Raw material mill source

Hello,
I am at a new company now and would like some clarification for the below question regarding PPAP and material sources. It seems that we currently purchase raw material (steel) from multiple sources & if we had a past PPAP on file their assumption is that we are approved to run any of the past approved mill source due to past approval.

1. If we perform annual recertification PPAP's and we have used different mill sources in the past for the recertifications, can we continue to purchase from multiple mills or is the latest PPAP on file what we are bound to?
2. If we wanted to dual or triple source different mills how would this process look?

You haver a nightmare. Do you purchase mill direct or from service centers/distributors?

We purchase our material from distribution centers.

luber77 said:

We purchase our material from distribution centers.

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So your nightmare is doubled. So it all depends on how "compliant" you want to be. Generally speaking, you would PPAP your distributor (assuming they do something value added like slitting), who would PPAP the Mill. Here's the rub. You could PPAP 3 or 4 distributors, who all buy from the same mill. But they could also buy from different mills. So technically, you would want a PPAP from each mill that your vendors purchase from. And then a PPAP from each vendor. That's a lot of PPAPs. Thus, I would avoid annual PPAPs like the plague -- you'll never get any real work done.

My position has always been, if we are purchasing to an off the shelf ASTM type standard, that's enough to "waive" the PPAPs. It has to stop somewhere. My customers have never pursued it. IATF and the big 3 may have concerns, but they aren't my customers. It's a rabbit hole.