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38 PCB007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2018 Introduction If you are building for the automotive indus- try (or want to be), you will eventually need to be certified to the IATF 16949 standard. It is extremely important to understand the re- quirements, which can often be daunting and confusing. Degree of Difficulty In terms of quality management systems, here is my ranking of the international stan- dards as measured by requirements and the level of discipline required to meet them. In order of increasing degree of difficulty: ISO 9001, ISO 13485, AS9100, IATF 16949. What follows is an outline of some of the major re- quirements that are over and above what ISO requires. Customer-Specific Requirements This requirement specifically addresses the need to evaluate your customer-specific re- quirements and include them where applicable in the quality management system. This means that a process is needed to evaluate each cus- tomer's "customer-specific requirements" and integrate them into your QMS. Product Safety These are enhanced requirements that re- quire a process for proactive awareness and mitigation of current and emerging product and process safety issues facing the automo- tive industry. This includes a focus on statuto- ry and regulatory requirements to identify and control product-safety-related characteristics during design (if applicable) and manufactur- International Automotive Task Force (IATF) 16949 Standard, Explained The Right Approach Feature Column by Steve Williams, THE RIGHT APPROACH CONSULTING LLC