Get Ready For TL 9000:2016!

As most of our readers will be well aware, the latest revision of the ISO 9001 standard was published last year and became effective September 15th, 2015. Since the TL 9000 Requirements Handbook (RHB) incorporates the complete text of the ISO 9001 requirements, this 2015 revision will drive a new RHB Release 6.0. The pairing of the new RHB R6.0 with the existing Measurements Handbook R5.0 will be known as TL 9000:2016.

What's new in the TL 9000 adders?

You’ll see many changes to the TL 9000 additional requirements (“adders”), many serving simply to harmonize with the new approaches and language of ISO 9001:2015, others to clarify the intent. Dozens of adders have had their text tweaked, in fact; and twelve adders have been eliminated altogether, either because the new ISO now covers the same ground adequately, or because they’ve been merged with other adders to make the whole standard a little bit tighter.

There are two brand new adders, though. 9.2.2.C.1 Internal Audit Program Planning specifies that the organization’s internal audit program must cover all applicable Requirements and Measurements Handbook requirements. (There’ve been companies which have neglected to audit their Measurements process – I’ve visited a couple!) And 9.1.3.C.3 Sustainability Assessment invites the organization to “assess the status of its sustainability efforts as appropriate to its organization, products and services”. The QuEST Forum is all over sustainability these days, and this new adder encourages a company to start taking a look into it if it hasn’t already done so.

There’s another pair of “new” adders – 4.3.C.1 Declaration of Requirement and Measurement Applicability and 4.3.C.2 TL 9000 Profile and Scope – which have actually just been moved from Section 3 in RHB R5.5 (they were clauses 3.1 and 3.2).

What are the timelines?

QuEST Forum worked on the draft of RHB R6.0, beginning in 2014, right through to the spring of this year; and NQA, as a Liaison Member, has been part of that effort from the beginning. Tim Woodcome, our Director of Conformity Assessment, and Rick Hill, our TL 9000 Program Manager, are active members of the Integrated Global Quality (IGQ) and Oversight Work Groups, as well as of a number of key sub-teams; so they’ve been fully involved in the writing of the new revision.

The final draft of RHB R6.0 was approved by a vote of the full QuEST Forum review on June 14^th; and it should have been published by the time you read this. Here’s the anticipated TL 9000:2016 schedule from this point on:

• July 2016: publication – available for purchase – delta training available

• 15 Sept 2016: certification audits may begin to be performed to TL 9000:2016

• 15 Sept 2017: all certification audits must be to TL 9000:2016 from this date

• 15 Sept 2018: RHB R5.5 becomes obsolete (simultaneous with ISO 9001:2008)

How do we transition?

NQA is ready to support each of our TL 9000 clients in your efforts to transition to the new TL 9000 release.

We feel that awareness, communication and planning are essential to ensure a smooth transition. Since the lion’s share of what’s changed in TL 9000:2016 is what comes straight out of ISO 9001:2015, NQA has analyzed that new standard as it has been developed to ensure the best understanding of the impacts to your organization and to assist you in better planning.

With this in mind, we have prepared a Transition Guidance document which discusses our transition philosophy, general guidelines, transition process, auditor interactions, transition audit timing and cost.

With this knowledge, you and your organization can develop an implementation plan that is tailored to your individual needs. Our website has also been updated with various transition materials over the past year, including a Transition Checklist to guide you through the various changes to the standard. Of course, all references to ISO 9001:2015 in these documents should be interpreted by you to mean TL 9000:2016! As for the details of the changes to the TL adders that you need to concern yourselves with, watch this space for a future blog post on that topic.

What other help is available?

NQA has been conducting a series of one-day client conferences to provide more insight into the changes in the standard and what organizations should do to prepare. As of this writing, one more was planned to take place in Warwick RI on August 17^th. Live “Transition Essentials” webinars have already been scheduled through the year. Check out our Events page for details on these as they become available.

We anticipate that our TL 9000 clients may have many questions during the transition. We urge you to use our informed auditors and staff in making this an efficient and effective process. And please feel free to contact me, your TL 9000 Program Manager, at 613-849-5696 or email at any time.

We look forward to working with each of you in serving your TL 9000:2016 transition needs!

Author: Rick Hill, TL 9000 Program Manager