Getting IATF 16949 Consulting in New Mexico (NM)

Automotive companies need to focus on offering quality components and products that are not only aimed at customer satisfaction but also for their safety. To do so, getting IATF 16949 certified in New Mexico has been in increase for the last few years.

Usually, quality management standards focus on customer satisfaction to guarantee the products and services provided meet all their needs. However, this is just a small part of what is important and necessary.

Safety, prevention, issues, all of these aspects, and many more need to be considered in automotive companies to actually say you offer quality products and services. With that said, how is IATF 16949 involved in all this?

To begin with, IATF stands for “International Automotive Task Force” which is a group of automotive companies and manufacturers that understand the needs of the industry and therefore, objectives. Since ISO 16949—the previous quality management standard for automotive companies—was not fulfilling all their needs nor focused on what actually matters, the IATF developed a new document where quality management systems are addressed but not only for customer satisfaction.

As a result, the current ISO takes ‘IATF’ as acronyms but the revisions and publication are in charge of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Now, what does IATF 16949 establish in specific? It has several key areas of focus and just like other ISO documents, there are several clauses and sections that cover all of them.

But essentially, the guidelines in it offer a specific way to establish a quality management system that goes according to the automotive industry or to maintain and improve an existing one. However, knowing some areas of focus right away can be a great way to start understanding the ISO you will implement:

• Defect prevention.
• Change and warranty management and requirements.
• Reduce waste.
• Product safety.
• Risk management.
• Continuous improvement.

Most ISO standards have continuous improvement as the final objective once they were implemented, and IATF 16949 is not the exception. With this clear, how can you start to implement it in your company?