What is ISO/TS 16949?
ISO/TS 16949 is an ISO Technical Specification which aligns existing automotive quality system requirements within the global automotive industry. In conjunction with ISO 9001:2000, ISO/TS 16949 specifies the quality system requirements for the design/development, production, and where relevant, installation and servicing of automotive-related products.

Who are the authors of ISO/TS 16949?
ISO/TS 16949 was written by the International Automotive Task Force (IATF). The IATF consists of an international group of vehicle manufactures including Ford, GM and Daimler Chrysler, as well as the following automotive trade associations: AIAG (America), VDA/QMC (Germany), SMMT (UK), ANFIA (Italy), CCFA and FIEV (France). Representatives and sub-committees of TC 176 also helped to prepare ISO/TS 16949.

What is the format of ISO/TS 16949?•
ISO 9001:2000 define the international quality system requirements
• Sector requirements define international automotive quality system requirements
• Customer specific requirements are required by individual IATF customer members

Will ISO/TS 16949 be accepted in addition to current automotive standards such as QS-9000 and VDA 6.1?
Yes. Along with customer specific requirements, ISO/TS 16949 will satisfy the following automotive quality systems standards:
• QS-9000 (American)
• VDA 6.1 (German)
• AVSQ (Italian) and
• EQAF (French)

Which vehicle manufacturers will accept ISO/TS 16949?
Ford, GM (including Opel Vauxhall), Daimler Chrysler, BMW, Fiat, PSA Peugeot-Citroen, Renault SA and Volkswagen all support ISO/TS 16949. Check with your customer regarding acceptability of ISO/TS 16949.

What are the benefits of ISO/TS 16949?
Clients that provide automotive products to international markets will have the option of maintaining one quality system registration to meet multiple customer quality requirements. In addition to avoiding multiple certification audits, ISO/TS 16949 has been designed to improve product and process quality while increasing efficiency and reducing variation.

By the end of 2006, as many as eight out of every ten cars and trucks produced around the world will contain parts or components that have been designed, manufactured and sold under an ISO 9001:2000 - based quality management system.

These results from the consensus reached by the highly competitive automotive industry for the first time in its history on a common set of supplier quality requirements, developed with and published by ISO, and currently being deployed to tens of thousands of companies worldwide.

The standard established is ISO/TS 16949: 2002, Quality management systems - Particular requirements for the application of ISO 9001: 2000 for automotive production and relevant service part organizations. It is expected that automotive manufacturers who plan to migrate their suppliers to the new requirements by December 2006 accounts for 80% of the vehicle sales worldwide. More than 30, 000 supplier companies will be affected in countries including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.

For more details , refer to ISO Management Systems publication, Vol. 3, No. 3, May-June 2003