IATF 16949 Supplier Audit Checklist

The IATF 16949 Supplier Audit Checklist allows companies to evaluate and select suppliers. This process covers a range of issues spanning product safety to internal auditing.

Assessing a supplier’s design and development capabilities is essential, including their project management skills and technical expertise. Furthermore, on time delivery is also vitally important.

1. Documentation
IATF 16949 comprises 10 clauses, expanding upon ISO 9001 to add more specific requirements relating to management, quality policy and procedures, customer requirements, performance evaluation, control measurements auditing decision making documentation. Companies looking for IATF 16949 certification will require extensive user-friendly documentation for successful certification maintenance.

As part of your initial supplier selection process, ensure you obtain copies of each supplier’s IATF 16949 certifications and verify they were issued by an IATF-recognized certification body. In addition, regularly monitor existing suppliers for lapsed certification or significant nonconformities.

Supplier development is essential, so provide assistance and resources that will enable your suppliers to enhance their quality capabilities and keep up their IATF 16949 certification. Hold periodic management review meetings with each of them and encourage collaboration towards continuous improvement.

2. Procedures
Establish criteria as an organization that will serve to evaluate whether or not a supplier qualifies to supply you, such as product type or service reliability requirements and other factors.

Make sure that all new suppliers possess an IATF 16949 certification issued by an IATF-recognized body. Request copies of these certifications, and make regular checks to ensure they remain valid.

Conduct on-site second-party audits of your suppliers to assess their Quality Management Systems and compliance with IATF 16949 requirements. During this process, communicate your quality expectations as well as any additional customer-defined QMS requirements to your suppliers and provide training/resources that can assist them in improving their capabilities. Afterwards, monitor supplier performance to reduce product defects/customer disruptions as well as identify any issues quickly in order to avoid costly production delays.

3. Training
Training suppliers is vital to ensure they fully comprehend your requirements and how best to implement them. Furthermore, this presents an opportunity to educate them on your quality expectations as well as the significance of their contribution in designing, manufacturing, assembling and maintaining end products.

Set your requirement and include it in contracts or agreements clearly with suppliers, conducting second-party audits using a range of techniques such as interviews, document reviews and observations to evaluate compliance with ISO 9001 and IATF 16949 requirements as well as any “specially designated small suppliers”. Obtain Customer approval before proceeding. Also establish a schedule for conducting these audits.

4. Records
Auditors conduct on-site audits to evaluate whether suppliers meet IATF 16949 requirements, review processes and document any nonconformities discovered during their visit.

Production capacity and lead time are other crucial aspects to consider when assessing suppliers’ ability to meet delivery schedules. This information can be gained through past performance reviews, reference checks, or any other available resources.

Organizations must include in their documented development strategy a process for designating “exempt” suppliers – those not capable of or unwilling to fully certify their quality management systems to IATF 16949 or ISO 9001 standards – into purchasing agreements and communicate this requirement to them clearly. Furthermore, ensure their ISO 9001 certificates remain valid.

5. Inspection
Audits require not only reviewing documents but also conducting on-site inspections to assess a supplier’s processes and capabilities. This could involve inspecting product samples, lab capacities and checking conformance to quality standards. Occasionally auditors will ask suppliers to perform a Failure Mode Effect Analysis (FMEA).

Communicate Your Requirement: Clearly communicate to all suppliers the requirement that they must either have ISO 9001 certification issued by an accredited certificated body or demonstrate IATF 16949 compliance. Include this obligation into all supplier contracts and agreements to make it binding.

Conduct Regular Supplier Audits: Supplier audits provide an ideal way to identify areas for improvement and help ensure that the supply chain runs as expected. Work with your suppliers to devise corrective action plans with clear timelines for completion.