Customer satisfaction — supplemental (IATF only)
Plain-language summary
Customer satisfaction gets measured by hard performance, continuously: delivered part quality, customer disruptions including field returns, delivery schedule performance (and premium freight), and customer notifications on quality or delivery issues — internal indicators verified against the customer's own portal view.
What the clause is really asking
Monitor performance against the listed indicators at minimum, base satisfaction evaluation on objective evidence, and review performance through manufacturing process effectiveness/efficiency — including customer-published scorecards and online portal data where provided.
What auditors look for
Auditors compare your internal numbers to the customer portal: if the customer shows 200 PPM and your system shows 20, the gap IS the finding. Premium freight tracked? Special status notifications (e.g. customer escalation programmes) known and acted on?
Typical evidence
Indicator dashboards (PPM, OTD, disruptions, premium freight); portal extracts reconciled to internal data; escalation/special status records and exit plans.
How to comply — recommendations
Reconcile portal scorecards to internal data monthly and investigate every gap — the customer's number is the one that counts. Premium freight log with reasons feeds both this clause and your cost-of-poor-quality picture.
Common nonconformities
Internal PPM untracked or wildly differing from customer data; premium freight unrecorded; customer escalation letters not reflected anywhere in the QMS.
Related clauses
Builds on ISO 9001 9.1.2
In the book
Chapter 9 — Evaluation — Reading Your Own Instruments 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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