Sudden customer requirements.... (PPAP, APQP)

Did you receive a phone call from your customer about new customer requirements that you did not know about before? What do you know?

We have been contacted by clients who face exactly this problem. What do you do?

One thing you could do is try to read/understand these new requirements. Of course your customer wants you to share everything you have.

What about intellectual property? Do I have to share all of it? What if my customer takes my information and starts shopping around with it?

As with most standards there is an offense and defense. As a supplier, you are playing defense. You want to meet the requirements and not give away the store. Is that possible?

Sure, it is. We have worked with customer and suppliers to protect both parties. The customer wants a guaranteee that your products work in the application. The supplier want their intellectual property protected. There is a middle ground.

Most recently, we were approach by some one (now a client) exactly in this situation. PPAPs were required to finalize a contract. We help this client to prepare a PPAP satisfactory to the customer and protecting the client. Win-Win.

What would you do in a situation like this?