Most companies first learn about VDA when it’s a requirement for a bid on a new contract for supplying parts to a European car marker, specifically German OEMS.
VDA stands for Verband der Automobilindustrie and translates to the German Association of the Automotive Industry. VDA has developed world-class standards for managing the production of world-class vehicles. Some of these include VDA 6.1, VDA 6.5, VDA 6.8, and most notably VDA 6.3, which is Process Audits for Quality Management in the Automotive Industry.
Let’s talk about selecting the right consulting firm to support you in your VDA implementation, where to start, and what the benefits are.
How Do I Choose The Right Consulting Firm?
Many companies claim to be experts or even certified providers of VDA audits, training, and consulting services but few actually are. In fact, a VDA publishes a webpage specifically for educating the market on which firms are Licensed Partners of VDA for the provision of training and certifying auditors.
While consulting on the topic of VDA is not restricted, companies should do research and check references before entrusting their processes and organization to an external firm.
ENCONA is both a Licensed Partner of VDA and a world-recognized firm for auditing and implementing VDA standards. Companies are encouraged to be selective and only contract with a firm they feel comfortable with and which is a good fit for them culturally, geographically, and technologically.
Where To Start
Struggling to take that first step? In most cases, your company has either been directed to implement VDA or you are taking the initiative so you can bid on that next contract. Or maybe you’ve heard it’s a world-class standard and you want to bring those benefits into a non-automotive environment like energy or consumer electronics.
If you are being asked by a customer or potential customer, they will either have their own supplier self-assessment based on the VDA 6.3 P1 Potential Analysis or ask you to have a 3rd party consultant come in and perform a P1.
The P1 usually takes about 2-3 days to complete depending on the size and complexity of your organization.
Sometimes, a customer will go straight to conducting or wanting a P2-P7 or P5-P7 audit performed; this depends on in which phase of the product life cycle you are in, development or series production.
Did the P’s confuse you? In basic terms, a P1 is some of the required questions covered briefly to hit the high points. The other P’s deal with specific areas of you organization in deep depth like production or supply chain.
If, on the other hand, you are looking to implement VDA by taking the initiative, then we suggest conducting a full P2-P7 (basically covering everything under your roof) Gap assessment. This is where a firm like ENCONA would come on-site for a minimum of 3-5 days depending again on the size and complexity of the organization and perform a full audit.
The result of this is you will have in-hand a score of A, B, or C classification which tells you where your organization is in terms of conformance. In addition, you will have an action plan detailing what specifically needs to be done to move your organization up in classification and conformance.
This is how to start. Beyond this, a consulting firm can help you reach your long term goals with VDA.
What Are The Benefits of Implementing VDA?
Let’s start with the classifications from the last segment: an organization which scores B or higher is considered ‘Sourceable’ to German OEMS. A classification of A demonstrates that a company is conforming and would be a low-risk and high-performing source in their supply chain. The benefits, of course, being that your organization can not only be ‘compliant’ to a customer’s expectations, but also stand out relative to your competitors. That is the external benefit.
Internally, VDA 6.3 is all about reducing risks in your processes and ensuring a reliable and repeatable set of interacting processes to produce a conforming product. So, most companies who use VDA 6.3 benefit from lower scrap, fewer rejects, and higher levels of conformance to other standards such as IATF, ISO9001, ISO14001, and even regulatory requirements.
Ready to get started? Let’s discuss how Encona can support your VDA implementation today.
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