On October 1, 2016, the latest standard for quality management systems in the automotive industry, IATF16949:2016, was officially released. It will completely replace the existing ISO/TS 16949:2009 standard.
Since October 1, 2017, all quality management system audits in the automotive industry will be conducted in accordance with IATF 16949:2016; all organizations with ISO/TS 16949:2009 certification need to complete the new standard certification before September 14, 2018 Conversion; the entire conversion period is less than 2 years, and time is pressing! Start to understand the content of the new standard as early as possible, which is vital to the smooth transition! ! !

        In order to help everyone understand the important precautions of standard conversion at the first time, the Ward Testing System Certification Department specially translated the "17 Important Questions and Answers to Standard Conversion" put forward by the International Automotive Task Force (IATF) in the latest conversion guidance document. Read, I hope to help you in time to answer some of the current problems and confusions encountered in the standard conversion work!

1. When is the earliest date for the transition audit from ISO/TS 16949:2009 to IATF 16949:2016?
Answer: January 1, 2017.

2. The transition policy states that an organization cannot conduct transition and transition audits against IATF 16949 at the same time. So, can an organization that has obtained ISO/TS 16949 certification be transferred to a new certification body and conduct the initial certification audit?
Answer: If the organization has obtained a valid ISO/TS 16949:2009 certificate, then the transition policy prohibits any new certification body from accepting the certified organization as a new customer. If the organization terminates the contract with the existing certification body and no longer certifies ISO/TS 16949:2009, then the organization is allowed to transfer to a new certification body recognized by the IATF.

3. Does the organization need to conduct a management review in accordance with IATF 16949 before the transition audit?
Answer: The organization needs to prove that it meets all the requirements of the management review before the IATF-accredited certification body conducts the conversion audit. This should be demonstrated by a new and complete management review in accordance with IATF 16949:2016. However, during the transition audit period, this can also be done by integrating the pre-management review required by ISO/TS 16949:2009 and the supplementary management review required by IATF 16949:2016.

4. Before starting the conversion audit, does the organization need to conduct a comprehensive internal system audit in accordance with the requirements of IATF 16949?

Answer: Yes, and it needs to be completed by an IATF accredited certification body in accordance with the requirements of IATF 16949:2016. This should be proved by a complete system audit in accordance with IATF 16949:2016. However, during the transition audit period, this can also be accomplished by integrating the pre-system audit in accordance with ISO/TS 16949:2009 and the supplementary system audit in accordance with the additional requirements of IATF 16949:2016.

5. Is the certification body allowed to conduct a pre-audit before the conversion audit?
Answer: No. However, the audit agency needs to add at least 0.5 on-site audit man-days to collect and check the missing audit plan information before the conversion audit.

6. Is the certification body allowed to conduct a gap analysis before the conversion audit begins?
Answer: Not allowed.
7. If it is a group audit/multi-site audit, is an off-site document review required for each site?
Answer: Yes. Even if a common quality management system is operated in the group audit, each site needs to provide relevant required documents.

8. Does the organization need to collect 12 months of data in accordance with the IATF 16949 new process requirements before the transition audit?
Answer: No need.
9. For each manufacturing site in the group audit plan, does the conversion audit allow a certain reduction in audit man-days (for example, -20%, -30%, etc.)?
Answer: Yes, the conversion audit will be calculated according to the same requirements as the recertification audit.

10. When an auditor of a certification body conducts a 7-man-day audit according to the plan, must the audit be conducted on consecutive natural days? For example, can the review be scheduled from Monday to Friday and from Monday to Tuesday of the following week?
Answer: If an auditor's audit days exceed five days, according to IATF rule clause 5.7, the on-site audit must be scheduled and conducted on a continuous natural day. However, for the conversion audit, the IATF allows the on-site audit to be scheduled according to the continuous working days of the manufacturing site.

11. According to the requirements of the conversion guidance document, more than one auditor is allowed to participate in the conversion audit. Can these auditors continue to participate in subsequent surveillance audits?
Answer: A member of the audit team that has participated in the conversion audit will be allowed to participate in the follow-up supervision audit as an audit team member.

12. For the organization's external support function, if the conversion audit based on IATF 16949 cannot be completed before the conversion audit at the relevant manufacturing site, then the auditor responsible for reviewing the completed gap analysis and detailed action plan for the external support function , How to deal with it?
Answer: First, the client should be able to provide a copy of the gap analysis document to the audit team of the certification body, including the current latest action plan (for example, timetable, assigned responsibilities and implementation status, etc.). This information will be retained by the auditor and audit records as evidence that the external support function has mastered the relevant knowledge of the IATF 16949 standard, has completed the analysis of its existing system according to the requirements of the new standard, and is implementing an action plan to eliminate the gap . The above information is necessary for the final decision to issue IATF 16949 certificate to the manufacturing site.

13. If one or more non-conformances for the conversion audit of IATF 16949 are not 100% resolved or closed within the specified time period, what impact will it have on the existing ISO/TS 16949 certificate?
Answer: The certification body must comply with all the requirements of section 5.11 of the IATF rules. In this case, the conversion audit is considered "failed" and the IATF database will be updated accordingly. The certification decision is invalid, which means that the ISO/TS 16949:2009 certificate has been withdrawn and the customer will have to restart the initial certification audit.

14. If the manufacturing site has obtained ISO 9001:2015 and ISO/TS 16949:2009 certification, is it allowed to reduce the audit man-days required for the conversion audit?
Answer: In this case, the man-days required for the conversion review cannot be further reduced. The only possibility that allows the reduction of audit man-days is that if the client decides to upgrade from ISO 9001:2015 to IATF 16949, the number of audit days in the second stage can be reduced by 30%.

15. Can the certification body conduct separate audits for the supplementary requirements of ISO 9001:2015 and IATF 16949:2016?
Answer: Not allowed. IATF 16949 cannot be regarded as an independently implementable quality management system standard, but should be implemented as a supplement to ISO 9001:2015.

16. After October 1, 2017, if an organization (with a valid ISO/TS 16949 certificate) is required to conduct a special audit (according to section 7.2 of the IATF rules), is the audit based on ISO/TS 16949 or IATF 16949?
Answer: The scope of the special audit will be the organization's existing certification standards. In this case, the special audit will be based on ISO/TS 16949.

17. If the organization has signed a contract with a new certification body to implement the conversion audit—before the IATF publishes the "Revised Conversion Guidance Document" on August 10, 2016—whether the organization is allowed to change from ISO/TS under such exceptional circumstances 16949 is converted to IATF 16949 and at the same time the transfer audit is carried out?
Answer: For existing organizations that have ISO/TS 16949 certification, their conversion audit will only be conducted by existing certification bodies that have ISO/TS 16949 certification for the organization. However, the IATF recognizes contracts signed before August 10, 2016. In this exceptional case, the organization is allowed to continue the transfer process to the new certification body and carry out the conversion to IATF 16949.
In this case, all requirements for the transfer audit apply, but the number of audit days should be equal to the second phase and not equal to the recertification audit. The certification body needs to obtain the permission of the relevant supervision office to conduct the conversion audit. The application for exemption should include relevant evidence proving that the contract was signed on or before August 10, 2016. The certification body shall use the exemption number and the previous IATF number, and enter this audit as a conversion audit into the IATF database.