Another section of the standard, the automotive sector's specific requirements, common to all three manufacturers, was eliminated in the most recent edition of QS-9000. The most recent edition redistributed these requirements to the other two sections. This section included a requirement that suppliers define how they will conduct and document the production part approval process. Registration doesn't guarantee quality, but it does ensure that the organization has reviewed and standardized the design of its processes and has in place methods to see that the processes meet their stated objectives. The engineering department plays a number of critical roles in the business, including communication with customers, product design, manufacturing process design, quality assurance, and test and evaluation.
Platforms are vehicle designations, such as minivan, light truck, and passenger car.
Activities in the engineering department began in June 1996. The engineering organization was changed in December 1996 to bring all functions into one department. This organization was implemented in order to align the engineering department with the customer platform organizations and to provide an ongoing management system for continuous improvement after product launch. The platform teams are responsible for obtaining the requirements from the customer platforms and communicating design criteria to the rest of the engineering department. The chief engineer has component engineers and team leaders reporting directly to him.