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Coroplast Group | Insights The IATF standard – and what that means for Coroplast
In the automotive industry quality means IATF
That which began in the USA and Mexico in 2017 continued at all other Coroplast locations in 2018: the IATF certification. “In the automotive industry, for the last two years quality has had a new name – and that name is IATF 16949,” says Andree Straube, Global Quality Director at Coroplast. But why is this standard so important for us? It’s quite simple: all automotive suppliers need this certification if they want to play in the top league. “The standard applies to the entire supply chain and only those who meet its requirements are recognised as first-class automotive suppliers, which is simply indispensable for Coroplast.”
In the automotive industry, for the last two years quality has had a new name – and that name is IATF 16949.
Concrete implementation is required
In fact, more and more OEMs are approaching us with new requirements relating to quality, environmental and energy issues. Most recently, for example, Audi put certain sustainability regulations to the test. “The Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (German: BAFA) reviews implementation and it is necessary to provide concrete evidence of the improvement in energy efficiency. If no audit certificate is submitted, the BAFA has the right to either impose fines or cancel tax relief. It is no longer sufficient just to provide proof of audit – the BAFA also monitors the quality.”
Coroplast is certified
In order to fulfil the requirements and guarantee uniform standards at every Coroplast manufacturing location, the entire process landscape has been revised in recent years – and one location after the other has been certified, which brought the auditors to Wuppertal in June 2018. They reviewed all our process documentation and conducted interviews with the process owners. “That always means a lot of work for the entire company. But in the end, the effort was worth it, as we fulfilled the IATF standard in Wuppertal at the first attempt and without abnormality,” says Andree Straube. However, the work continues, and in November 2018, the first supervision audit was carried out in Acámbaro, which passed without any abnormalities, and one month later it was CCT’s turn. “Sometimes I feel like I’m in an old Hollywood film that we just call ‘Auditor Day’.”
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