History and Background of ISO/TS 16949

Quality systems have been deployed in the automotive industry for many years. The component suppliers were the first to adopt BS 5750, which became the foundation of the internationally recognized ISO 9000 series of Quality Management System standards. There was still however a general feeling that since ISO 9000 was non-automotive specific; it did not really meet all the requirements. This led to the development of automotive sector based variants. In the USA, Ford, General Motors and Chrysler developed QS-9000, which harmonized their supplier quality system requirements in a single document. At the same time, in France, Germany and Italy, similar quality system requirements were developed (EAQF, VDA6.1, and AVSQ respectively). This meant that automotive suppliers and those servicing multiple vehicle manufacturers had to comply with differing Quality System Requirements, but all with the same intent. There grew a collective goal to harmonize automotive quality system requirements. As a start, the International Automotive Task Force (IATF) was established. The IATF had representatives from almost all major European and North American vehicle manufacturers, suppliers and automotive trade associations.