What are the requirements of the IATF 16949 standard?
The IATF 16949 standard is an international quality management system (QMS) standard specific to the automotive industry. It is based on the ISO 9001 standard, but it adds specific requirements to the requirements of the automotive industry, such as:
- Continual improvement in the quality of automotive products and services
- Prevention of defects and scraps
- Reducing variation and waste
- Compliance with customer and regulatory requirements
The IATF 16949 standard is divided into 10 chapters (clauses). The 511 requirements are in chapters 4 to 10. The chapters cover the following areas:
1. Scope: This chapter defines the purpose and scope of the standard.
2. Normative references: This chapter identifies the normative documents that are used by the standard (ISO 9001)
3. Terms and definitions: This chapter defines the terms used in the standard, see also the ISO 9000 standard.
4. Context of the organization
The organization shall:
- Identify its external and internal issues that are relevant to its purpose and its strategic direction, and that affect its ability to achieve the intended outcomes of its quality management system
- Understand the needs and expectations of its stakeholders
- Determine the scope of its quality management system
- Establish and maintain its QMS and processes concerned
5. Leadership
Top management shall:
- Demonstrate leadership and commitment to the quality management system
- Ensure that the quality policy is established and communicated throughout the organization
- Appoint a person who shall have authority and responsibility for the development, implementation, and improvement of the quality management system
6. Planning
The organization shall:
- Establish objectives and processes related to risks and opportunities
- Plan actions to achieve these objectives
- Plan the changes
7. Support
The organization shall:
- Provide resources necessary to support the implementation and improvement of its quality management system
- Train, and provide the necessary competence for all personnel performing work affecting product conformity
- Make aware the personnel performing work affecting product conformity
- Communicate relevant information within and outside the organization
- Control the QMS documentation
8. Operation
The organization shall:
- Plan, implement and control its operational processes
- Determine product and service requirements
- Plan and control design and development
- Control external providers
- Control production and traceability
- Check the conformity of the products and services released
- Prevent the use of nonconforming products
9. Performance evaluation
The organization shall:
- Monitor, measure, analyze, and evaluate the conformity of products and services with customer and stakeholder requirements
- Conduct internal audits in order to evaluate the effectiveness of its quality management system
- Realize management reviews at planned interval
10. Improvement
The organization shall:
- Identify and control nonconforming products and services
- Take action to prevent the recurrence of nonconforming products and services
- Continually improve the quality management system
Annex A is normative and concerns the requirements related to the monitoring plan.
Organizations that can demonstrate compliance with these requirements can obtain IATF 16949 certification.
IATF 16949 certification can provide numerous benefits to organizations, including:
- Improved automotive product and service quality
- Reduced automotive product and service defects (reduced costs)
- Enhanced automotive customer satisfaction
- Improved automotive compliance with automotive regulations
- Enhanced automotive reputation for prioritizing automotive quality
- Increased market acces
