Introduction to IATF 16949:2016 — Quality Management System for the Automotive Industry

IATF 16949:2016 is the automotive industry's quality management system requirement, issued by the International Automotive Task Force in October 2016 to replace ISO/TS 16949:2009. It is not a standalone standard: it is applied together with ISO 9001:2015, and certification is granted against the two documents read as one requirement set. This foundation course teaches the standard itself — what it is for, how it is structured, and what each automotive-specific clause requires.

The course follows the order a practitioner meets the standard: the history from QS-9000 and ISO/TS 16949, scope and eligibility, the tier structure and the certification scheme; then a clause-by-clause walk through the supplemental requirements — product safety, risk analysis and contingency plans, embedded software, supplier development, control plans, total productive maintenance, traceability, management of change, process and layered process audits, warranty management and premium freight. A dedicated module covers the core tools — APQP and control plans, PPAP, FMEA using the AIAG-VDA seven-step approach, MSA and SPC — each with a worked example. The final module is applied: customer-specific requirements, an audit day from the auditee's side, and a first-90-days path.

It is written for quality, engineering, manufacturing, purchasing and programme staff at automotive suppliers who must work inside an IATF-certified system. It is not an auditor course: audit programme management and auditor qualification are out of scope.

Assessment is a 30-question online final exam with a 70% pass mark; successful learners receive a verifiable certificate. Approximately 9.5 hours of self-paced study.