IATF 16949® Points to Consider – Feasibility Analysis Improvements

Feasibility Analysis has been part of the automotive industry QMS requirements for many years.  IATF 16949® requires a feasibility analysis as part of the quoting process (reference 8.2.3.1.3).  The feasibility analysis includes a review of the organization’s manufacturing processes to ensure the customer’s engineering and capacity requirements can be met by the organization.  Part of this feasibility includes a review of the engineering drawing/specifications, material requirements, inspection requirements, etc.  An overlooked, yet crucial part of the feasibility analysis, is a comprehensive review of the Customer’s Specific Requirements (CSR) manuals.

IATF 16949® certified site focus: 

Including a review of the customer’s CSR manuals is a necessary and critical part of the feasibility analysis.  Three very important points to consider when conducting the feasibility analysis:

1. The customer’s CSR includes many additional requirements that may not be part of the customer’s engineering documents and capacity planning requirements.
2. The best opportunity to negotiate any deviations of the customer’s requirements or waive any customer requirement is during the quoting process. Once a contract has been established, the organization is then responsible to comply with all customer requirements (including all requirements defined in the CSR).
3. If CSR requirements are not waived or deviated, then the quoting process can consider the costs of these requirements (i.e.: annual testing) and modify the pricing model to compensate for these costs.

A sample of “typical” CSR manual requirements can include:

1. Annual layouts and testing to the requirements and specifications defined in the customer’s engineering requirements
2. Annual PPAP revalidation
3. Specialty internal audits (i.e.: layered process audits, VDA 6.3 audits, specialized product audits, CQI audits, MMOG audits)
4. Specialty software for order releases, shipping and inventory management
5. Customer recovery costs associated with non-conforming product and corrective actions
6. Human resource initiatives and expectations
7. Annual cost reductions as a result of the organization’s continual improvement activities
8. Special characteristics designation and management
9. Record retention expectations

As stated, the opportunity to review these costs and seek any waivers or deviations, is during the feasibility analysis and quoting process.

Certification Body focus:

Too often, the CB auditor will discover that a CSR review was not included in the organization’s feasibility analysis prior to the quote.  Remember, the best opportunity to negotiate a waiver to a customer’s CSR requirement is during the quoting process.  Once a contract is established without any waivers, the CB auditor will include all of the customer’s CSR requirements in the audit scope. 

As an important note, if CSR waivers are obtained, ensure those waivers are stored as a quality record and pay attention to any expiration dates.

How do you cross the finish line to become IATF® Certified?

If you’re searching for a consultant, our team at simpleQuE is well positioned to support your IATF 16949® certification, maintenance, and internal auditing needs. SimpleQuE also offers a full line-up of IATF 16949® training courses which includes AIAG Core Tools, Root Cause Analysis and Problem Solving, Requirements and Implementation.  Contact us to learn more about the customized services offered to match your certification and training needs.

This article is by simpleQuE consultant and auditor, Bob Dornhecker.  With over 35 years of combined experience in auditing, manufacturing and certification, Bob has an extensive quality background.  Additionally, he has taught and facilitated many quality related training classes for clients and has provided support to companies securing their own ISO/Quality Management Systems certifications.  He also conducts ISO 9001 and IATF 16949® 2nd and 3rd party audits.

SimpleQuE is not associated with the IATF®, IAOB, ANAB®, IAQG®, and is not a certification body. SimpleQuE is an independent consulting, training, and second-party auditing service provider that assists a company on a path for the company to obtain and maintain certification through accredited certification bodies.