Product & process design inputs (IATF only)
Plain-language summary
IATF specifies the input lists: for product design — requirements from contract review, targets for quality/life/reliability/cost, customer make/buy intent, lessons learned; for process design — product outputs, capacity targets, error-proofing methods, and experience from previous developments.
What the clause is really asking
Both design streams get explicit minimum inputs, all traceable in the project file. The thread from contract review through design targets to process capability targets must be visible.
What auditors look for
Auditors verify the listed inputs are present for a sampled project: product targets (incl. cost and reliability), customer requirements flowdown, and on the process side capacity assumptions and planned error-proofing identified as inputs (not afterthoughts).
Typical evidence
Design input records showing the IATF-listed items; target sheets; error-proofing input lists; lessons-learned usage evidence.
How to comply — recommendations
Turn each IATF input list into the headings of your design input form — then completeness is structural, not dependent on memory.
Common nonconformities
Cost/reliability targets absent; error-proofing first considered after launch failures; lessons-learned file exists but unused.
Related clauses
Builds on ISO 9001 8.3.3
In the book
Chapter 8 — Operation — Where the Product Is Won or Lost 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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