YSK Corporation IATF 16949® and ISO 14001 Case Study

CHALLENGE

YSK Corporation, located in Chillicothe, Ohio, is part of the Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing Industry. Founded in 1989, this Japanese-owned company (headquartered in Fuchu, Tokyo) is one of 26 companies worldwide in the YSK Yanagawa Seiki corporate family.  YSK Corp. specializes in the manufacture and assembly of machined parts for engine, transmission, and suspension applications for motor vehicles. The corporation started as a Honda supplier, manufacturing parts for cars and now includes Subaru and Toyota. Since its beginning, YSK has expanded its facility and constructed a new building to keep up with the demand.

YSK is currently ISO 14001:2015 and IATF 16949:2016 certified through ABS Quality Evaluations. SimpleQuE began working with YSK in 2014 to prepare them for ISO/TS 16949 certification and currently performs their annual ISO 14001 Internal Audits with regulatory compliance of the EMS (environmental management system). Their IATF 16949® Internal Audits are also done by simpleQuE annually to evaluate the entire QMS (quality management system) requirements for IATF 16949:2016 and customer-specific requirements using the automotive process audit approach. In 2017 simpleQuE did a gap analysis and action plan as part of IATF 16949® transition consulting and training.  SimpleQuE also provided EMS regulatory compliance consulting – guidance and assistance for updates and improvements, as YSK places a high priority on environmental protection.

Patsy Brownfield, ISO/Q.A. Staff Engineer at YSK, explained that challenges are ongoing as the company grows and processes change.  Transitioning from an older version of a standard to the newer version can also be a challenge especially when it involves three standards – IATF 16949®, ISO 14001, and ISO 9001.

SOLUTION

“YSK sent associates for training thru simpleQuE for ISO/TS 16949 Internal Audit training, as well as AIAG Core Tools Training with excellent results.  When YSK transitioned from TS to IATF®, simpleQuE was the company we were confident could help us achieve our goal,” said Brownfield.  “With their expertise we were able to advance to IATF 16949® certification in 2017.  SimpleQuE also did consulting and assisted with Internal audits for our goal to achieve ISO 14001:2015 certification.”

When asked about simpleQuE’s approach, Brownfield replied, “YSK as a company, was very impressed with the skill of the auditor’s that were brought in to do our Internal audits.  They left no stone unturned which is exactly what was needed.”

RESULT

“The benefits have been tremendous, as a smaller company it is sometimes difficult to look at each of the audited sections with a clear eye, not knowing the processes, sometimes puts an auditor at a disadvantage. I, as an auditor, have been able to view items I may not have seen without the 2^nd party auditor view,” explained Brownfield.  “We have been able to retain our IATF® certification, including going thru our re-certification audit this past year.  The yearly internal audits that simpleQuE have completed for YSK has helped us in continually improving our processes and maintaining our certifications.”