A control plan lists what is being controlled in a process, how it is measured, how often, and what happens when a reading falls out of specification. It is where analysis becomes daily practice: the FMEA says what could go wrong, the control plan says what you do about it every shift. Free template in Excel, Word and PDF below.
Download the control plan template
Eleven columns in the layout used across automotive and general manufacturing, with a second tab for the three phases. No signup, no email.
Control Plan — Excel (.xlsx)
Column hints in the first row, product/process drop-down, panes frozen. Second tab: prototype / pre-launch / production.
Download .xlsxControl Plan — Word (.docx)
Landscape table for the version that goes into a customer submission pack.
Download .docxControl Plan — PDF (print)
A3 landscape — the format that actually fits the columns, for the folder at the cell.
Download .pdfWhat goes in each column
Eleven columns, and most teams fill nine of them well. The two that decide whether the document is useful are sample frequency and reaction plan.
| Column | What goes in | How it goes wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Process step | Operation number and name, matching the process flow and the PFMEA | Numbering drifts from the PFMEA, so nobody can line the two documents up |
| Machine / device / jig | What performs the operation, specifically enough to find it on the floor | “Press” when there are four presses |
| Characteristic | The thing being controlled — a dimension, a torque, a temperature, a visual attribute | Written as an activity (“check weld”) rather than as the property being held |
| Product / process | Whether it is a feature of the part or a parameter of the process | Everything marked as product, so process parameters go uncontrolled |
| Special characteristic class | The customer’s designation for safety or regulatory-critical items | Copied from an old plan for a different revision level |
| Specification / tolerance | The number the part or parameter must hit | “Per drawing” — which means the operator needs a second document to act |
| Measurement technique | The gauge, fixture or test, named so it can be found and calibrated | Named generically, so nobody knows if the gauge is capable of the tolerance |
| Sample size | How many pieces per check | n = 1 for a characteristic that varies within the batch |
| Sample frequency | How often — per shift, per hour, per batch, per setup | Set by convenience rather than by how fast the process can drift |
| Control method | SPC chart, poka-yoke, 100% inspection, first-off approval, automatic gauging | “Visual” used as a control for something a person cannot reliably see |
| Reaction plan | Who does what when it is out — including the parts already made | “Inform supervisor.” See below |
The reaction plan is the column that decides everything
An out-of-spec reading is not the problem the control plan solves. The problem is the twenty minutes after it, when somebody has to decide what happens to the parts made since the last good check — while the line is still running and the shift is behind.
“Inform supervisor” hands that decision to whoever happens to be available, which is why the same characteristic gets three different dispositions in one week. A reaction plan that works names three things:
- The immediate action — stop, adjust, or continue while investigating, stated explicitly rather than left to judgement.
- The person by role — setter, quality technician, shift leader. Not a name, because names go on holiday.
- The disposition of suspect stock — how far back to quarantine, where to put it, and who releases it. This is the sentence that is almost always missing.
A useful test: hand the plan to someone from another cell and ask what they would do with the last hour of production. If they have to ask a follow-up question, the column is not finished.
Three phases, three different plans
| Phase | What it covers | Typical intensity |
|---|---|---|
| Prototype | Dimensional, material and performance checks while the prototype is being built | Widest scope — you are still learning where the process moves |
| Pre-launch | Additional containment checks after prototype and before full production | The tightest of the three: more characteristics, more often |
| Production | Steady-state controls for normal running | Reduced sampling — but justified by capability and history, not by how busy the shift is |
The transition that goes wrong is pre-launch to production. Sampling drops because the launch pressure is over, not because the process demonstrated it could hold the tolerance. If you cannot point to the capability data that justified the reduction, the reduction was a decision nobody made deliberately.
How a PFMEA becomes a control plan
The two documents are meant to be read together, and the handover between them is mechanical:
| In the PFMEA | Becomes in the control plan |
|---|---|
| Process step and function | Process step column — same numbering, deliberately |
| Potential failure mode and effect | Nothing directly — it justifies why the row exists |
| Current controls (prevention and detection) | Control method, measurement technique, sample size and frequency |
| Severity, and any special characteristic | Special characteristic class, and usually tighter sampling |
| Recommended action taken | A new or changed row — this is the step teams skip |
The most common gap between the two: an action is agreed in the FMEA, the RPN is recalculated as if it were in place, and the control never reaches the control plan. On paper the risk went down; on the floor nothing changed. When you review an FMEA, read the control plan next to it and check that every claimed control actually exists in a row somebody executes.
Where the control plan shows up in an 8D
If a customer complaint reaches you as an 8D, the control plan appears twice. In D6, when the permanent corrective action is implemented and validated — the action has to land in a row, with a frequency and a reaction plan. In D7, prevention, where the same control is extended to similar parts, processes and lines.
This is also the honest test of whether an 8D changed anything: open the control plan revision history. If the report says the root cause was eliminated and the control plan has not been revised, the fix lives only in the report. Our 8D template carries the fields for both steps, and corrective action tracking covers what happens over the following ninety days.
Four ways control plans quietly stop working
It was written for the audit. A plan produced two days before a customer visit describes an ideal process, not the running one. Operators know the difference, follow what actually works, and the document becomes decoration.
Revision drift. The drawing goes to revision C, the control plan stays at B. Tolerances in the plan no longer match the ones the part is measured against, and the mismatch surfaces during a complaint investigation, at the worst moment.
Frequency set by convenience. “Once per shift” is chosen because it fits the routine, not because the process holds for eight hours. The interval should follow the drift, not the roster.
Nobody reads it at the station. If the plan lives in a quality office folder, it is a compliance artefact. The version that changes behaviour is at the cell, in the format the operator actually uses — which is usually the printed one.
FAQ
What is a control plan?
A document listing, step by step, what is being controlled in a process, how it is measured, how often, and what happens when a result falls outside specification. It is the bridge between analysis and daily production: the FMEA says what could go wrong, the control plan says what you do about it every shift.
What columns does a control plan have?
The common layout has eleven: process step, machine or device, characteristic, product or process, special characteristic class, specification and tolerance, measurement technique, sample size, sample frequency, control method, and reaction plan. The last one is the most often written badly.
What is the difference between a control plan and an FMEA?
The FMEA is analysis — it ranks what could fail and how badly. The control plan is operational — which risks are watched on the line, with what gauge, how often, and what to do when a reading is out. Controls promised in the FMEA that never reach the control plan are the most common gap between the two.
What are the three control plan phases?
Prototype, pre-launch and production. The same part usually has a different plan in each: prototype covers checks during build, pre-launch adds containment before full production, and production is steady state with reduced sampling — justified by capability and history, not convenience.
What should a reaction plan say?
Who does what, in what order, including what happens to the parts already made since the last good check. “Inform the supervisor” tells nobody what to do with the suspect material, which is exactly the decision that has to be made. Name the action, the role, and the disposition of the questionable stock.
Is a control plan required by IATF 16949?
Yes — control plans are a required element of the automotive quality management system and are reviewed in customer and certification audits alongside the PFMEA they come from. Outside automotive they are not mandatory, but the same document solves the same problem wherever a process has characteristics somebody must watch.
When should a control plan be updated?
After any change to the process, the product or the risk picture: an engineering change, a new machine or fixture, a customer complaint, or a corrective action. D6 and D7 of an 8D exist partly for this reason — a permanent corrective action that does not appear in the control plan will not survive the next shift change.
Related
- FMEA template — the analysis this document comes out of
- FMEA: the complete guide — RPN, DFMEA vs PFMEA, scoring
- 8D report template — D6 and D7 are where the plan gets revised
- Corrective action plan — the reactive counterpart, with its own tracker
- Corrective action tracking — making sure the revision actually happens
- FMEA / RPN calculator — score the risks before you decide what to control