IATF 16949:2016 (1st edition) represents an innovative document, given the strong orientation to the customer, with inclusion of a number of consolidated previous customer specific requirements.
The IATF (International Automotive Task Force) is an “ad hoc” group of automotive manufacturers and their respective trade associations, formed to provide improved quality products to automotive customers worldwide.
IATF members include the following vehicle manufacturers: BMW Group, FCA US LLC, Daimler AG, FCA Italy Spa, Ford Motor Company, General Motors Company, PSA Group, Renault, Volkswagen AG and the vehicle manufacturers respective trade associations – AIAG (U.S.), ANFIA (Italy), FIEV (France), SMMT (U.K.) and VDA QMC (Germany).
For more information, see: What is IATF 16949? https://advisera.com/16949academy/what-is-iatf-16949/
There are numerous definitions of quality, but in general quality is defined as: “Degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfils requirements”.
Requirements refer to:
the needs of customer, needs of organization & those of other interested parties (e.g. regulatory bodies, suppliers, employees, community & environment); and
the expectations that may be stated, generally implied or obligatory.
Some examples of inherent product characteristics that will fulfill requirements are:
Product: Internet service/Requirement: Fast connectivity/Inherent characteristics: Bandwidth
Product: Car/Requirement: safety/Inherent characteristics: Airbags
Could you think about an example of product/service in our company?
QMS = Quality Management System
The QMS is a collection of policies, processes, documented procedures and records that defines the set of internal rules that will govern how our company creates and delivers our product/service to our customers. The ultimate goal of these rules is customer satisfaction.
Based on PDCA cycle - Plan - Do - Check - Act, a systematic approach.
Easy Integration with other standards. Like other ISO management system standards, IATF 16949 uses a High-Level Structure. This means it can be integrated easily into any existing ISO management system.
Like all management system standards, IATF 16949 includes the need for continual improvement of an organization’s systems and approach to environmental concerns.
To learn more about QMS implementation you can free download: IATF 16949:2016 Implementation diagram http://info.advisera.com/16949academy/free-download/iatf-16949-implementation-diagram
Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) is the operating principle of IATF 16949. It’s applied to all processes and the QMS as a whole. This diagram shows how Clauses 4 to 10 of IATF 16949 can be grouped in relation to PDCA.
To learn more about the PDCA cycle you can read the article: How to implement the PDCA cycle in the automotive industry according to IATF 16949 https://advisera.com/16949academy/blog/2017/06/07/how-to-implement-the-pdca-cycle-in-the-automotive-industry-according-to-iatf-16949/
Corporate responsibility policy (CRP)is a type of international private business self-regulation. Considered at the organizational level, CRP is an organizational policy. As such, it must align with and be integrated into a business model to be successful.
A company’s implementation of CRP goes beyond compliance with regulatory requirements, and engages in "actions that appear to further some social good, beyond the interests of the firm and that which is required by law". The choices of 'complying' with the law, failing to comply, and 'going beyond' are three distinct strategic organizational choices. While in many areas such as environmental or labor regulations, employers may choose to comply with the law, or go beyond the law, other organizations may choose to flout the law.
The standard emphasizes three particular areas to which the policy must focus, the first is the anti-bribery policy, where the organization must state its attitude towards corruption and bribery practices.
An employees code of conduct defines how a company’s employees should act on a day-to-day basis. It reflects the organization’s daily operations, core values and overall company culture. As a result, every code of conduct is unique to the organization it represents.
The Whistleblower Policy’s purpose is to enable all employees to raise concern against any malpractice such as immoral, unethical conduct, fraud, corruption, potential infractions of the employees code of conduct, breaches of copyright or patent and alike. Employees are given protection by this policy in two important areas - confidentiality and against retaliation. It is ensured that employees can raise concerns regarding any violation or potential violation easily and free of any fear of retaliation, provided they have raised the concern in good faith.
Here you can download free preview of our Corporate Responsibility Policy https://advisera.com/16949academy/documentation/corporate-responsibility-policy/
It is important to keep the quality policy simple and meaningful to the people within the company.
It is the top management who needs to demonstrate that the Quality Policy is compatible with the strategic direction and the context of the organization.
For more information about how to write a quality policy, you can see “How to Write a Quality Policy Compliant with IATF 16949”: https://advisera.com/16949academy/blog/2017/11/15/how-to-write-a-quality-policy-compliant-with-iatf-16949/
The objectives should be designed to be S.M.A.R.T (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based) and should have relevance at all levels of the company, meaning that each employee should understand how their job supports meeting the Quality Objectives.
For more information about the quality objectives you can read the following article “How to Write IATF 16949 Quality Objectives”: https://advisera.com/16949academy/knowledgebase/how-to-write-iatf-16949-quality-objectives/
Your role in the implementation – refers to employees’ role in the implementation.
For more information on roles and responsibilities on QMS see “How to define roles and responsibilities within an IATF 16949-based QMS”: hthttps://advisera.com/16949academy/blog/2017/11/29/how-to-define-roles-and-responsibilities-within-an-iatf-16949-based-qms/
1) It says we have to do it this way – This is probably the most prolific myth I have heard. People in some organizations do not understand that the IATF 16949 requirements do not define the “how to” of a process; they only identify the important items that need to be addressed in the process. In truth, this can often happen when a process owner can’t understand why something needs to be included in the process, and in order to save time, they are told that the standard requires it to be done this way. In this case, the suggestion of how to incorporate the requirement is interpreted as how it needs to be done. We all need to be careful how we relay the requirements to those who need to implement them.
2) It belongs to the quality department alone – Many people think that the standard is the sole responsibility of the quality department of the organization. This couldn’t be farther from the truth, since the requirements cover every aspect of the business – from planning through delivery and post-delivery of your product or service.
3) It doesn’t apply to my business – This myth often takes the form of “IATF 16949 is only for big businesses”. This is, of course, not the case. IATF 16949 is intended to be a set of requirements that can be used by any company, of any size. The requirements are written as a set of best practices needed to control all the processes of a business system – no matter what the company does.
4) Everything needs to be documented – This myth comes from the earliest versions of IATF 16949, where the motto was “Write what you do, then do what you write.” While documentation of all aspects of the standard was needed then. Now, discretion is left to the company as to what needs to be documented to ensure compliance of the product or service. Some other versions of this myth are “procedures need to be in-depth,” “you need to keep records of everything,” “you need to make forms for everything” and “you need to keep stats on everything.” These are equally as incorrect as the first statement.
5) It is expensive to implement and maintain – While it is true that there is some cost associated with the initial implementation of IATF 16949 and some processes to monitor the system, these can be far outweighed by the benefits seen if the system is used well. The main drive of the IATF 16949 quality management system is to help you achieve greater customer satisfaction, eliminate the root causes of problems, and improve your processes. The overall outcome of these activities should be to reduce costs through improvements and increase revenues through satisfied customers. Your return on investment should be well above the costs.
6) Everything needs to be perfect at the start – If this were true, then where would you be able to improve as is required by the IATF 16949 standard? The processes need to be stable and adequately monitored, so that you can detect problems and apply appropriate correction and corrective action to the causes of these problems. This is not the same thing as needing to be perfect. Maybe this myth is the root cause of another myth: that it takes years to implement IATF 16949. In fact, you can take the processes you already have in place, possibly with some minor tweaks, to form the basis of your quality management system. As you use your system, you will improve it.
Without management support, the implementation of the QMS is almost certain to fail. Management needs to be on board to make sure that adequate resources (i.e. money and human resources) are available and any roadblocks can be overcome.
There are a number of key roles and responsibilities that need to be allocated and fulfilled successfully in both the setting up and the operation of the QMS. Top management must ensure that key responsibilities and authorities are clearly defined and that everybody involved understands their roles.
The company shall provide the appropriate resources, especially human resources, to establish, implement, maintain and improve continually the QMS in an effective manner.
The effectiveness of the QMS is dependent on active involvement from all employees. Communication and participation across all levels of the company, especially top management, is crucial in the implementation phase.
Development of the documentation and record control system for the IATF 16949-based QMS is a very important part of the implementation, because it will define the method of creation, publishing, withdrawal, and use of your documents and records.
Conformio is an out-of-the-box online software solution that provides your small or mid-sized business with clear steps to implement compliance and privacy projects and helps you maintain your compliance documents and processes all in one place: https://advisera.com/conformio/
The company must be able to assess, provide, and maintain the correct training and communication for the members of the team deemed critical to the performance and objectives of the QMS. It is clear that if the correct people are not trained, competent, and informed, then performance of the QMS will suffer.
Adequate procedures and documentation in accordance to our implementation plan.
Effective audit - ensures that processes are effective and being followed, and therefore delivers continual improvement.
For more information about the benefits, see: Key Benefits of IATF 16949 Implementation https://advisera.com/16949academy/knowledgebase/key-benefits-of-iatf-16949-implementation/