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.
[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.
For the first time vehicle assembly plants will be encouraged to seek IATF 16949 [certification].
Many suppliers (OEMs) were asked by the car manufacturers to build and certify their quality management system according to the rules and regulations of their own country organizations, such as: But due to this regulation a supplier needed to provide two different certificates for Daimler and Chrysler (VDA 6.1 for Germany and QS 9000 America), even though the supplier delivered only to a single company.
The aim of the standard is to improve the system and process quality to increase customer satisfaction, to identify problems and risks in the production process and supply chain, to eliminate their causes and to examine and take corrective and preventive measures for their effectiveness.
Additionally the gateways to the exterior (to sub-suppliers, customers and to remote locations) are defined.