Quality Management Systems for Automotive – ISO/TS 16949

The goal of ISO/TS 16949 is the development of a quality management system that provides for continual improvement, emphasizing defect prevention and the reduction of variation and waste in the automotive supply chain. ISO/TS 16949 is intended to avoid multiple certification audits and provide a common approach to quality management systems across the automotive sector.

ISO/TS 16949 has been revised several times, as shown below:

  • 2016 – A major change is anticipated to incorporate the 2015 revision of ISO 9001
  • 2009 – A minor change to follow the 2008 update of ISO 9001
  • 2002 – a major change to incorporate ‘the process approach’
  • 1999 – Initial version, based on QS9000 from the US automotive industry

ISO/TS 16949 is underwritten by International Automotive Task Force (IATF) which is an “ad hoc” group of automotive manufacturers and their respective trade associations, formed to provide improved quality products to automotive customers worldwide.

The definitions of some the terms which are used in ISO/TS 16949 can be found in ISO 9000.