ST attains new auto quality standard
ISO9001:2000 is a generic quality management standard designed to replace the older ISO9000:1994 standard. The most significant difference is a change from an approach based on management procedures to one based on organisational processes, enabling organisations to link more directly the objectives and effectiveness of their business. Among the improvements over the earlier standard is a greater emphasis on continual improvement and customer satisfaction.
ISO/TS16949 is designed to replace the existing QS9000 in defining quality system requirements for use in the automotive supply chain. ISO/TS16949 certification is necessary for automotive customers but not required for most other customers. A seven-month audit of ST sites was carried out before the ISO/TS 16949 certification.
The automotive environment is an especially hostile one for semiconductor devices, both in terms of electrical noise and operating temperatures. Depending on proximity to the engine, these can range from -40 degrees C in a Scandinavian winter to +55 degrees C in the desert. Moreover, the consequences of a component or system failure in an automobile are potentially much more severe than a similar failure in most other applications.
