QMS documentation (IATF only)
Plain-language summary
Your QMS must be documented as a quality manual (one document or a set) including scope, documented processes, their sequence and interactions, and a matrix showing where customer-specific requirements are addressed.
What the clause is really asking
ISO 9001 dropped the compulsory manual; IATF kept it. Format is free (document, set, electronic) but it must show the system's structure and — the part most miss — include or reference a CSR matrix mapping each customer requirement to where your system handles it.
What auditors look for
Auditors ask for the manual and check the four contents, then spend their time on the CSR matrix: pick a customer requirement, find it in the matrix, follow it to the process that implements it.
Typical evidence
Quality manual (any format); process interaction map; CSR-to-process matrix per automotive customer.
How to comply — recommendations
Keep the manual thin: scope, the process map, one page per process, and the CSR matrix as a living appendix updated with every CSR revision (link this to your 4.3.2 register — same data, one maintenance effort).
Common nonconformities
No CSR matrix at all (very common); manual describing a system that no longer matches reality; interactions shown nowhere.
Related clauses
Builds on ISO 9001 7.5 / links to IATF 4.3.2
In the book
Chapter 7 — Support — People, Kit and the Truth About Documents 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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Qlause provides interpretive guidance only and is not a substitute for the standard. Refer to your licensed copy of the relevant standard for the authoritative text.