International Automotive Task Force 16949 (IATF 16949) is an international standard for automotive management systems that is a widely adopted and standardized quality management system for the automotive sector. It was released in 1999 by International Organization for Standardization based on ISO 9001, and the first edition was published in June 1999 as ISO/TS 16949:1999.[1] IATF 16949:2016 replaced ISO/TS 16949 in October 2016 by International Automotive Task Force.[2][3] The goal of the standard is to provide for continual improvement, emphasizing defect prevention and the reduction of variation and waste in the automotive industry supply chain and assembly process. The standard was designed to fit into an integrated management system.
The standard was developed by International Automotive Task Force. It harmonises the country-specific regulations of quality management systems.[4]
About 30 percent of the more than 100 existing motorcar manufacturers follow the requirements of the norm but especially the large Asian manufacturers have differentiated and have their own requirements for the quality management systems of their corporate group and their suppliers.[citation needed]
IATF 16949 applies to the design/development, production and, when relevant, installation and servicing of automotive-related products.
The requirements are intended to be applied throughout the supply chain. For the first time vehicle assembly plants will be encouraged to seek IATF 16949 [certification].