GKN Powder Metallurgy successfully passed the IATF 16949:2016 audit and becomes one of the first 3D Metal printing suppliers in the world to be certified with the new standard. The International Automotive Task Force (IATF) introduced this revised global quality standard known as IATF 16949:2016 in October 2016.
It replaces ISO/TS 16949, one of the automotive industry’s most widely used international standard for quality management. When it was developed by the IATF in 1999 it aimed to harmonize the different certification systems in the global automotive supply chain. The new IATF 16949 has been created with a stronger customer orientation and aims to develop a quality management systems that:
- Provides for continual improvement,
- Emphasizes defect prevention,
- Includes specific requirements and tools from automotive industry,
- Promotes reduction of variation and waste in the supply chain,
- Increases customer satisfaction.
Additive Manufacturing – a key to the future of GKN Powder Metallurgy
As a leading innovation development partner of the automotive industry, GKN Powder Metallurgy wants to inspire customers to rethink ways to design products with Additive Manufacturing. It’s positioned in the 3D printing market as a fully vertically integrated solution provider that combines profound technical expertise in AM powders, processes and products.
Guido Degen, SVP Additive and Business Development, stresses the importance of the certificate for GKN Powder Metallurgy: “The IATF certificate is a significant step on our path towards challenging established supply chains and industrializing 3D printing technology globally. We believe in the disruptive potential of AM to transform future product thinking and traditional manufacturing.
Today we are already in production with automotive and industrial prototypes, small series and spare parts for the aftermarkets, but this is just the beginning. We strive for making AM mass productions, that provide the highest quality and productivity, accessible to the leaders of the automotive industry. “
About GKN Powder Metallurgy
GKN Powder Metallurgy comprises GKN Sinter Metals and Hoeganaes. GKN Sinter Metals is the world’s leading manufacturer of precision automotive components as well as components for industrial and consumer applications. Hoeganaes is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of metal powder, the essential raw material for powder metallurgy. GKN Powder Metallurgy is in close proximity to its customers with more than 30 global locations and about 7,400 employees.
GKN Powder Metallurgy’s IATF 16949:2016 is available online:
