The quality management system standard in place for the automotive industry known as the ISO/TS 16949 is in the process of being replaced by the IATF (International Automotive Task Force) 16949:2016.
The new standard was released in October 2016 and all organisations that are currently certified to the NQA TS16949:2009 standard must transition over to the new standard by 14th September 2018.
The goal of the TS16949 is the development of a quality standard and management system that provides for continual improvement, prevention and the emphasis of defects together with the reduction of variation and waste in the automotive supply chain, this will of course be further emphasised in the new IATF 16949.
The standard in its TS format and in the new IATF format works in synchronisation with the ISO 9001:2015 quality standard as a supplement. This, in itself, has also recently been altered from the ISO 9001:2008 as it was previously known, and falls in line with the same time restrictions as per the TS standard.
As a caution, it is worth noting that as the new ISO 9001:2015 standard comes into place, care must be taken in transitioning to the IATF 16949 as there is a degree of overlap that may perhaps invalidate either one of the standards.
For further information on the changes, the requirements and the procedures needed to make this changeover, please visit:-
The NQA Website – here
The IATF Website – here