Remote Functions

The IATF16949 rules for achieving IATF recognition 5th edition, define that only manufacturing sites are eligible to be IATF16949 certified. One manufacturing site could be a remote location for other sites for many different activities, for example, product design, process design, contract review, warehousing, etc.

Your sister company during stage 1 of the IATF16949 certification audit must communicate to the certification body that has a manufacturing site supported by them with warehousing activity. For the next IATF16949 audit at your company will be required to present the IATF audit report from your sister company mentioning that Warehousing activities are being supported by them. 

Considered that your site is a manufacturing site that is already IATF16949 third-party certified, and your sister company supports you with warehousing support functions, according to IATF16949 requirement 4.3.1 that must be included at the defined scope of quality management system for your site. Your IATF16949 certificate is going to have two pages, where the second one will mention the remote location.

Hello, I know that basically in those cases with remote functions, the IATF16949 certificate is going to have two pages, where the second one mentiones the remote location and remote functions. - Only the receiving location has to have the relevant remote functions on their certificate. Within years I never saw it differently with several companies.

It also makes sense, because when an auditor plans to come to an audit he needs to know before from the certificate which functions he connot expect at the relevant location (because they are maybe remote). On the other hand, a giving location does not yet have to write the given functions on also their certificate, because the auditor can expect to see all relevant functions of this organisation (without receiving any).

So far so good and well understood and performed (and seen throughout the years), but :

Just now we had difficult discussions with an auditor. - We only give remote functions to several of our other sites, but do not receive any at our site. The receiving sites have all on their certificates. -The problem for the auditor is and he does not want to understand, that we do not have the given functions on our certificate. 

The other sites have us correctly on their certificate and we have nothing on it because we receive nothing. - Receiving parties must have the remote functions on their certificate. Not us. - But where exactly does it say that (one way or another)?

Within e.g. the "IATF certification requirements" (currently 5th edition, 2016) we did not find some exact wording to clarify it with the auditor, that a "giving location" does not have to have remote functions on the certificate. - Or the other way around: The receiving location must have the remote functions on their certificate.

Any hint or help would be highly appreciated. Thanks a lot in advance!

Best regards, Christian Bauerfeld

As you know, before IATF audits, you fill out forms to certification body companies.

In this form, you specify the remote locations you receive support from and the locations you provide support for.

In your IATF certificate, only the name and address of the remote locations you receive support for and the functions for which you receive support appear.

The places and functions you support will not appear on your IATF certificate.

But the functions you support are; It should appear on page 2 of other companies' IATF certificates.

If there are any innovations or changes in the remote functions you receive or the support functions you provide; Both the relevant forms should be updated and these should be noted in the IATF report.

If anything is missing here; It is written in the audit report and added to the form you previously filled out to Certification Body.

Apart from that, there should be no disagreement between you and the auditor.