Equipment and Product Certification

“The global automotive industry demands world class levels of product quality, productivity and competitiveness as well as continual improvement. To achieve this goal many vehicle manufacturers insist that suppliers are certified to the quality management standard for suppliers to the automotive sector, known as ISO/TS 16949.” [ http://www.bsigroup.com/en-US/ISO-TS-16949-Automotive/ ]

“The ISO/TS16949 can be applied throughout the supply chain in the automotive industry. Certification takes place on the basis of the certification rules issued by the International Automotive Task Force (IATF). The certificate is valid for three years and must be confirmed annually (as a minimum) by an IATF certified auditor (3rd Party Auditor) of an IATF recognized certification body, such as KFQ[Korean Foundation for Quality], NSF International, Perry Johnson Registrars [PJR], TÜV SÜD, TÜV Rheinland, TÜV NORD, Bureau Veritas, Det Norske Veritas BA, BSI Group, DQS, LRQA (Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance), Vehicle Certification Agency[VCA] ], SGS S.A., andUTAC. Re-certification is required at the expiry of the three-year period. Certification pursuant to ISO/TS 16949 is intended to build up or enforce the confidence of a (potential) customer towards the system and process quality of a (potential) supplier. Today, a supplier without a valid certificate has little chance of supplying a Tier 1 supplier and certainly no chance of supplying a car manufacturer with standard parts.” [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO/TS_16949 ]

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