| Regulatory Compliance |
20% |
The design should be assessed against the regulations applicable to the destination market, such as FMVSS No. 202a, UN Regulation No. 25, UN Regulation No. 17, or equivalent national requirements. |
Current test reports, certification records, technical drawings, regulatory matrix, and documented change history. |
Independent laboratory testing, sample verification, and review of traceable test methods and equipment calibration. |
Product rejection, customs delays, vehicle homologation failure, recalls, or legal exposure. |
| Supplier Quality Management System |
15% |
An established ISO 9001 system is a basic indicator of controlled processes. For automotive programs, IATF 16949 certification or equivalent customer-specific controls is generally preferred. |
Valid certificates, recent audit reports, corrective-action records, process maps, work instructions, and management-review records. |
Document review, on-site process audit, layered process audits, and verification that corrective actions are closed effectively. |
Uncontrolled process variation, weak corrective action, and inconsistent production between lots. |
| Structural Performance |
15% |
The headrest, posts, supports, locking system, and attachment points should meet the specified static, dynamic, strength, energy-absorption, and displacement requirements for the intended application. |
Design-FMEA, engineering drawings with tolerances, material specifications, validation plans, and laboratory test results. |
Destructive and non-destructive testing, fixture validation, load-cell verification, and periodic revalidation after design changes. |
Premature failure, excessive movement, occupant injury risk, and costly field corrective action. |
| Materials and Flammability |
10% |
Foam, fabric, leather, plastic, metal, adhesives, and coatings should match the approved bill of materials. Interior components may require compliance with FMVSS No. 302 or the relevant local flammability rule. |
Material certificates, supplier declarations, Safety Data Sheets, restricted-substance declarations, and approved color or texture standards. |
Incoming material inspection, identity testing, flammability testing, density checks, hardness checks, and batch traceability. |
Material substitution, odor or appearance complaints, flammability nonconformance, and shortened service life. |
| Dimensional Accuracy and Fit |
10% |
Critical dimensions, post spacing, insertion depth, locking positions, surface profile, gap limits, and interface geometry must conform to the approved drawing and vehicle-seat interface. |
GD&T drawings, first-article inspection reports, control plans, gauge lists, and master samples. |
CMM or calibrated gauge measurement, go/no-go fixtures, 100% checks for critical locking features, and capability studies. |
Poor fit, rattling, difficult adjustment, assembly-line stoppages, and customer complaints. |
| Process Capability and Statistical Control |
10% |
Critical-to-quality characteristics should be identified in the control plan. A common automotive benchmark is Cpk ≥ 1.33 for stable critical processes, unless the customer specification requires another value. |
Process capability studies, SPC charts, control plans, reaction plans, and records of nonconforming product. |
Review of statistical data, audit of sampling frequency, and confirmation that out-of-control conditions trigger documented containment. |
Hidden variation, rising defect rates, unstable output, and unreliable delivery quality. |
| Incoming, In-Process, and Final Inspection |
8% |
Inspection should cover incoming materials, foam molding or cutting, frame and post assembly, upholstery, adjustment functions, appearance, packaging, and final release. |
Inspection standards, sampling plans, defect catalogues, inspection records, and quarantine procedures. |
AQL-based visual inspection where appropriate, functional testing, torque checks, fit checks, and final audit sampling. |
Defects may pass undetected into export shipments, increasing sorting and return costs. |
| Traceability and Change Control |
5% |
Each production lot should be traceable to raw materials, production date, work center, operators or equipment, inspection results, and shipment records. |
Lot-coding procedure, ERP or production records, approved supplier list, engineering-change notices, and deviation approvals. |
Traceability exercise from finished product back to material batch and forward to customer shipment. |
Large-scale containment, inability to identify affected lots, and ineffective recall management. |
| Environmental and Durability Testing |
4% |
Validation should reflect the destination climate and service conditions, including temperature cycling, humidity, UV exposure, abrasion, odor, corrosion, and repeated adjustment cycles where applicable. |
Design-validation plan, durability test specifications, environmental chamber records, and failure-analysis reports. |
Pre-production validation, periodic audit testing, and comparison of tested samples with production-intent parts. |
Cracking, fading, odor, corrosion, foam degradation, or loss of adjustment function in service. |
| Capacity, Logistics, and Business Continuity |
3% |
The supplier should demonstrate sufficient molding, sewing, assembly, testing, storage, and packaging capacity, with contingency plans for equipment failure, material shortages, and transport disruption. |
Capacity calculation, production loading, lead-time history, inventory policy, disaster-recovery plan, and logistics performance data. |
Capacity audit, trial order, on-time-delivery review, packaging validation, and dual-source risk assessment. |
Late deliveries, expedited freight, production interruption, and dependence on a single process or material source. |
