ISO 16949

ISO/TS 16949:2002 is an ISO Technical Specification, which aligns existing American (QS-9000), German (VDA6.1), French (EAQF) and Italian (AVSQ) automotive quality systems standards within the global automotive industry, with the aim of eliminating the need for multiple certifications to satisfy customer requirements.

Together with ISO 9001:2000, ISO/TS 16949:2002 specifies the quality system requirements for the design/development, production, installation and servicing of automotive related products. In addition, there are customer specific requirements that are required by individual subscribing vehicle manufacturers

ISO/TS 16949 is the culmination of efforts to achieve global consistency in quality systems requirements. The sector-specific standard was originally based upon ISO 9001, 1994, QS-9000 (U.S), AVSQ (Italian), EAQF (French) and VDA 6.1 (German). In 2002, it was revised to reflect the requirements of ISO 9001:2000

The ISO/ TS 16949 certification originated in a private standard (QS 9000) for suppliers to the world's automobile majors Daimler Chrysler, Ford and General Motors. ISO/TS 16949 is set to replace all the existing standards and will be recognised as the single worldwide automotive quality system standard.

The ISO/ TS 16949 certification follows the route of the standard ISO 9000 certification and entails the organisation to fulfill the most stringent quality norms. The standard critically evaluates the organisation's commitment to quality with respect to raw materials, body parts and aggregates for the automotive industry.

The ISO/ TS 16949 certification is applicable throughout the automotive supply chain. It is being adopted aggressively by the industry, with many major manufacturers requiring supplier transition by specific dates.

Benefits of adoption

The benefits of adopting this standard are numerous including increased efficiency and improved quality. Some of the benefits are outlined here:

• Improves product and process quality
• Common quality system approach in the supply chain for development and consistency, ensuring that the organisation works more effectively
• Reduction of variation and increase in efficiency
• Reduction in multiple third party registrations freeing up time and supplier resources for other quality activities and improvement opportunities that can enhance business

Who is ISO 16949 applicable for?

ISO/TS 16949:2009 is applicable to sites of the organization where customer-specified parts, for production and/or service, are manufactured. ISO/TS 16949:2009 can be applied throughout the automotive supply chain.

How can ISO - Certification help you to get ISO/TS 16949:2009 Certification?

ISO - Certification will assist your organization in ISO awareness training, documentation, implementation, internal auditing and overall process optimization as per ISO/TS 16949:2009 standard. ISO - Certification is a result oriented professional training and certification service providers, offering systematic approaches to improve quality and effectiveness of the system and enhance the productivity by offering systematic approaches. Our main objective is to help you and your organization improve profitability, through better utilization of all of your resources.