Principle of certification according to ISO/TS 16949

[TS16942] The certificate issued by an independent accredited certification body guarantees that the quality management system has been established, documented and used in accordance with the requirements of ISO/TS 16949. This working group IATF (International Automotive Task Force) consists of car manufacturers and industrial associations. This technical specification ISO/TS 16949 lays down requirements for the quality management system in organizations engaged in series production and production of spare parts in automotive industry.

Considering the specific requirements of car manufacturers in respect of their suppliers’ quality management system and harmonization thereof, the requirements of ISO 9001:2000 standards were supplemented by the international working group for automotive sector (IATF) and issued summarily as a technical specification ISO/TS 16949. This working group IATF (International Automotive Task Force) consists of car manufacturers and industrial associations. This technical specification ISO/TS 16949 lays down requirements for the quality management system in organizations engaged in series production and production of spare parts in automotive industry.

Benefits of certification

Possibility to supply products and services to automotive industry;
Integrated approach to the quality management system – elimination of multiple certification audits (ISO 9001, VDA 6.1, QS 9000);
Recognition of the certification according to ISO/TS 16949 by foreign customers;
Preferring prevention of defects and reducing variability and losses in the supply chain;
Identification, management and continual improvement of processes implemented in the organization (customer-oriented processes, auxiliary processes and management processes);
Application of modern methods and tools for the organization’s management and quality of supplied services and products;
Guarantee of production process stability and related quality of products and services supplied to customers;
Attestation of suitability, efficiency and effectiveness of the established quality management system by an independent third party;
Enhancing trust of the public and public monitoring bodies;
Established system responding flexibly to changes in customer requirements, legislative requirements as well as changes within an organization.

Certification process

Certification is carried out by approved auditors of DQS (Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Zertifizierung von Managementsystemen GmbH ) according to DQS procedures. Certification Body has one trained and approved auditor, who communicates with clients and conducts certification of the quality management system according to ISO/TS 16949 in co-operation with IQNet and the accredited certification body DQS.

The certification process consists of 3 basic phases:
1) Elaboration of documentation
2) Putting QMS into practice
3) Certification by an accredited certification body
4) Surveillance audit
The times of elaboration of documentation and putting the system into practice are individual (it usually takes several months).

Certification by the accredited certification body

Registration of application for certification and its examination;
Agreement between the certification body and the organization;
Appointing a team of auditors;
1st stages audit – examination of preparedness;
2nd stages audit – audit of the manufacturing site;
Elaboration of the final report;
Management of nonconformities;
Issuance of the certificate;
Record into the IATF database.