The International Automotive Task Force or International Automotive Action Team (IATF) announced on its website a few days ago that it has established a working group of IATF member organizations "to develop a revised design specification for ISO/TS 16949, in line with ISO 9001:2015 architecture and requirements”.

ISO/TS 16949 is a quality system requirement, currently based on ISO 9001:2008, which contains specific requirements for the automotive industry.

This is undoubtedly great news for automakers and their supply chains. The current Final Draft International Standard (FDIS) of ISO 9001:2015 is expected to be published in the next few months, while its final standard is currently expected to be published this autumn.

ISO/TS16949:2009 is the technical specification of the international automobile industry. It is based on the basis of ISO9001 and added to the technical specification of the automotive industry. This specification is completely consistent with ISO9000:2008, but focuses more on defect prevention and reducing quality fluctuations and waste that are prone to occur in the auto parts supply chain. The pertinence and applicability of the ISO/TS16949 standard is very clear. It is only applicable to automobile manufacturers and their direct spare parts manufacturers. That is to say, these manufacturers must be directly related to the production of automobiles, and can carry out processing and manufacturing activities. This activity enables products to add value.

"This is an important development of quality management in the automotive industry, and we look forward to working with organizations throughout the automotive supply chain to help them smoothly transition to the new standard." Relevant industry insiders commented.

About IATF

The IATF is a "task force" group of automakers and their respective industry associations to provide higher-quality products to automotive customers around the world. In order to harmonize the international automotive quality system specifications, a specialized body, called the International Automotive Task Force (IATF), was established by the world's major automakers and associations.