VDA 6.3 · Automotive process audit
VDA 6.3 process audit preparation for suppliers who want no surprises on audit day.
A VDA 6.3 audit follows your product from planning to the shop floor. Sterling's expert and experienced consultants assess your processes against the 2023 edition, close the gaps with your team and rehearse the audit before your customer arrives, in 60+ countries. We help our clients put it into practice and prove it.
- Fixed scope, one proposal: consulting, Effivity software, Sterling Academy access and internal auditor training, as applicable to your standard, in one proposal
- A team of expert and experienced automotive quality consultants, supporting supplier quality programmes across sectors and countries since 2003
- The Sterling Promise: 100% on-time completion, 100% success, 8,100+ client engagements. There is no VDA 6.3 certificate for a company, and Sterling issues none; your customer's or your own qualified process auditors carry out the audit
8,100+ client engagements in 60+ countries.
Why suppliers choose Sterling
What it is
What is a VDA 6.3 process audit and what is it used for?
VDA 6.3 is the process audit method of the German automotive industry, published by VDA QMC, the quality management centre of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA). Where a system audit asks whether a quality management system exists, a VDA 6.3 audit asks whether a specific product's processes are capable: whether the project was planned properly, whether development produced robust processes, and whether series production delivers parts that meet the requirement every day.
Carmakers and larger suppliers use it to evaluate a supplier before nominating it for a new part, to follow up when quality problems appear, and to review suppliers during series production. Suppliers use the same method in their own internal audit programme and to audit their sub-suppliers. The result shows where a process is strong and where it puts delivery at risk.
VDA 6.3 sits alongside IATF 16949 rather than replacing it. IATF 16949 certifies the quality management system; a VDA 6.3 audit tests how that system performs for particular products and plants.
Current edition. VDA 6.3:2023, Volume 6 Part 3 of the VDA quality management series, replaced the 2016 edition. VDA QMC also publishes sanctioned interpretations and FAQs for the 2023 edition. No newer edition has been announced; check the edition your customer's audit notice names.
Who it is for
Who needs a VDA 6.3 process audit?
No regulator requires VDA 6.3. The demand comes from the automotive supply chain itself, and suppliers usually reach us from one of four situations:
- A customer has scheduled a process audit. A carmaker or tier-one customer has announced a VDA 6.3 audit of a plant or product line, and the date is fixed. The team needs to know how the processes will score before the auditor does.
- You are quoting for a new programme. A potential analysis or pre-award audit is part of supplier selection, and the result can decide whether the business is awarded.
- A quality problem has triggered an escalation. Field issues, delivery failures or repeated complaints have led the customer to audit the process that failed. Corrective actions must stand up to a detailed follow-up.
- Your group wants one internal audit method. Plants in several countries audit processes differently, or the group wants its own suppliers audited the way its customers audit it.
Requirements
What does a VDA 6.3 process audit examine?
VDA 6.3 is organised as a questionnaire that follows a product from the first enquiry to delivery in series, applied by a qualified process auditor. The publication's full title names the four lifecycle stages it covers, and a customer's audit may take in all of them or only the ones that matter for the part concerned. The list below is a plain-language map of those stages; your preparation works through the questionnaire of the 2023 edition and your customer's specific requirements, not this summary.
- Potential analysis: an assessment of whether a new or prospective supplier is able to deliver a product, usually before an order is placed, drawing on the supplier's track record with comparable parts.
- Product and production process development: the planning that turns customer requirements into a product and process design, with the project organised and resourced, risks analysed and approvals given before the design is frozen.
- Product and production process implementation: moving the development results into production, with trials, capability evidence, purchased parts released and approval obtained before series supply begins.
- Series production: the process on the shop floor, covering incoming materials and purchased parts, people, equipment, transport and handling, the control of results, and the response when a customer reports a problem.
What evidence does a VDA 6.3 auditor look for?
Project plans with milestones that were actually held, risk analyses that changed the design, run-at-rate and capability results, control plans that match the workstation, supplier development records, reaction to scrap and rework, and complaint cases closed with root cause. The auditor follows the product, so the evidence has to connect from one stage to the next. We help your team find the thread in its own records and fill the breaks, with the records kept in Effivity.
The audit route
How do you prepare for a VDA 6.3 process audit?
There is no certification step. The route ends with an audit by your customer, or by your own qualified auditors, and the report it produces. Preparation means making the processes perform and proving it with evidence, in five stages.
- 01Confirm the audit and its scope.Which customer, which plant, which product or process, which lifecycle stages and which edition, plus any customer-specific rules attached to the audit.
- 02Gap analysis: assess your processes against the questionnaire.A Sterling consultant works through the questions with your process owners on the shop floor and in the records, and ranks the gaps by risk to the result.
- 03Close the gaps where the work happens.Improve controls, complete missing analyses, align control plans with the line, tighten control of purchased parts and train the people who will answer the auditor.
- 04Run an internal process audit.A rehearsal audit using the VDA 6.3 method, with findings raised by us first and actions closed with evidence before the customer arrives.
- 05Face the customer audit and follow up.Support during the audit, then an action plan on any findings that the customer will accept, and repeat internal audits on your customer's schedule.
Check the route before you sign. There is no VDA 6.3 certificate for an organisation, so treat any offer of one with suspicion. What exists is the auditor's personal qualification: VDA QMC trains and examines process auditors, and a qualified auditor can show a current Certified Process Auditor qualification. Ask your customer which auditor qualification it expects for internal audits, and confirm the audit edition in writing. The certification buyer's checklist
Cost
How much does VDA 6.3 process audit preparation cost?
No single price fits every plant. One product line at a supplier with a mature IATF 16949 system is a different engagement from a first customer process audit across several lines.
| Cost component | What affects it |
|---|---|
| Consulting and preparation | Products, lines and plants in scope, lifecycle stages covered, current maturity, and Design™ or Drive™ |
| The customer audit | Arranged by the customer; no certification-body fee, because there is no certificate |
| Internal resources | Time from engineering, production, purchasing and quality, and any process changes |
| Software and learning | Included: Effivity and Sterling Academy access |
| Auditor qualification | VDA QMC qualification fees for your auditors, if taken, sit outside our fee |
What moves the price
- How many products, process steps and plants the audit touches
- Whether development stages are in scope or only series production
- How close the audit date is
- The depth of your supplier base and sub-supplier controls
What a Sterling proposal always shows
- Deliverables, responsibilities, assumptions and exclusions in writing
- Third-party costs identified separately
- Effivity, training and Academy access itemised at no additional cost
- One all-inclusive proposal. No surprises, ever
Timeline
How long does VDA 6.3 preparation take?
The time depends on the starting point, the scope and the audit date. A plant with a working IATF 16949 or ISO 9001 system usually needs two to four months to prepare properly, which is an estimate rather than a rule. With less time, we tackle the highest-risk questions first and say plainly what cannot be fixed in time.
| Phase | What determines the pace |
|---|---|
| Scope and gap analysis | Access to the line, the project records and the people who own each process |
| Closing the gaps | The number of findings, engineering capacity, trials and any changes needing customer approval |
| Internal process audit | Evidence that the improved processes have run long enough to show results |
| Customer audit and follow-up | The customer's schedule and the time agreed for any action plan |
Share the audit date on the first call. A realistic plan starts from the date and the evidence, not from optimism.
Your engagement
What your VDA 6.3 engagement includes
Your engagement follows Sterling OS™. Choose one of two support levels: Design™ (guided), where your team does the work with our method and reviews, or Drive™ (managed), where our consultants carry more of it. After the customer audit, Sustain™ keeps internal process audits running; Automate™ is Effivity.
Scope confirmation and gap analysis
Against the 2023 questionnaire and your customer's requirements, ranked by risk.
Improvement plan and support
Actions, owners and dates, with a consultant on the line.
Effivity ISO & GRC software
Audits, findings and actions tracked in one place, included with the engagement at no additional cost.
Training for your people
Internal auditor training, as applicable to your standard, and preferential Sterling Academy access, including complimentary awareness training for your people as part of the engagement.
Internal process audit
A rehearsal audit using the VDA 6.3 method, with findings closed before the customer arrives.
Customer audit support
Team preparation, support on the day and an action plan on findings.
Sterling does not certify, rate or audit on behalf of your customer, and issues no VDA 6.3 certificate; the audit result belongs to the auditor who conducts it.
Often combined with
Standards organisations pair with VDA 6.3
- AIAG core toolsAutomotive core tools implementation and training: APQP, Control Plan, PPAP, FMEA, MSA and SPC applied on your live parts.
- AQAP 2110AQAP 2110 compliance for defence suppliers: what the NATO contract requirement covers, AQAP 2105 quality plans, government quality assurance and an all-inclusive proposal.
- AS9100AS9100 certification consulting for aerospace and defence suppliers: ISO 9001 plus product safety, configuration and FAI, ready for an IAQG scheme audit.
- AS9110AS9110 certification for aviation maintenance organisations: the 9110 requirements, the IAQG audit route, cost and timeline factors, and Sterling's support.
- AS9120AS9120 certification for aerospace distributors and stockists: requirements, the IAQG audit route, OASIS listing, cost and timeline factors, with Sterling.
- CMMC 2.0CMMC 2.0 certification consulting for defence contractors handling FCI and CUI: controls, SPRS score and evidence ready for self or C3PAO assessment.
Effivity · ISO and GRC software, included in every engagement
How Effivity helps you prepare for, run and follow up VDA 6.3 process audits.
Every Sterling VDA 6.3 engagement includes Effivity, the ISO and GRC automation platform built by the Sterling group and used in 50+ countries. Your consultant sets up the workspace within the agreed scope so internal process audits, findings, corrective actions, supplier evaluations, training records and documents sit together, and a customer's follow-up questions are answered from one screen. Sterling consulting clients get their Effivity subscription included with the engagement, at no additional cost.
Supplier and site information
Plant data, capabilities and certificates held in one record, ready when a customer asks for a potential analysis.
Plans, milestones and actions
Project actions with owners and due dates, and overdue items visible to management before a milestone slips.
Risks and opportunities
Risk registers linked to the product and the process, with treatments followed to closure.
Documents and change control
Control plans, work instructions and specifications with versions and approvals, so the line uses the current release.
Supplier evaluation
Supplier ratings, audits and development actions, so sub-supplier control is shown rather than described.
Nonconformity and corrective action
Scrap, rework and internal defects raised, analysed and closed with evidence that the fix held.
Customer complaints
Complaints logged with fault analysis, containment and response dates, and trends reported to management.
Internal audits and training
Process audit programmes, checklists and findings, with competence records for every auditor and operator.
What this means at the audit
A VDA 6.3 auditor follows a product through its records. When actions, analyses and supplier evaluations live in Effivity with dates and owners, your team can show the trail as it is asked for, and the follow-up on findings is tracked where the customer can be shown progress. After the audit, Sustain™ runs in the same workspace.
In your engagement
- Subscription included with the engagement, at no additional cost
- Set up by your Sterling consultant within the agreed scope
- Existing records migrated, not retyped
- Admin and user training
- Modules for QMS, EMS, OHSMS, ISMS and more
Sterling Academy · e-learning
Build process audit awareness beyond the quality department.
A VDA 6.3 auditor talks to engineers, buyers, operators and team leaders, not only to quality staff. Sterling Academy provides e-learning with practice checkpoints, a final exam and a numbered Certificate of Completion for each learner. Sterling consulting clients benefit from preferential Sterling Academy course access and special pricing through their Sterling consultant, including complimentary awareness training for their people as part of the engagement.
- Awareness for the people the auditor will interview
- Internal auditor training, as applicable to your standard, as part of the engagement
- Progress reports by department
- New starters trained as they join
Keep exploring
Explore more about VDA 6.3
Why Sterling
Why prepare for a VDA 6.3 process audit with Sterling?
A process audit rewards plants that can show their work, not plants with the thickest manuals. Sterling prepares suppliers by working in the processes the auditor will examine, so the improvements stay after the audit is over.
8,100+ client engagements in 60+ countries
Quality programmes delivered since 2003, with offices in 21 countries and one engagement team accountable across your plants.
All-inclusive proposal
Consulting, Effivity, training and Academy access in one proposal, with third-party costs shown separately. No surprises, ever.
Preparation on the shop floor
Gaps found where the product is made and closed with the people who run the process, not written into a report and left.
Expert and experienced consultants
Automotive quality consultants who know the core tools, IATF 16949 and customer audits, and who prepare your team to answer for its own processes.
The Sterling Promise
What our VDA 6.3 success guarantee means
We stay with you until the agreed VDA 6.3 preparation outcome is achieved, supporting improvement, the internal process audit and your response to the customer's findings. Clear explanations, practical delivery, included software and employee learning turn the effort into lasting capability.
The engagement identifies the scope, outcome and responsibilities. Your organisation supplies accurate information and puts the agreed controls into use. The auditor who conducts the process audit retains the result. Our commitment concerns the agreed preparation support, not a promise of every future nomination or error-free delivery.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions about VDA 6.3
Can a company be VDA 6.3 certified?
No. VDA 6.3 is an audit method, and there is no certificate for an organisation. The qualification VDA QMC offers is for individual process auditors. A company demonstrates its processes through the audit report it receives from its customer or its own qualified auditors.
What is the difference between VDA 6.3 and IATF 16949?
IATF 16949 is a certifiable quality management system standard for automotive production, audited by IATF-recognised certification bodies. VDA 6.3 is a process audit that examines how well particular products and processes perform. Many suppliers need both, and a strong IATF 16949 system makes VDA 6.3 preparation faster.
Do we need VDA 6.3 if our customers are not German carmakers?
Only if a customer asks for it or you choose it. The method is used well beyond German carmakers, and some suppliers adopt it for their own internal audits because it follows the product, but each customer's requirements decide whether it is expected of you.
Can our own staff become qualified VDA 6.3 process auditors?
Yes. VDA QMC runs a qualification course and examination for process auditors, leading to the Certified Process Auditor qualification, which is renewed through an extension procedure. Sterling's internal auditor training is separate and does not replace that qualification.
Can Sterling carry out our internal VDA 6.3 audit?
Yes, as a rehearsal or internal audit within your own programme. It gives you the findings before your customer does. It is not your customer's audit and does not replace it, and Sterling issues no rating or certificate that a customer is bound to accept.
Keep exploring
More on VDA 6.3 and related standards
More in Automotive, aerospace, rail & defence
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