ISO TS 16949 (Automotive Manufacturing)
ISO/TS 16949 was jointly developed by IATF members and approved/published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). This document provides a common automotive quality system requirements catalog based on ISO 9001:2015, along with specific requirements from the automotive sector. Together with customer‑specific requirements, it defines the quality system requirements for use in the automotive supply chain.
The IATF has developed a common registration scheme for third‑party supplier registration to ISO/TS 16949. This scheme includes third‑party auditor qualifications and common rules to ensure consistent global registration. Some benefits of the IATF registration scheme include:
- Improved product and process quality
- Additional confidence for global sourcing
- Reassignment of supplier resources toward quality improvement
- A common quality system approach in the supply chain for supplier/subcontractor development and consistency
S3IWorld offers ISO TS 16949 certification, which is an international standard and “technical specification.” It plays an important role where technical specifications are critical. This certification is required for establishing and maintaining a quality management system for the design and development, production and installation, and service of automobile‑related products.
ISO TS 16949 is a specification tailored to meet automotive manufacturer requirements — particularly quality, cost, and Just‑In‑Time (JIT) delivery. TS 16949 is highly cost‑effective for companies in the following ways:
- Continual improvement
- Defect prevention
- Reduction of waste
- Reduction of variation in the supply chain
Benefits of ISO TS 16949
- Improved product and process quality
- Provides additional confidence for global sourcing
- Ensures a global quality system approach in the supply chain
- Reduces variation and waste, and improves overall production efficiency
- Eliminates the need for multiple third‑party registrations
- Provides a common platform to address worldwide quality system requirements
- Formatted to allow easy conversion to ISO 9001
- Advantageous for upgrading existing quality systems
- Supports policy and commitment