New AIAG Rules – Certification Scheme for ISO/TS 16949

If you’re part of the automotive supply chain, you know about the ISO/TS 16949, the quality certification document for the automotive industry.  And if you support one of the 9 car companies that participate in the IATF (International Automotive Task Force) you know about the AIAG “Automotive Certification Scheme for ISO/TS 16949:2002, Rules for achieving IATF recognition.”  So be aware: there’s a new 4th Edition for the AIAG Rules document.  You’ll want to get your copy of this update now.

The document is essential for IATF certification.  This update replaces the 3rd Edition and all documents relating to that particular revision.

The document is a good illustration of how certification schemes can be modified due to national or industry needs.  In some sectors, parallel standards have been set up to meet these types of particular requirements.

ISO developed the TS 16949 specifically for the automotive industry.  In the ISO world, this type of requirements document would be certified using the ISO/IEC 17021 standard.  However, there are 3 sections of the 17021 that are not acceptable to the IATF — Section 7.5 on outsourcing certification activities, Section 9.1.5 on multi-site sampling, and 9.6.3 concerning the validity of the certification during suspension.  In addition, there are a number of supplemental requirements that have been developed in this AIAG document to support the specific needs of the automotive sector.

So while the ISO/TS 16949 has been adopted for use by the consortium of 9 automobile manufacturers and 5 national associations, the method by which the standard is implemented is slightly different.

To make things easier on you, the user, the new revision contains a great table at the end of the document.  This table covers the main links between the new 4th Edition, the previous 3rd Edition, and the ISO/IEC 17021.  You’ll use this to walk through each clause of the new update.  For example, you’ll see that the clause 1.0, Eligibility for certification to ISO/TS 16949, is based on clause 1.0 from the 3rd Edition.  There is no corresponding section in the ISO/IEC 17021.

The AIAG Rules 4th Edition also provides information on who’s eligible to certify, what the requirements are for the organization that’s doing the certification, the requirements in the contract between the client and the certifying organization, and the certification process itself.

You’ll use it to review the audit process to meet the ISO/TS 16949 standard, the audit types and de-certification process, and the records that your certifying body must keep.  And the terms and definitions section is included, just at the end of the publication rather than at the beginning.

Further, there are 4 Annexes —

• 1.1, Table for verification of the completeness of the process-oriented auditing vs. ISO/16949 requirements
• 1.2, Example table for the verification of auditing manufacturing on all shifts
• 2, Audit day calculation example 1 and 2
• 3, Table for documenting the output of the audit planning process

You’ll also want to know that from time to time, SI’s and FAQ’s are issued on this standard.  The SI is a Sanctioned Interpretation and must be met or a non-conformity will be issued.  An FAQ is strictly an explanation and should be used to clarify the section for which it was written.

FYI:  The participants in the IATF are the BMW Group, Chrysler Group, Daimler AG, Fiat Group Automobiles, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, PSA Peugeot Citroen, Renault, Volkswagen AG, ANFIA, AIAG, FIEV, AMMT and VDA.

All AIAG (Automotive Industry Action Group) standards can be purchased from Document Center Inc. at our web store, www.document-center.com.  Or you can contact us by phone (650-591-7600), fax (650-591-7617) or email (info@document-center.com).  We are here to assist you with all your standards requirements.  Count on us to be your Standards Experts!