked to play. It is a matter of pride, of professionalism, of maturity - of character, too. I can certainly say that I gave my best to (and received a lot back from) playing in a Shropshire brass band, even though I really do not like much of the music we played.
However, one cannot really be expected to be able to find one's best when playing the wrong sort of music for you. The talent isn't there, the fluency goes, the "Selbstverständlichkeit" is lost. Asking a striker to play in defence can work, but, if it goes on for too long, his motivation will drop to the extent that he becomes a liability, or he will ask to leave the team.
And so I come to PPAPs. PPAPs are the scourge of the auto industry, a chain of disinterest ending in a dark pool of valuelessness. Nominally, it is an acronym; Production Parts Approval Process. Its meaning and raison d'être lies in ensuring that each and every part that goes onto a car is tested, approved and well managed. A noble pursuit, naturally - and of course impossible to argue against. Even when every single type of screw in a vehicle has a 20 MByte PPAP file associated with it. Each car has around 30000 parts, maybe 10000 unique part numbers; so perhaps each model of car has a 200 GByte file associated with it that nobody uses. (Except when something goes wrong and the lawyers start crawling around, which is the reason for the whole PPAP escalation)
So when I was working on managing fittings for my company, and PPAPs were a major part of this, I swiftly found myself playing the wrong sort of music. Each and every PPAP had to be exhaustively inspected; are test results all present and complete (usually not); all dimensions understood and properly measured (ditto); control plans, process flow plans, material data sheets all present...? It was very rare for a PPAP to be completed in a single sitting, so I ended up with a backlog of semi-complete, interim-approved files awaiting further information from their suppliers (who were sometimes less keen than me on getting things done properly). It was - and is - a never-ending controlling position in a company; one that requires a Kafkaesque, bureaucratic mind, a mind I categorically do not possess.
Alas, those that do possess such minds, and (is that 'and' necessary?) the lawyers, also own the process, so that it has embedded itself deeply into its own work groove; a record that only a small clique would find cool. Similarly a shame, the process does not seem to be enough of a financial burden on each and every supplier in the industry for there to be a concerted effort to remove it, or at least streamline it.
Every industry has its administrative and proofing methods, but few outside of the medical industry seem as fat as the auto industry's. If you're the type of person who enjoys being the controller, or can simply accept such a role, then fine. If you're not - then avoid at all costs; PPAPs and their ilk will ruin your day, every day.
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