The International Automotive Task Force (IATF) has announced that next revision of the international automotive quality standard ISO/TS 16949 will be released in December 2016.

In conjunction with ISO 9001, ISO/TS 16949 defines the quality management system requirements for the design, development, production, and, when relevant, installation and service of automotive-related products. The standard is applicable to sites where customer-specified parts for production and/or service are manufactured.

The first revision of ISO/TS 16949 was reviewed by the International Automotive Task Force (IATF) at a gathering earlier this year in Rome.

For organizations currently certified to ISO/TS 16949:2009, the transition to the revised standard must be completed by September 14, 2018. This is in line with the recently revised ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 standards.

Following the close of the meeting in Rome, the IATF released a guidance document for organizations that need to complete their transitional assessment. Click here to view the guidance document.

Key expected revisions to ISO/TS 16949 include: incorporation of some of the common Original Equipment Manufacturer Customer Specific Requirements, strengthened requirements for safety-related parts and processes, new requirements for products with embedded software, and further requirements for supply chain management including logistics.