DAF Trucks N.V. is the first truck manufacturer in the world to comply with the new world standard in quality — the ISO/TS 16949 standard. Compared with the ISO 9001 standard, which DAF achieved back in 1992, the new standard places more emphasis on aspects such as continuous improvement and waste prevention.

ISO/TS 16949 is the new world standard for quality management systems for the automotive industry. The standard was developed by the 'International Automotive Task Force' (IATF) in collaboration with the 'International Organization for Standardization' (ISO) and has already been applied to the passenger vehicle industry.

"With ISO/TS 16949, DAF is taking a new and important step towards even higher levels of quality and customer satisfaction", says Jos Smetsers, Director of Operations at DAF Trucks N.V. "The new world standard places more emphasis on aspects such as continuous improvement and the prevention of anomalies and waste. It therefore links in seamlessly with the DAF Production System and methodologies like Six Sigma and Kaizen, key instruments in DAF's endless quest to achieve increasingly high levels of quality and customer satisfaction. ISO/TS 16949 ensures improved process management with less waste and also prevents mistakes."

Since the seventies, the Dutch truck manufacturer DAF Trucks has been using a quality management system that conforms to stringent international requirements. At the beginning of November, ISO/TS 16949 certification was carried out by Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance. The conclusion: "The quality management system used by DAF Trucks N.V. is an effective tool, resulting in impressive process performance, which is continuously improving."