I am current involved in a high humidity test to detrimine the reliablity of various rust inhibiting chemicals on ferrous material. Is there some form of standard scale to compare the results of the test?
Subclause 4.17.3, Internal Quality Audits - Auditor Qualification, in ISO Technical Specification 16949:1999 states:
"The supplier shall comply with customer requirements for internal system and process auditor qualification."
The question therefore is, "What does your customer(s) require to demonstrate that your organization's internal auditor(s) is qualified to conduct an in-house assessment of conformance with TS 16949?"
Remember that TS 16949 was developed by the International Automotive Task Force, which consists primarily of the American and European (and now Asian) automakers, which may or may not be your customers. If one or more of your customers has indicated required competency for your internal auditor(s) to be considered qualified, then you need to comply with those qualifications. If you aren't certain, check with your customers to verify that they do/do not have a set of criteria that they expect your organization's auditors to satisfy.
If your customers do not have criteria for auditor qualification, you need to ensure the auditor(s) is capable of doing internal auditing against TS 16949. Nowhere in the TS does it indicate that auditor certification, whether by AIAG or any other body, is proof that an auditor or any other employee is qualified to do his/her job.
What TS 16949:1999 does say about employees being qualified is found right below Subclause 4.17.3 in Subclause 4.18.1, Training - ISO 9001:1994, where the second sentence notes: "Personnel performing specific assigned tasks shall be qualified on the basis of appropriate education, training and/or experience, as required."
Unless you have a customer, whether an AIAG member organization or not, that has specified that it expects your internal auditors to be certified by an outside body (e.g., RAB, ASQ, AIAG) or qualified or approved by the customer, your organization simply needs to ensure its internal auditor(s) have the education, training and experience needed to conduct a TS 16949 audit. A recommended source for guidelines on auditor "qualifications" are the RAB qualifications for auditor certification, but that doesn't mean your internal auditors have to be formally certified.
qdigest 9/27/2001
Subclause 4.17.3, Internal Quality Audits - Auditor Qualification, in ISO Technical Specification 16949:1999 states:
"The supplier shall comply with customer requirements for internal system and process auditor qualification."
The question therefore is, "What does your customer(s) require to demonstrate that your organization's internal auditor(s) is qualified to conduct an in-house assessment of conformance with TS 16949?"
Remember that TS 16949 was developed by the International Automotive Task Force, which consists primarily of the American and European (and now Asian) automakers, which may or may not be your customers. If one or more of your customers has indicated required competency for your internal auditor(s) to be considered qualified, then you need to comply with those qualifications. If you aren't certain, check with your customers to verify that they do/do not have a set of criteria that they expect your organization's auditors to satisfy.
If your customers do not have criteria for auditor qualification, you need to ensure the auditor(s) is capable of doing internal auditing against TS 16949. Nowhere in the TS does it indicate that auditor certification, whether by AIAG or any other body, is proof that an auditor or any other employee is qualified to do his/her job.
What TS 16949:1999 does say about employees being qualified is found right below Subclause 4.17.3 in Subclause 4.18.1, Training - ISO 9001:1994, where the second sentence notes: "Personnel performing specific assigned tasks shall be qualified on the basis of appropriate education, training and/or experience, as required."
Unless you have a customer, whether an AIAG member organization or not, that has specified that it expects your internal auditors to be certified by an outside body (e.g., RAB, ASQ, AIAG) or qualified or approved by the customer, your organization simply needs to ensure its internal auditor(s) have the education, training and experience needed to conduct a TS 16949 audit. A recommended source for guidelines on auditor "qualifications" are the RAB qualifications for auditor certification, but that doesn't mean your internal auditors have to be formally certified.