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ISO/TS 16949
Overview
In late 2001, members of ISO/TC 176, the ISO Technical Committee in charge of Quality Assurance and Quality Management standards, voted 79% in favor of publishing the final draft of ISO/TS 16949:2002. With the minimum two-thirds majority received, the official publication of ISO/TS 16949:2002 took place as planned in March 2002.
 The 20-element structure so familiar to users of QS-9000 and ISO/TS 16949:1999 is now a thing of the past. The 2002 revision has adopted the content and structure of ISO 9001:2000, which promotes a "process approach" to developing, implementing and improving a quality management system. The process approach is reflected in the revised structure of the standard, which contains these 5 auditable clauses:
• Quality Management System
• Management Responsibility
• Resource Management
• Product Realization
• Measurement, Analysis and Improvement.
ISO/TS 16949:2002 was prepared by the International Automotive Task Force (IATF) and Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), with support from ISO/TC 176. IATF members include BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Fiat, Ford Motor Company, General Motors (including Opel Vauxhall), PSA Peugeot-Citroen, Renault SA, Volkswagen and their respective trade associations - AIAG (U.S.), ANFIA (Italy), FIEV (France), SMMT (U.K.) and VDA (Germany). It is expected that Japanese OEMs will also adopt ISO/TS 16949:2002 as their quality management system standard.
Registration Requirements
In a letter to Automotive Suppliers dated August 2002, the Supplier Quality Requirements Task Force (representing Ford, General Motors and DaimlerChrysler) released details of the eventual expiration of QS-9000:1998 and the industry-wide transfer to ISO/TS 16949:2002.
The key points include:
• All QS-9000 certifications or renewals will expire on December 14, 2006. Beyond this date, ISO/TS
16949:2002 will fully replace QS-9000
• ISO/TS 16949:2002 "requires increased supplier management commitment to quality system
improvement and performance measurements based on data and full process reviews".
• Automotive Suppliers will need to determine if their current registrar is IATF recognized to audit to
ISO/TS 16949:2002.
• Suppliers currently registered to QS-9000 are "strongly urged" to upgrade to ISO/TS 16949:2002 at
the expiration of their current QS-9000 certification and no later than December 14, 2006 (or earlier
based on individual OEM customer requirements*).
• Suppliers currently registered to ISO/TS 16949:1999 will need to upgrade prior to the expiration of
their current certificate or December 15, 2004 (whichever occurs sooner).
• Daimler Chrysler has already established July 1, 2004 as the deadline for registration to ISO/TS
16949:2002 for its direct suppliers. |
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