Important Changes in Audit Reporting for IATF Certified Organizations Take Effect in January 2021

The International Automotive Task Force (IATF) has deployed the Common Audit Report Application (CARA), which all certification bodies must fully implement by January 1, 2021. CARA was developed to reduce differences among the audit reports of all IATF-recognized certification bodies, including NSF International Strategic Registrations (NSF-ISR).

This change will impact the way audit results are communicated to all IATF 16949 certified organizations through two generated reports:

• Audit report: Full summary of audit results
• Nonconformity (NC) management report: Complete details of audit nonconformities
• Import the NC report
• Enter relevant responses
• Export the completed NC report
• Send the exported and completed NC report to NSF-ISR for review
• Action taken to verify effective implementation of corrective actions

The most significant change is how corrective action responses (CARs) will be completed. Once the process is fully deployed, certified organizations will enter CARs into the IATF NC CARA nonconformity management website in a standardized format in a few easy steps:

The new application is a browser-based solution, which requires no software installation or login.

This new process aligns with IATF Rules 5.11.1 and 5.11.2, which outline the following key CAR aspects:

Correction (containment) action, including timing and responsible person, and evidence of implementation

Root cause analysis, including consideration of impact other similar processes or products

Root cause result

Systemic corrective actions, including timing and responsible person, and evidence of implementation

Visit the IATF NC CARA website for more information.