Emphatic proof of Audi Toolmaking Division's supreme quality: certification to the new European VDA Standard 6.4.


Audi's Toolmaking Division is now the first of its kind in the world to have received quality certification from the Southern Germany section of the Technical Inspection Association (TÜV Süddeutschland) in accordance with the new Guideline 6.4 drawn up by the Federation of German Automotive Industries (VDA). This guideline serves to evaluate quality systems of manufacturers of production facilities for the automotive industry. This regulatory framework, which only took effect in February 1999, is based on the DIN EN ISO 9000 series of standards which has been applied in previous audits at the Audi Toolmaking Division. The VDA Guideline 6.4, the first of its kind to have worldwide validity, makes much more stringent quality demands of the companies being assessed.

The working processes within the Audi Toolmaking Division at both the Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm sites were examined and assessed by two accredited auditors from TÜV Süddeutschland on the basis of a list of 125 questions, with the audit covering every area from the development and engineering of tools to their assembly and commissioning. "This certificate confirms the customer focus of our procedures and the quality of our products," remarked Michael Kaltenecker, Head of the Toolmaking Division at AUDI AG.

The Toolmaking Division, which has operated as a separate cost centre since its creation in 1993, recorded sales of DM 295 million in the 1998 business year. Audi's Toolmaking Division supplies press dies tools and bodyshell production facilities for body panels and assembly groups to Audi itself, other group companies and car manufacturers outside the group. Construction work on a new toolmaking plant in Ingolstadt has been in progress since December 1997, representing an investment of around DM 120 million; it is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2000. The division employs around 1,100 people at both sites (Ingolstadt: 750, Neckarsulm: 350).


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