Symbol trains DAF Trucks in ‘internal auditing IATF’

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“DAF Trucks is one of the few OEMs that is IATF 16949 certified, and we require suppliers to be certified as well. This means that we as a Supplier Quality department have to know the IATF standard down to the smallest detail. It is essential that we have qualified people in-house. In addition, our managers must have a perfect mastery of auditing suppliers. Symbol has been a professional and reliable partner for us for years, so there was no question that they would train us in this,” says Ruud Swanink, team manager Supplier Quality Assurance.

Thirty Supplier Quality Managers trained

Symbol has since trained more than thirty Supplier Quality Managers, divided into two tracks. Says Swanink, “The nice thing about Symbol is that they made the training fit the exact needs of our organization. The first track, which started over a year ago, we prepared thoroughly together. We devised the training program, determined the knowledge level of the participants, and sent a survey to the participants to gather their input. The level of knowledge of our managers was already high, and the program took that into account. In addition, we work with proprietary audit tools and those tools are integrated into the training. This created a six-day custom-made training course, which we also used during the second course. The only difference between the first and second tracks was the level of knowledge – the second track took into account the less experienced participants.”

Theory, but especially a lot of practice

“During both trajectories, the first days of training revolved around theory,” Swanink continued. “The IATF standard is not exciting material, in fact it is quite boring. Symbol handled that very well by also imparting knowledge in a playful way. For example, through role-plays, where different audit situations were practiced. A quiz was also organized, in which the group was divided into two teams. The teams had to ask each other questions about the standard. Besides paying attention to the IATF standard, there was also attention to tools such as FMEA, APQP and PPAP. And of course, the actual auditing was discussed in detail. How do you prepare for an audit? How do you make sure the right people are present? How do you make sure you have a good agenda? And how do you provide a clear summary after the audit? Participants learned a lot about structured auditing during the training. And on the last day, participants were able to share their experiences with audits and audit tools with each other and with the trainer, learning from each other.”

Relevant real-life examples

Practical cases were shared at the end of each training day, to end the day lightheartedly. “Our trainer knew the standard from the first letter to the last dot, but also worked in practice for many years. For example, we also used him as an external auditor before. As a result, he knew exactly which examples would appeal, which would be relevant. For the participants, those examples were incredibly valuable.” Consequently, the results of both trajectories do not lie. “Of course the most important result is that we have certified auditors in house. But I also really notice that managers have mastered the IATF standard much better, for example because shortcomings at suppliers are detected much faster. Moreover, they are stronger and more effective in their approach to suppliers. And that’s what we do it for.”