Helical prepares for the new IATF 16949 standard with convenient In-house training

George the Senior Quality Engineer from Helical Technology (automotive industry) completed IATF 16949 Internal Auditor training in April 2017, it was delivered In-house at their Preston site. Learn about how the training has already led to changes within the organisation and how it’s helping him prepare for the new IATF 16949 accreditation.

What were your training objectives?

The company is split into two divisions (exhausts and actuators) when the actuators moved away to Lytham St Anne they took with them the TS  16949 accreditation so we needed to get accreditation for the exhaust side of the business. My job is to get that into place. So this year we are looking to achieve IATF 16949 accreditation and meet our own internal audit KPIs for the exhaust division.

What learning did you take from the course?

We currently audit all our suppliers regardless of whether they are TS or ITAF accredited. I asked the tutor if this was necessary and she confirmed that this was not needed.  As you are basically questioning the IATF/TS accreditation.

The outcome is that we will be stopping the supplier audits. This will save our company time and money and we can focus on our own internal audits.

Have you been able to apply anything since the course?

The current auditing system is not as robust at the actuator division, so I can now use the knowledge from the course to get the exhaust division up to speed and get the new IATF 16949 accreditation. The new standard has to be implemented soon so we have gone directly to this rather than going via the old TS 16949.

What have been the benefits for you and the business?

In addition to discontinuing the supplier audits as mentioned earlier, the training will help to get us prepared for stage 1 of the IATF 16949 accreditation in August. We can collate the right data and evidence that is required so we have the detail ready. Knowing what is expected certainly does help.

The IATF is important for us to achieve being part of the automotive industry.

What were the benefits of having the training In-house at your organisation?

No long journey or overnight stays for the training which is great and you can have your own home comforts.

We made sure that people attending the course weren’t contactable so that they could really focus on the course. We were also able to relate examples to our own company and ask specific questions which proved beneficial.

The tutor was excellent at delivering the course and made it interesting and engaging, she also used laymen’s terms so everyone was able to understand.

This particular course was good to have in-house as there were people with different levels of auditor experience and colleagues were able to help support those who had a basic knowledge.

Would you recommend Bywater?

Yes and I would recommend colleagues to use Bywater

Helical Technology