Control plan (IATF only)
Plain-language summary
The control plan is the production rulebook: for every part (or family), at every phase — prototype, pre-launch, production — what is controlled, how, how often, by whom, and what happens when it goes wrong.
What the clause is really asking
Develop control plans at the required levels covering the listed minimum content: controls from the PFMEA, special characteristics with their methods, monitoring/measurement systems, reaction plans, customer approval where required — and review/update them after any relevant change (process, FMEA, MSA findings, customer issues).
What auditors look for
Auditors stand at a station with the control plan: is what it says happening, at the stated frequency, recorded as stated? Then coherence: PFMEA-to-control-plan alignment, SCs present, reaction plans real. Then currency: updated after that recent change/complaint?
Typical evidence
Control plans per phase; PFMEA correlation; revision history showing updates after changes/complaints; reaction plan evidence.
How to comply — recommendations
Treat the control plan as the living master document of production. One rule keeps it honest: every customer complaint and every process change ends with the question 'does the control plan change?' — answered in writing on the CAR/ECN.
Common nonconformities
Control plan describing checks nobody performs; frequencies on paper that production ignores; not updated after complaints; SCs missing; no pre-launch level used at launch.
Related clauses
Builds on ISO 9001 8.5.1 (see Example row); links IATF 8.3.3.3, 8.3.5.2
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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