27 Jan 2006
Vorden, Netherlands - Polycomp BV claims to be the first small compounding company to win ISO-TS16949:2002 certification. The standard is an ISO Technical Specification, which aligns existing American (QS-9000), German (VDA6.1), French (EAQF) and Italian (AVSQ) automotive quality systems standards within the global automotive industry, with the aim of eliminating the need for multiple certifications to satisfy multiple customer requirements.
GM, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Peugeot, Citroen, Renault, Fiat and Volkswagen all require every supplier to have this certification, while BMW and Nissan require compliance to the standard, but do not formally require certification. Toyota says it does not require compliance, but adds that a certificate will make its own internal audits less time-consuming.
In Polycomp's case the certificate covers the development, production and delivery of customer-specific rubber compounds for automotive applications. Polycomp specialises in fluoroelastomer compounds.
The certificate was granted by the Dutch KEMA organisation and is valid until November 2008.
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