Press Release

TÜV SÜD Delivers Online Course to Help Enterprises Improve Full Lifecycle Management of Special Characteristic

China/Shanghai, TÜV SÜD recently held a non-profit live online course on full lifecycle management of special characteristics. The course explained relevant knowledge and gave case studies to help enterprises understand German and American approaches of managing special characteristics, thus improving their management throughout the life cycle.

In the introduction to IATF 16949, special characteristic is defined as “classification of a product characteristics or manufacturing process parameters that may affect safety or compliance with regulations, fit, function, performance or subsequent processing of product.” There are two mainstream standards for the management of special characteristics in automotive-related industries, namely the German "A process description covering special characteristics (SC)" and the American special characteristics manual. Both include provisions and details on the management of special characteristics.

Establishing full lifecycle management of special characteristics is of great importance to automotive manufacturers and their suppliers. It helps them to conduct quality control measurements on safety parts, critical parts and parts related to life safety. However, the management of special characteristics is a complex and systematic task which includes pre-input, SC identification, technical solution design, initial capability research, cyclical process management, special characteristics capability improvement, etc. It requires enterprises to formulate plans and strictly implement them. In this process, assistance and supports from different departments within the organization are needed.

At the on-line course, Mr. Andy Liu, Senior Auditor of IATF 16949 and VDA6.3 from TÜV SÜD, analyzed issues that require special attention in development and production, including ensuring required functions, verification of fail-safe functions, equipment capabilities of process, measurement and test/verification and traceability. Mr. Liu also pointed out that enterprises need to pay special attention to inputs from customer-designated special characteristics, product design requirements, manufacturing process design, the identification of special characteristics through multi-disciplinary approach and documents on product design, manufacturing process design outputs, etc., which shall be able to be verified and confirmed.

The course enables participants to learn about full lifecycle management of special characteristics and enhance their global competitiveness. TÜV SÜD Academy also provides many targeted courses and solutions via multiple platforms and channels such as in-house training, open courses, overseas learning, online learning, etc., to help enterprises improve the qualifications and professional skills of their staffs.