Wind Turbine Makers Unveil Production Standardization Manual

The APQP4Wind project has marked the official go-live of the new APQP4Wind manual, website, and coming training courses to deploy new common standards for quality assurance in the production of wind turbines.

The manual, the website and the training concept were presented on January 25 at the APQP4Wind Kick-Off Event at Vestas Wind Systems in Aarhus.

The steering committee behind the project consists of quality managers from Vestas Wind Systems, Siemens Wind Power, KK Wind Solutions and LM Wind Power. Currently, the steering committee is developing the industry-specific quality assurance standard, which will ultimately be rolled out in both the Danish and international wind industry.

The wind industry is under a massive pressure to optimize technology and bring down LCOE, and standardization is a key element in driving down costs and ensuring that wind energy is a world-leading and cost-effective energy technology, the Danish Wind Energy Association, one of the organisations behind the project, said.

“The wind industry is ready to take the next step in quality assurance in production and by focusing on quality planning rather than just quality control, APQP4WIND will help to ensure fewer mistakes and thus lower costs,” said Kim Nedergaard Jacobsen, project manager in the Danish Wind Industry Association.

The website  will serve as a common platform on which the entire industry can gain insight into the project. Besides, frequently published news and articles and a sample of the new APQP4Wind manual will be available on the website.

“We have come so far in the process that we are now ready to share the knowledge that we have gained since we began working on APQP4WIND. However, we are still in the early phases of the project, so there can and will be a need for adaptation and development of both the manual and the training concept. For this reason, we are very open to inputs from specialists working with or overseeing quality assurance on a day-to-day basis. This way, we can make sure that APQP4Wind is a thoroughly tested and broadly validated tool,” said Jacobsen.

APQP4Wind is facilitated by the Danish Wind Industry Association and supported by the Danish Industry Foundation. Once the APQP4Wind manual is completed, the goal is to expand the network and offer APQP4Wind training to the entire industry and throughout the value chain.