ISO/TS 16949 - Automobile - Quality Management System

ISO/TS 16949:2002 has been written and adopted by the industry as the new international quality management system specification for automotive suppliers. It has been adopted to encourage improvement in both supply chain and the registration process. QS-9000, VDA6.1, EAQF, AVSQ and ISO/TS 16949:1999 are all quality management system specifications, currently used within the industry and are based on an old quality management system standard that has now been superseded. There are no plans to update QS-9000, VDA6.1, EAQF or AVSQ. Vehicle manufacturers are either making ISO/TS 16949:2002 a mandatory requirement or encouraging their suppliers to upgrade to the new technical specification. Information on current vehicle manufacturer requirements is provided on our websites. ISO/TS 16949:2002 is here to stay. What are you going to do?

QS-9000 the most commonly used quality management system—has reached the end of its development life as far as many vehicle manufacturers and their suppliers are concerned. Rather than continue to revise QS-9000, a committee of vehicle manufacturers known as the International Automotive Task Force (IATF) was formed to develop a new quality management system specification.

IATF members include the following vehicle manufacturers: BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Fiat, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, PSA Peugeot-Citroen, Renault SA and Volkswagen. IATF also includes trade associations—AIAG (USA), ANFIA (Italy), FIEV (France), SMMT (UK) and VDA (Germany). Japanese vehicle manufacturers association, JAMA, have also been involved in the development of ISO/TS 16949:2002.

The IATF first produced ISO/TS 16949:1999. After extensive revision work, ISO 9001:2000 was developed and published. This in turn prompted the development, publication and adoption of ISO/TS 16949:2002.

The specification is based on ISO 9001:2000, which encourages: a process approach, top management commitment to quality management, customer focus, competence rather than documentation and continual improvement.

For suppliers to a number of different vehicle manufacturers the new specification avoids multiple registration to VDA6.1, EAQF, AVSQ & QS-9000 thereby avoiding duplication in terms of preparation, documentation and 3rd party audits.

The new specification is recognized internationally assisting your organization to do business internationally.

The new management system specification complements existing improvement methodologies such as FMEA, PPAP, and Six Sigma, enabling your organization to adopt a common approach to business improvement.

The registration scheme supporting the new technical specification provides confidence and consistency through better control of the registration process and assessor training.

Business System implementation within your organization is made easier as the format of the new specification relates more to business process and is consistent with ISO 14001 (Environmental Management System) and OHSAS 18001 (Health and Safety Management System).