Process owners (IATF only)
Plain-language summary
Every QMS process needs an identified owner who understands the role and is competent to do it — names, not vague departments.
What the clause is really asking
IATF makes the process approach personal: someone accountable for each process's performance who can explain its interactions, risks and KPIs, with the competence to manage it.
What auditors look for
Auditors take the process map and ask 'who owns this?' — then interview that person: your KPIs, current performance, top risks, interfaces. Competence evidence (experience, training) for the role gets checked.
Typical evidence
Process ownership matrix; owner competence records; KPI reviews chaired by owners.
How to comply — recommendations
Name owners on the process map itself. Brief each owner on what ownership means (a one-page role card works), and let owners present their own process performance at management review — fastest way to make ownership real.
Common nonconformities
Owners on paper who do not know they are owners; an owner unable to name their process KPIs; ownerless orphan processes after a re-organisation.
Related clauses
Builds on ISO 9001 4.4 / 5.3
In the book
Chapter 5 — Leadership — The Desk Where Quality Lives treats this clause family in full: what it is really asking, what auditors look for, the evidence that satisfies, how to make it work on a real floor, and where companies stumble. This IATF requirement is covered in the Automotive Edition, in the same six blocks as the ISO clause around it.
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