Product category:
Engineering Education, Resources and Standards
News Release from: TUV Rheinland UK
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 16 September 2002
Automotive quality standards progress
Matthew Fielding of TUV International looks at the future of the QS-9000 standard for automotive manufacturers.
The QS-9000:1998 standard will continue to exist as an auditable standard until 15th December 2006 However, as of 15th December 2003, ISO9001:1994 and ISO9002:1994 will no longer be included within the scope of registration for clients that are maintaining QS-9000
This means that any new or renewed QS-9000 certificate issued after 1st July 2002 shall not reference ISO9001:1994 or ISO9002:1994 other than in one of the following statements which must be included on the certificate: "Registered to QS-9000:1998 (based on and including ISO9001:1994)" or "Registered to QS-9000:1998 (based on and including ISO9002:1994)." All QS-9000 certificates with dates extending beyond 15th December 2003 shall comply with this wording by 15th December 2003.
The registrar may provide a letter to suppliers indicating that the above statement confirms that the supplier is certified to ISO9001:1994 or ISO9002:1994 until 15th December 2003.
QS-9000:1998 certificates shall not reference ISO9001:2000.
ISO9001:2000 requires a separate certification.
QS-9000:1998 certificates shall not show an ending date later than 14th December 2006.
The current version of QS-9000 (TE supplement) and the current version of the semiconductor supplement to QS-9000 shall also remain in effect until 14th December 2006.
The ISO/TS16949 standard was jointly developed by the IATF (International Automotive Task Force) members and submitted to the ISO for approval and publication.
The document is a common automotive quality system requirements catalogue based on the Italian AVSQ, French EAQF, American QS-9000 (Quality Systems), German VDA6.1 (Verband der Automobilindustrie) and ISO9000 automotive catalogues.
This document, coupled with customer-specific requirements, defines quality system requirements for use in the automotive supply chain.
The IATF has developed a common registration scheme for supplier third-party registration to the ISO/TS 16949.
The registration scheme includes third-party auditor qualifications and common rules for consistent global registration.
Some of the benefits of the IATF registration scheme include: improved product and process quality; additional confidence for global sourcing; reassignment of supplier resources to quality improvement; common quality system approach in the supply chain for supplier/subcontractor development and consistency; and reduction in multiple third-party registrations.
Currently, two editions of TS 16949 exist.
The first is ISO/TS16949:1999.
The ISO/TS16949:1999 standard includes the ISO9001/2:1994 based requirements.
The recently released ISO/TS16949:2002 standard has now aligned itself with the requirements of ISO9001:2000.
Currently, clients that are registered to or are seeking registration to ISO/TS16949:1999 must pass a successful "upgrade audit" of their quality management systems to the requirements of ISO/TS16949:2002 prior to 15th December 2003.
From 15th December 2003 ISO/TS16949:1999 will no longer be an auditable standard.
Along with TUV, additional information regarding ISO/TS 16949 is available through the AIAG website at www.aiag.org and IAOB (International Automotive Oversight Bureau) website at www.iaob.org.
ISO9001 will not be included within QS-9000 as of 15th December 2003.
As many of TUV's clients are currently registered to QS-9000 or ISO/TS16949, the organisation feels it is extremely important to inform everyone of some critical news regarding these standards.
At a recent meeting conducted by the AIAG (Automotive Industry Action Group) with representatives from Daimler-Chrysler, Ford and General Motors, a formal announcement was made concerning the current status of QS-9000 and ISO/TS16949.
• TUV Rheinland UK: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Engineeringtalk email newsletter
• Engineeringtalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
