Important changes and critical cut-off dates explained by Matthew Fielding, manager quality registration services at TUV International UK
The QS-9000:1998 standard will continue to exist as an auditable standard until 15 December 2006.
However, as of 15 December 2003, ISO 9001:1994 and ISO 9002:1994 will no longer be included within the scope of registration for clients that are maintaining QS-9000.
This means that any new or renewed QS-9000 certificate issued after 1 July 2002 shall not reference ISO 9001:1994 or ISO 9002:1994 other than in one of the following statements which must be included on the certificate: "Registered to QS-9000:1998 (based on and including ISO 9001:1994)" or "Registered to QS-9000:1998 (based on and including ISO 9002:1994)." All QS-9000 certificates with dates extending beyond December 15, 2003 shall comply with this wording by 15 December 2003.
[All other aspects of Appendices G.A.13, I.18, and I.23 shall remain in effect.] The registrar may provide a letter to suppliers indicating that the above statement confirms that the supplier is certified to ISO 9001:1994 or ISO 9002:1994 until 15 December 2003.
Note: QS-9000:1998 certificates shall not reference ISO 9001:2000.
ISO 9001:2000 requires a separate certification.
QS-9000:1998 certificates shall not show an ending date later than 14 December 2006.
Note: the current version of QS-9000 (TE supplement) and the current version of the semi-conductor supplement to QS-9000 shall also remain in effect until 14 December 2006.
ISO/TS 16949 Status Update.
The ISO/TS 16949 standard was jointly developed by the IATF (International Automotive Task Force) members and submitted to the ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) for approval and publication.
The document is a common automotive quality system requirements catalogue based on the Italian AVSQ, French EAQF, American QS-9000 (Quality Systems), German VDA6.1 (Verband der Automobilindustrie) and ISO 9000 automotive catalogues.
This document, coupled with customer-specific requirements, defines quality system requirements for use in the automotive supply chain.
The IATF has developed a common registration scheme for supplier third-party registration to the ISO/TS 16949.
The registration scheme includes third-party auditor qualifications and common rules for consistent global registration.
Some of the benefits of the IATF registration scheme include: improved product and process quality; additional confidence for global sourcing; reassignment of supplier resources to quality improvement; common quality system approach in the supply chain for supplier/subcontractor development and consistency; and reduction in multiple third-party registrations.Currently, two editions of TS 16949 exist.
The first is ISO/TS 16949:1999.
The ISO/TS 16949:1999 standard includes the ISO 9001/2:1994 based requirements.
The recently released ISO/TS 16949:2002 standard has now aligned itself with the requirements of ISO 9001:2000. Presently, clients that are registered to or are seeking registration to ISO/TS 16949:1999 must pass a successful 'upgrade audit' of their Quality Management System to the requirements of ISO/TS 16949:2002 prior to December 15, 2003. From 15 December 2003 ISO/TS 16949:1999 will no longer be an auditable standard.
Along with TUV, additional information regarding ISO/TS 16949 is available through the AIAG website at www.aiag.org and IAOB (International Automotive Oversight Bureau) website at www.iaob.org.
ISO 9001 will not be included within QS-9000 as of 15 December 2003 as many of TUV's clients are currently registered to QS-9000 or ISO/TS 16949, the organisation feels it is extremely important to inform everyone of some critical news regarding these standards.
At a recent meeting conducted by the AIAG (Automotive Industry Action Group) with representatives from Daimler-Chrysler, Ford and General Motors, a formal announcement was made concerning the current status of QS-9000 and ISO/TS 16949.
