Here comes TS 16949

• Date: November 30, 2009
• Source: www.metricstream.com

The International Automotive Task Force (IATF) took on the challenge of developing a standard to harmonize three European catalogs-VDA 6.1 (Germany), AVSQ (Italy), EAQF (France)-and the North American QS-9000 standard. The result was the ISO/TS 16949:2002 standard. The Big Three automakers have put their support behind ISO/TS 16949:2002. QS-9000 is no longer in the long-term picture. According to an executive from one of the Big Three, the ISO/TS 16949 contains 90 percent of QS-9000 already, and it's an improved standard. DaimlerChrysler released a letter dated July 2002, which stated that effective July 1, 2004, all product and service part suppliers to DaimlerChrysler are required to be registered to ISO/TS 16949. In early August 2002, DaimlerChrysler, Ford and GM released a joint letter announcing that the third edition of QS-9000 will expire on Dec. 14, 2006, after which ISO/TS 16949:2002 will replace QS-9000