Who Publishes the PPAP Manual and Which Edition Is Current?

By Yamm Labs · Updated September 2026 · 6 min read

A supplier quality engineer at a die-casting plant near Pune gets a mail from a new Tier-1 customer: submit a Level 3 PPAP for a bracket by Friday, as per the current AIAG manual. On the shared drive she finds a scanned third edition, a fourth edition PDF covered in someone’s notes, and a customer template that cites neither. Before she fills a single form, she needs to know which rulebook the customer will check her against. That question has a short answer, and a longer one that matters more.

Who publishes the PPAP manual?

AIAG publishes the Production Part Approval Process manual. It is one of the AIAG quality core tools, next to APQP, FMEA, MSA and SPC. AIAG’s store lists it as PPAP-4, in hard copy in English and as an e-document, with language versions including Chinese, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai.

The manual defines the process: what a production run must prove, which records go into the package, the five submission levels and the Part Submission Warrant that closes it. It does not carry your customer’s extra rules. Those sit in separate documents, and a supplier needs both.

The questions around this one, from submission levels to the PSW, have short answers in our PPAP documentation FAQ.

The manual tells you what PPAP is; your customer’s requirements tell you what your PPAP must be.

Which edition of the PPAP manual is current?

The fourth. AIAG sells it as the current PPAP manual, and carmaker requirements point to it. Ford’s PPAP requirements, effective 15 June 2026, are titled for use with the AIAG PPAP Fourth Edition and the Service PPAP First Edition. Ford also states that, unless noted otherwise, every reference in its requirements means the latest edition.

The other core tools have moved faster. Ford requires the APQP Manual 3rd Edition from 31 December 2024, and accepts the AIAG and VDA FMEA Handbook format for design and process FMEAs. So one correct file can hold a fourth-edition PPAP package, a third-edition APQP plan and an AIAG-VDA style PFMEA. The trap is the old copy on the shared drive. An earlier edition of the manual, or a template built from one, produces forms and level definitions your customer will not accept.

Why do customer-specific requirements outrank your copy of the manual?

Because the customer approves the part, not AIAG. IATF Global Oversight publishes the current customer-specific requirement documents for Ford, General Motors, Stellantis and other carmakers on its customer-specific requirements page. Read them before the manual, not after.

• Ford. Where the manual refers to the Part Submission Warrant, the electronic PSW is Ford’s default submission route, with named exceptions that may still need a paper PSW. For Level 3, Level 5 and priority parts, Ford’s product development engineering should review and approve the submission.
• General Motors. GM’s requirements say the supplier shall comply with the AIAG PPAP manual together with GM’s own supplier quality statement of requirements. After PPAP approval, GM expects a full layout inspection every year on at least five parts.
• Stellantis. Stellantis applies the PPAP process and asks for PPAP status A before parts ship without a deviation. It does not sign the PSW; the supplier reads the approval verdict in Stellantis’s own system.
• German carmakers. German-owned OEMs and their Tier-1s may call for the VDA’s own product approval procedure in place of, or alongside, AIAG PPAP. The purchase order and the customer’s supplier manual tell you which.
• Indian OEMs and Tier-1s. Some issue their own supplier quality manuals that call up PPAP with their own formats and levels. Their manual governs your file, even when it borrows AIAG’s words.

What rulebook decision should a PPAP file show on page one?

Most PPAP guides stop at the manual. Here are the decisions to make before the first form is filled.

The references block. The cover of every PPAP package lists four things: the PPAP manual edition, the customer’s requirement document with its title and effective date, the submission level, and the editions of the APQP, FMEA and MSA manuals used. A reviewer sees at a glance which rulebook the file follows.

The check dates. Pull the customer’s current requirements from IATF Global Oversight on day one of the file, and check again the day before submission. Requirements change: Ford’s PPAP document took effect on 15 June 2026, and Stellantis posted a requirements summary dated July 2026.

The closing step. The last page depends on the customer. For Ford it is an electronic PSW by default. For Stellantis there is no customer signature on the PSW at all. Build the closing step from the customer’s document, not from the manual’s generic form.

Common mistakes with the PPAP manual

Most rejected PPAP files do not fail on engineering. They fail because the team worked to the wrong rulebook. These are the mistakes we see most often, and each one is avoidable before the first form is filled.

Working from an old or scanned copy. A third edition PDF on the shared drive looks harmless. It is not. Its forms and level definitions are not the ones a customer building to the fourth edition will check against. Retire every old copy and keep one licensed PPAP manual in the document control system.

Reading the manual first and the customer’s requirements second. The PPAP manual sets the common process. The customer-specific requirements decide what your particular file must hold. Read them in the opposite order and you will build a file to the manual’s defaults, then rework it.

Using the generic Part Submission Warrant for every customer. Ford’s default is an electronic PSW. Stellantis does not sign the PSW at all. A single paper form used for every customer will be wrong for at least one of them.

Not dating the requirement documents. Customer requirements are revised. A file built to a document downloaded last year may not match the version in force on submission day. Write the effective date on the cover and check it again before you send.

Mixing core tool editions without saying so. A fourth edition PPAP package can hold a third edition APQP plan and an AIAG-VDA style PFMEA. That is correct when the customer asks for it. It becomes a problem when the file does not state which edition each document follows, and the reviewer has to guess.

A worked example: the Pune bracket file

Go back to the quality engineer at the die-casting plant. Here is how she would work through the Friday deadline using only what this article has covered.

Step one, the rulebook. She deletes the scanned third edition and the annotated fourth edition from the shared drive, and works from one licensed copy of PPAP-4. If the plant does not own one, buying it is the first task, not the last.

Step two, the customer. The new Tier-1 ships to a carmaker. She asks the Tier-1 which carmaker and which supplier manual applies, then downloads the current requirement document from IATF Global Oversight if it is one of the listed carmakers. If the Tier-1 has its own supplier quality manual, that manual governs her file.

Step three, the level. The mail asks for Level 3, so the package carries the PSW, samples and the complete supporting data. She checks whether the customer’s document adds anything to Level 3 before she starts.

Step four, the cover. Page one lists the PPAP manual edition, the customer document and its effective date, Level 3, and the editions of the APQP, FMEA and MSA manuals used. The reviewer knows the rulebook before reading a single dimension.

Step five, the close. She builds the last page from the customer’s document. If the chain ends at Ford, that means the electronic PSW route. If it ends at Stellantis, there is no customer signature to wait for.

How to keep your PPAP manual and requirements current

A correct file today can be a wrong file next quarter if nobody owns the rulebook. A short, repeatable routine prevents that. Treat the PPAP manual and each customer’s requirements as controlled documents, the same way you treat drawings.

1. Name one owner. One person in the quality team owns the master list of manuals and customer requirement documents. Everyone else works from that list.
2. Keep a register. For each document, record the title, the edition or version, the effective date, the date you downloaded it and where the controlled copy sits.
3. Check on a fixed day. Visit the IATF Global Oversight customer-specific requirements page on a set day each month, and before every submission. Note the check in the register even when nothing has changed.
4. Flag the open files. When a requirement changes, list every PPAP file in progress for that customer and decide whether the change affects it.
5. Remove the old copies. When a new edition or version arrives, withdraw the old one from the shared drive so nobody builds from it by mistake.
6. Tell the people who build files. A short internal note on what changed, and from which date, saves a rejected submission later.

This routine takes less time than one resubmission. It also gives an auditor a clear answer when they ask how the plant knows it is working to the current rules.

How to brief a team or outside partner on the PPAP manual

Whether the file is built by a new engineer or an outsourced documentation team, the brief decides the quality of the first draft. A good brief answers the rulebook questions up front, so nobody has to guess.

• The PPAP manual edition: the fourth edition, and confirmation that the builder has access to a licensed copy.
• The customer and the chain: who you ship to, and which carmaker sits at the end of the chain.
• The requirement document: its title and effective date, attached, not described.
• The submission level: as stated on the customer’s request.
• The core tool editions: which APQP, FMEA and MSA manuals the customer expects.
• The closing route: paper PSW, electronic PSW, or the customer’s own system.
• The deadline and the reviewer: the submission date and who at the customer will read the file.

A partner who does not ask for these items before starting will build to the manual’s defaults. That is the most common source of rework.

What should a supplier do next?

Buy a licensed copy of PPAP-4 from AIAG and retire every scanned or annotated copy. At the time of writing, AIAG lists it at 60 US dollars for members and 177 US dollars for non-members. Download the requirement document for each customer you ship to, and date it. Then decide who builds the files. If your quality team is stretched, our outsourced PPAP documentation service works inside your existing quality process from Gurugram. The planning documents behind the file are covered in our APQP, PFMEA and Control Plan questions.

People also ask

Is there a fifth edition of the PPAP manual?

As of September 2026, AIAG sells the fourth edition as its PPAP manual, and Ford’s June 2026 requirements are written for the fourth edition. If a newer edition is released, the carmakers’ requirement documents will say when it applies. Until then, submit against the fourth.

Is the PPAP manual free to download?

No. AIAG sells it in print and as an e-document, with member and non-member prices. The carmakers’ customer-specific requirements are free to read on the IATF Global Oversight website.

Does IATF 16949 require the AIAG PPAP manual?

IATF 16949 expects a product approval process that your customer recognises. GM’s requirements tie that expectation directly to the AIAG PPAP manual, and Ford’s are written for its fourth edition. Where a customer specifies VDA or its own procedure, that procedure applies.

What are the five PPAP submission levels in the manual?

The PPAP manual sets five levels. Level 1 is the Part Submission Warrant only. Level 2 adds product samples and limited supporting data. Level 3 adds samples and complete supporting data, and is the usual default. Level 4 is the PSW plus whatever the customer defines. Level 5 is the PSW, samples and complete supporting data reviewed at the supplier’s plant. The customer’s request tells you which level applies.

Can I use a PPAP manual PDF shared by a colleague?

Use a copy your organisation has licensed from AIAG. A PDF passed between people is often an old edition or carries someone else’s notes, which is exactly how the wrong forms end up in a file. Keep one controlled copy, record its edition, and remove the rest from shared drives.

How often do the carmakers’ PPAP requirements change?

There is no fixed cycle. Each carmaker revises its document when it needs to, and the new version carries its own effective date. Ford’s PPAP document took effect on 15 June 2026. That is why the article recommends checking IATF Global Oversight on a set day each month and again before every submission.

Does the PPAP manual cover service parts?

Service parts have their own AIAG manual, the Service PPAP manual. Ford’s requirements are written for use with the PPAP Fourth Edition and the Service PPAP First Edition together. If you supply service parts, check which service manual edition your customer cites.

Who should own the PPAP manual inside a supplier?

The quality team, with one named person responsible for the controlled copy and the register of customer requirements. Engineers who build PPAP files should work from that register, not from their own downloads. It keeps every file on the same edition and the same requirement versions.