About the International Automotive Task Force (IATF)
The IATF is an “ad hoc” group of automotive manufacturers and their respective trade associations, formed to provide improved quality products to automotive customers worldwide. Specifically, the purposes for which the IATF was established are:
- To develop a consensus regarding international fundamental quality system requirements, primarily for the participating companies’ direct suppliers of production materials, product or service parts or finishing services (e.g. heat treating, painting and plating). These requirements will also be available for other interested parties in the automotive industry.
- To develop policies and procedures for the common IATF third party registration scheme to ensure consistency worldwide.
- To provide appropriate training to support IATF 16949 requirements and the IATF registration scheme.
- To establish formal liaisons with appropriate bodies to support IATF objectives.
IATF members include the following vehicle manufacturers: BMW Group, Ford Motor Company, Geely Group, General Motors, IVECO Group, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) Limited, Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Renault Group, Stellantis (ex FCA), Stellantis (ex PSA), Volkswagen AG, Volvo Group and their respective National Automotive Industry Associations – AIAG (U.S.), ANFIA (Italy), FIEV (France), SMMT (U.K.) and VDA (Germany).
SMMT IATF Oversight
SMMT IATF Oversight was established by IATF in 1999 as one of the five (UK, USA, France, Germany, Italy) global oversight offices to administer the IATF 16949 Certification scheme.
The Oversight offices were established to:
- Conduct office assessments and witness audits of the certification body
- Provide interpretations and guidance through the issuing of Sanctioned Interpretations (SIs) and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Manage the IATF database to ensure timeliness and accuracy
- Monitor certification body activities
- Qualify 3rd party certification body auditors
- Handle the application of new Certification Bodies
