IATF 16949 Certification Essential for Successful Automotive Industry

International Automotive Task Force as the term defines a standard that is related to the
requirement of a Quality management system in the automotive industry.Latest version IATF
16949:2016 was published by IATF on October 3, 2016, replaces ISO/TS 16949. Minimizing variations
and waste in the supply chain IATF and technical committee of ISO/TS 16949 focuses on consistent
improvement in the product life cycle.

Automotive Industry is a billion-dollar industry and due to the rapidly increasing demand and
population across the globe like other industries, this industry also needs a quality management
standard for Hassel free operations. Automotive Industry which comprises of producing parts and
sub-parts, process material, sub-assemblies, etc, as well it applies to OEM manufacturing location
which is service providers need to have compliance with this management standard of quality.

Principles of IATF 16949 are applicable throughout the process of the automotive organization which
includes supply chain management. It is also applicable to other functions like designing &
development, production and installation, services of automotive parts and related parts.

In achieving best practices this standard collectively brings together standard across Europe and U.S
which outlined everything which needs to be followed to make this successful. It can be applicable
on large, medium or small Organization in automotive OEM supply chain. Following QMS OEM’s
asked many suppliers to build their own QMS rules and regulations specific to the respective country
Organizations such as AIAG of North America, ACSQ of Italy, FIEV of France and SMMT of UK.

Production process control tools in Automotive Industry help in establishing the standard in
Organization which is as FMEA, PPAP, APQP, and MSA.

Sections of IATF 16949:

Structure of standard split into 11 sections out of which the first three are Introductory. The
following are the seven main sections.

Context of the Organization (Section 4): Organization to determine its context in terms of QMS in
this particular section. It also defines the requirements for the scope of QMS as well as general
requirements.

Leadership (Section 5): In this particular section top management to demonstrate leadership and
commitment to QMS, defining corporate responsibility and quality policy.

Planning (Section 6): Planning defines requirements for addressing risks and opportunities for risk
analysis. This section also includes requirements for preventive actions, plans, and objectives and
plan to achieve them.

Support (Section 7): Resources and supporting process which needed for an effective QMS this
section facilitates that. It defines people's requirements, work environment, monitoring and
measuring resources, competence, awareness, documented information, and communication.

Operation (Section 8): Deals with all aspects of planning and creation of product or Service. This
standard allows requirements regarding the design and development of products in clause 8.3 to be
excluded if not applicable to the company.
Performance Evaluation (Section 9): This section is to monitor whether QMS is functioning well or
not. It includes assessing customer satisfaction, management review, internal audits, monitoring
products, and processes.

Improvement (Section 10): The last section is to check the requirements for continual improvement
of QMS. Nonconformities and corrective actions, problem-solving and error-proofing processes
include in this section.

Benefits of IATF 16949:

Following are the benefits:

• It reduces error rates and Increases production efficiency.

• Through QMS automotive industry supply chain ensures adequate product quality.

• By using core tools of APQP, FMEA, MSA, PPAP it prevents financial losses as a result of high
quality of production.

• With effective QMS it enables the company to enter and remain in the automotive supplier
chain.

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