IATF 16494 queries

My understanding is that IATF16949 primarily applies to an internal manufacturing site, with support functions including design, sales, etc being included in the scope. But what if we want to include other design groups in the scope, but their products are not manufactured internally, but at external IATF16949 certified suppliers? Can they be included in the scope? Or can we only include design groups that design products that are manufactured in the certified manufacturing location?

According to the IATF 16949:2016  rules rev 5, if the organization is doing the product design, only the design and production activities are written in the certificate. In addition, the design and production product must be attached to the original car in the automotive. In other words, the aftermarket product cannot be within the scope of the document. In addition, if the organization is doing the product design inside or outside, ie in another location; the design activity must in any case be audited and in scope. The organization may have remote locations such as human resources, headquarters, and warehouse; these locations must be audited according to IATF rules before and/or after manufacturing site audits.&nbsp

If we want to have a Single Manufacturing site certified, but with other internal manufacturing sites include as extended sites, there are criteria outlined in the IATF "rules" Annex 4 that I would like clarification on E.g.

a) The extended site can have "No autonomous decision-making authority". This is clearly not practical for any company as all sites would have local on-site leadership.b) Extended sites should be located within a "reasonable proximity" of the main mfg site. What is the definition of "reasonable proximity" 

In the case of an extended manufacturing site; the main location is the decision-maker. In the extended manufacturing site, there should only be production, quality, maintenance operators, and all decisions must be taken from the main site. Therefore, transportation between the sites must be easy. It is necessary to contact the certification company in this regard, and the distance between two sites, minute, organizational structure, production scopes must be explained and approval must be obtained from the certification body for the single extended site.

The response does not actually answer my question. Let me clarify:

Site A is an internal manufacturing site that we plan to certify to the IATF16949 standard. Site B is a remote site that designs automotive products that are manufactured in Site A. In this case, clearly it is valid to have Site B's design activity as a supporting function within the scope of Site A's IATF16949 certification. 

However, we have another remote design site, Site C. This site designs automotive products but these products are not manufactured in Site A. They are manufactured at a 3rd party contract manufacturer, who themselves have an IATF16949 certification.

My question is whether it is valid/possible/appropriate for us to include Site C's design activity as a supporting function within the scope of Site A's IATF16949 certification. 

If the products designed by Site "C" are not produced on Site "A" or Site "B"; Products of Site "C" are not included in the IATF scope of Site "A" or Site "B".

Since site "C" designs for another manufacturer (for other legal entities), "Site C" becomes a remote location within the scope of the other manufacturer.    

For more information please see the following article

• How to define scope of the QMS according to IATF 16949:2016 https://advisera.com/16949academy/blog/2017/06/28/how-to-define-scope-of-the-qms-according-to-iatf-16949/