The International Automotive Task Force (IATF), which helps the global automotive industry to develop quality products, released the first edition of IATF 16949 in October 2016.
IATF 16949 focuses on QMS requirements for organizations involved with automotive production, services or accessories. This standard provides comprehensive and applicable customer-specific requirements and tools for the automotive industry. It is congruent with ISO 9001 in terms of framework, structure and requirements.
Corporate Audit Scheme
Organizations adapting to IATF 16949 could benefit from corporate audit scheme certification, which is allowed under this 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.
IATF Rules 6th Edition
IATF has published the 6th edition of the Rules for Achieving and Maintaining IATF Recognition (IATF Rules). The 6th edition shall be fully implemented by January 1, 2025, replacing the 5th edition.
The IATF Rules specify the requirements for achieving and maintaining IATF recognition. Therefore, they affect audits to achieve or maintain IATF 16949 certification.
If you are an automotive manufacturer or supplier and would like a better overview of the key changes and impacts, you can refer to our guidance below or watch our on-demand webinar.