The International Automotive Task Force (IATF) has published its highly anticipated revised automotive quality management standard, IATF 16949:2016.
IATF 16949:2016 replaces ISO/TS 16949:2009, a technical specification for automotive sector quality management systems. The standard was first developed in 1999 by the IATF in conjunction with ISO’s technical committee for quality management, ISO/TC 176. Since then, the standard has become one of the most widely used international standards in the automotive industry, with the aim to harmonize the different assessment and certification systems in the global automotive supply chain.
IATF 16949:2016 is aligned with and refers to ISO 9001:2015. IATF 16949:2016 is not intended to be a stand-alone quality management standard, but is implemented as a supplement to, and in conjunction with, ISO 9001:2015.
As highlighted by the IATF, the goal of IATF 16949:2016 is to develop a quality management system that facilitates continual improvement, emphasizes defect prevention, includes specific requirements and tools from automotive industry, and promotes the reduction of variation and waste in the automotive supply chain.
Enhancements have been made to IATF 16949 in response to recent issues in the automotive industry, and include:
- Requirements for safety-related parts and processes
- Enhanced product traceability requirements in support of legislative changes
- Requirements for products with embedded software
- Warranty management process, including addressing “no trouble found” and use of automotive industry guidance
- Clarification of sub-tier supplier management and development requirements
- Inclusion of corporate responsibility requirements
The IATF has also released an IATF 16949:2016 Transition Strategy document (see related story here). The main implications of this new direction include:
- ISO/TS 16949:2009 certificates will no longer be valid after September 14, 2018.
- No audits are to be be conducted to ISO/TS 16949:2009 after October 1, 2017.
- Organizations certified to ISO/TS 16949:2009 must transition to the new standard, through a transition audit in line with the current audit cycle for ISO/TS 16949:2009.
Organizations currently certified to ISO/TS 16949:2009 will need to successfully transition to the new standard by September 14 2018. Click here for details on how to transition to IATF 16949:2016.