IATF 16949:2016 – AUTOMOTIVE QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Why is IATF 16949 a good idea for your organisation?

The benefits of IATF 16949 cannot be over-stressed, companies large and small have gained great benefits from using the standard by discovering cost and efficiency savings. Some of the other benefits are listed below.

Credibility and image

IATF 16949 is an internationally recognised standard; it has become the basis for creating a Quality Management System (QMS) around the world and has replaced many previously published requirements. When a customer is looking for a supplier the requirement to have a QMS based on IATF 16949 is often a major consideration if you are competing for work in the automotive industry.

Credibility to supply the automotive industry

This can be one of the main drives for companies to become registered to IATF 16949. In order to get large customers from the automotive industry, organisations need to demonstrate their ability to provide quality products with no defects.

Improvement

One of the 7 quality management principles subscribed to by IATF 16949 is to improve customer satisfaction by planning for and striving to meet customer expectations. This can be achieved by improving customer satisfaction which will result in customer retention and repeat business. Happy and satisfied customers are the key to keeping customer loyal.

Process approach

Through looking at the process sequence and interactions using the process approach of IATF 16949 organisations will be able to identify improvements in efficiency and drive cost savings. Again, the elimination of waste throughout the supply chain that occurs is one of the fundamental goals of IATF 16949.

Decision making

Another quality management principle of IATF 16949 is the use of evidence-based decision making. By driving your decisions based on factual data, organisations will focus on placing resources in the areas that will give maximum improvement in efficiency and effectiveness. In addition monitoring the process organisations will be able to measure improvement based on actual data.

Continual improvement

Continual improvement is another quality management principle of IATF 16949. By improving your processes, organisational output efficiencies and cost savings, can be then a measurable benefit. By making continual improvements, year on year, companies can see continuing benefits.

Employee motivation and empowerment

If employees are involved in the improvements of the processes they become more engaged. Who is better placed than the people working within the processes to identify the areas of improvement. Engaged employees are more productive and will help the company improve and save, especially if they understand how the quality of the process depends on them and the impact it can have on the customer.

CORPORATE AUDIT SCHEME

Organisations adapting to IATF 16949 could benefit from corporate audit scheme certification, which is allowed under the new standard and can be applied where multiple manufacturing sites can be audited collectively. A corporate audit scheme enables a QMS to be centrally structured and managed via regular internal audits at all sites. Moving to a corporate audit system will simplify the documentation and audit process, enable auditing to be conducted more efficiently and reduce the cost and amount of time spent auditing each site during the three-year audit cycle.

BENEFITS OF IATF 16949 CERTIFICATION

IATF 16949 certification will help your organisation to ensure:

By implementing IATF 16949:2016, you will demonstrate that your organisation meets the highest standards for quality, efficiency and cost-effectiveness in automotive production and service. Certification will allow you to enable continual improvement while maintaining a competitive edge.

HOW CAN BQS HELP?

Our global network of expert quality management professionals can guide you through the IATF 16949:2016 certification process with training, pre-audits and certification audits.

We offer a variety of training solutions to help you understand the requirements of IATF 16949:2016, Annex SL, risk-based thinking and empowering leadership.

Contact us to learn more about IATF 16949:2016 certification.