ENCONA has a global network of qualified auditors who are able to meet your geographic and technological needs on time and within budget. Our experts come from industry which means we know what we are looking for, the challenges, the best practices, and practical approaches that not only satisfy the conformance and compliance requirements of the standards but adds value for the auditee and audit client.

ENCONA is not a registrar, which means we can provide expert advice and unbiased feedback without conflict of interest for clients, their customers, or certification bodies.

Our Process: All ENCONA audits are conducted using the ISO19011 principles and framework for audit planning. As client, once an audit is request we will schedule a short meeting to discuss the scope of your audit, establish duration, align on a tentative date, and gather your objectives. We will then provide a commercial quotation. Upon receipt of Purchase Order, ENCONA will provide an Audit Plan followed by a Planning meeting with the Auditor and Auditee 2 weeks prior to audit commencement.

Once confirmed by the client, the Audit Plan will be used to begin and guide the audit on the start date. The audits will
have an Opening and Closing meeting followed by a completed Audit Report within 48 hours of the Closing Meeting. Verification of Corrective Actions from any findings and continued support is also available if required.

AUDIT SPECIFICS:

VDA 6.3 AUDITS: The VDA 6.3 is an in-depth process-based audit tool developed by the VDA (Verband Der Automobilindustrie) (insert hyperlink) which is the German Association for the Automobile Industry) and the German OEMs for organizations that provide automotive products or services. The standard can be applied to any organization in the automotive industry as a process audit tool, regardless of the scale of business, and the tool can be aligned with the entire product lifecycle, independent of its position within the supply chain. The process audit tool will detect crucial problems and/or deviations and their causes, so action plans to resolve them can be developed. The most common types of VDA 6.3 Audits are the P1 which is a Potential Analysis and is used mostly for suppliers who are not yet providing products to a German OEM but who are bidding new contracts or are in the OEMs selection process, a P1 does not cover the entire VDA 6.3 standard. The second most common is the P5-P7 VDA 6.3 Audit which is used to routinely audit processes which are already in series production and this is used for existing suppliers and internal process audits. A less common audit is the full VDA 6.3 P2-P7 which is typically used for auditees who are launching new products or programs with an OEM as this audit will cover the entire standard from Project Management to Post-Delivery Customer Service. Other aspects to consider: Many suppliers may be asked to complete a VDA audit but still need to determine which type of VDA audit and it's also important to only conduct audits with a qualified or Certified VDA 6.3 Process Auditor who has accredited certification from a VDA QMC License Partner such as ENCONA.

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VDA 6.8 AUDITS: The VDA 6.8 Standard is complimentary to the VDA 6.3 and uses L-elements to assess the logistics and supply chain processes conformance. This standard is the process-oriented approach and customer-specific requirements for comprehensive application in the automotive industry. The VDA 6.8 standard is new and has only been released for use in the market since early 2025. While this standard does not replace the MMOG/LE ( Materials Management Operational Guidelines/Logistics Evaluatio) standard, it is considered equivalent for the purposes of supplier conformance.

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MMOG/LE AUDITS: The Global Materials Management Operations Guideline / Logistics Evaluation (Global MMOG/LE) is an established industry standard that provides a unified assessment procedure for evaluating automotive logistics suppliers. The tool enables OEMs and suppliers to assess the logistical performance capabilities of the (sub)suppliers and the internal processes. It focuses on the following aspects: Unified evaluation of supply chain management, for both internal and external use, Definition of supply chain management components in order to support continual improvement and enhance supplier performance, basis for benchmarking and identifying best-practice criteria.

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MANUFACTURING PROCESS AUDITS: Manufacturing Process Audits are conducted by assessing the conformance and risks within processes by comparing the Contorl Plans, PFMEA, Work Instructions, and other documented information to the actual practices and production outputs of the organization. These are requirements of IATF 16949 and can be satisfied by performing a VDA 6.3 or other Process audits such as Layer Process Audits or CQI audits, or other acceptable Process Audit methods developed by the organization or required by its customers.

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FORMEL Q AUDITS: Formel Q is a customer specific standard developed by Volkswagen and is heavily based on and includes both VDA 6.3 and VDA 6.5 requirements. While Formel Q is for VW parts suppliers only, these self-assements and other requirements can be fulfilled with the support of an external auditor from ENCONA. Note: Some companies understably confuse VDA 6.3 as a Volkswagen standard for this reason however, it is not. While VW does use VDA 6.3 and other VDA standards, these standards are standalone requirements developed by VDA QMC. Additionally, performing a VDA 6.3 audit will satisfy the majority of your Formel Q requirements but not all. When requesting an audit it will be important to communicate whether a VDA 6.3 audit is required or if the audit objective is to fulfill the Formel Q requirements.

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IATF 16949:2016 AUDITS: Conformity with IATF 16949 is the condition for acceptance into the automotive manufacturers’ list of suppliers. This standard is built on top of as supplement to the ISO 9001:2015 standard. IATF is the International Automotive Task Force and is comprised of 189 requirements within the standard. The standard requires period internal audits (usually annually or more) and an audit of the organization's suppliers as required.

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ISO 9001:2015 AUDITS: ISO 9001 is defined as the international standard that specifies requirements for a quality management system (QMS). Organizations use the standard to demonstrate the ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and regulatory requirements. It is the most popular standard in the ISO 9000 series and the only standard in the series to which organizations can certify. The standard requires period internal audits (usually annually or more) and an audit of the organization's suppliers as required.

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ISO 14001:2018 AUDITS: The Environmental Management System standard ISO 14001 framework supports organizations in being compliant to regulatory requirements, conforming to customer requirements, cut waste, prevent pollution and become more sustainable. Many customers require ISO 4001:2018 as criteria for an approved supplier. The standard requires period internal audits (usually annually or more) and an audit of the organization's suppliers as required.

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ISO 17025:2017 AUDITS: This standard enables laboratories to demonstrate that they operate competently and generate valid results, thereby promoting confidence in their work both nationally and around the world.

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TISAX / VDA ISA ASSESSMENTS: Protecting business processes and information, even under difficult boundary conditions, is a central task of corporate management. The TISAX model (Trusted Information Security Assessment Exchange) was developed for this purpose under the VDA umbrella. TISAX facilitates the cross-organizational recognition of information security assessments and creates a common testing and exchange standard for this purpose. It is based on the VDA Information Security Assessment (VDA ISA), a questionnaire that can be used for self-assessment, but which also serves as a basis for issuing the TISAX label by the testing service providers. Labeling can be obtained to Level 1, 2, or 3 depending on customer requirement or prototyping involvement.

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ISO 27001:2022 AUDITS: The Information Security Management standard ISO 27001 and its requirements allow organizations to effectively manage your information security management system (ISMS) considering the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of your information.

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VDA 6.5 AUDITS: VDA 6.5 is a guideline for managing product audit programms, which allows organizations to develop a classification scheme adapted to their own products. With a VDA 6.5 product audit, you can identify customer wishes, review products in this respect, and initiate potential improvement actions. This makes VDA 6.5 an efficient tool to further develop the QM system and products of an organization. These can also be included as requirements for Formel Q.

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PRODUCT SAFETY & CONFORMITY: Every organization within the automotive supply chain is obliged to ensure the safety and conformity of its products. To this end, in the respective countries and regions, current legal statutes on product integrity must be observed, also the justifiable safety expectations of the general public must be fulfilled. With products conspicuously “unsafe“ in the market, or whose conformity to legal requirements is questionable, those responsible are obliged to initiate the necessary actions. Part of this includes a period line walk or audit of your Product Safety and Conformity risks.

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