Process approach to quality: TS 16949's second coming serves not only as wall decor but as a complete business analysis
Author: Automotive Industries

Originally penned in 1999, and then Rewritten in 2002, TS 16949 has really started to pick up steam. The new standard takes a more holistic look at a company's business to assess the quality system.

While the actual product quality is part of the equation, TS 16949 also analyzes the management processes, shipping, customer satisfaction and a number of other metrics for continual improvement.

"The development of a quality management system that provides for continual improvement, emphasizing defect prevention and the reducing of variation and waste in the supply chain, This technical specification in conjunction with applicable customer specific requirements for query systems defines the fundamental quality management system for those subscribing to this document," this is the published goal for the new standard from the TS guide.

To further get to the essence of this new standard we talked to a certifier and companies that had undergone audits to see what they thought.

The Certifier