IATF 16949 Certification: Automotive Standard
Demonstrate your ability to effectively and efficiently meet customer requirements.
Specific to the automotive industry, the IATF 16949 standard provides quality management system process requirements driving continual improvement, defect prevention and reduction of variation and waste in the supply chain.
Often a contract-prerequisite, certification to IATF 16949 proves that your company has been audited against and found compliant to the standard’s requirements.
What is IATF 16949
The standard was jointly developed by The International Automotive Task Force (IATF) members and submitted to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for approval and publication.
IATF 16949 is based on ISO 9001 and national automotive quality standards and can easily be integrated with other management system standards. Whereas ISO 9001 focuses on customer satisfaction, IATF 16949 focuses on customer-specific requirements addressing continual improvement, defect prevention and reduction of variation and waste in the supply chain. It enables a continual process to help identify, report and improve areas of your management system and relevant business processes.
The standard is applicable to any organization manufacturing components, assemblies and parts for supply to the automotive industry, covering the entire supply chain worldwide.
Benefits of becoming certified
Certification is often a contract pre-requisite. A supplier with an IATF 16949 certificate issued by DNV is automatically entered into the corresponding worldwide database. It is used exclusively by the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) to stay updated on the certification status and performance of their suppliers.
IATF 16949 certification helps companies:
- Improve processes and product quality.
- Reduce need for multiple second and third-party audits.
- Increase confidence when bidding for global sourcing contracts.
- Guarantee credibility when bidding for sourcing contracts.
- Reduce production variations and improve manufacturing efficiency, which can positively impact bottom line results.
Getting started
Before seeking certification, you need to implement an effective quality management system complying with IATF 16949 standard requirements. As an accredited third party certification body, DNV can support you at every stage from training to self-assessment tools, gap-analysis to certification.
Learn more about how to get started on the road to certification.
