ABOUT TL 9000

A TIA QuEST Forum member company is part of the TIA QuEST Forum and has input on developing the products of the TIA QuEST Forum, including TL 9000. A TL 9000 certified company is a user of TL 9000 and has certified one or more products to the requirements of TL 9000. A TL 9000 certified company may or may not be a TIA QuEST Forum member company. Also, a TIA QuEST Forum member company may or may not have a TL 9000 certification.

Does TIA QuEST Forum participation qualify for CEU (Continuing Education Units)?

Yes, many TIA QuEST Forum events do provide participants with CEU credits. The CEU value is printed on the back of the participant’s name badge for qualifying events, i.e. annual meeting, best practices conference. CEUSs are also awarded for participation in Working Groups and Sub-teams. A full list of activities and the number of CEUs earned for each is listed in folder named "CEUs" in the file area inside the members login.

Can non-member companies participate in TIA QuEST Forum or Working Group activities?

By prearrangement, guests can attend most TIA QuEST Forum activities. However, the participation is limited to observer status and the guest cannot vote or influence the debate.

Where can I find a list of Working Groups, active sub teams? I’m also interested in finding out team members and team leads.

TIA QuEST Forum members can find the list of Working Groups, active sub teams, and team members in the Working Group section of the TIA QuEST Forum portal.

The public can get general information and the names of the leaders through links starting on page https://tiaonline.org/what-we-do/tia-quest-forum/working-groups . Working files are not available to the public.

Do you have to join the TIA QuEST Forum to get a TL 9000 certification?

No. TL 9000 certifications and TIA QuEST Forum membership are completely independent of each other. That is, you have neither one, either one, or both.

The administrators of our registration left the company and took the passwords with them. Do we need to create a new registration?

Do not create a new registration or duplicate company account. Use the Contact Us function to tell the TL 9000 Administrator about your problem and they will assist you in gaining access to your registration.

Is it possible to get a TL 9000 certification with a product that has never been sold and has no deployment?

No.

My TL 9000 certification profile was showing on the website but now it isn’t. Why?

It could be that the certification was inactivated by your company. It could also be that the certification expiration date has passed or that you have not paid your annual usage fees for the TL 9000 Registration Management System (free to TIA QuEST Forum members).

We were recently certified to TL 9000, but our certificate does not show on the website. Why not?

Your certification body must log in at tl9000.org, select your registration, and then certify your registration on the TL 9000 website before it will show to the public.

My TL 9000 certification shows that I am certified to ISO 9001:2015. I thought I was certified to TL 9000. What’s wrong here?

The ISO designation on your certificate shows which version of ISO underlies your TL 9000 registration. At times there are two active versions of ISO and at other times only one. This designates which version of ISO is active in your TL 9000 certification.

I want to change the certification body I use to perform my TL 9000 audits. How do I do that?

Log in at tl9000.org, select TL 9000 RMS in the left menu, select the registration in the center of the screen, select ‘Edit Registration Profile’ in the top center of the screen and finally select the new certification body company in the drop down box opposite Certification Body Company Name. Note that if you have more than one TL 9000 registration then each registration must be changed to the new certification body, if you wish. Alternatively, each of your registrations can be associated with a different certification body.

When an organization decides to change the certification body (CB) for their TL 9000 certification to a different (new) CB, does the issuing (old) CB have any obligation to the organization?

CBs are required to comply with IAF MD2 2017. For TL 9000, this means the issuing CB remains responsible for the TL 9000 certification until such time that the organizations selects a new CB, identifies the new CB in its registration profile on the TL 9000 Registration Management System, and the new CB verifies and certifies the registration records in the RMS. Note that until the new CB certifies the registration records, the old CB will continue to be the CB listed on the public profile of the TL 9000 certification. Only after the new CB certifies the certification will the new CB be shown on the public profile of the TL 9000 certification.

I made changes to my registration profile, but they are not showing up on the TL 9000 certified companies list. The old information continues to be shown. What’s wrong?

There are two profiles for each registration; one is private and one is public. You can modify the private profile, which only you and your certification body can see. You cannot change the public profile, which the public can see. To make your changes to the registration profile show to the public, contact your certification body to login and approve your changes. After the changes are approved, the private profile is copied to the public profile and becomes visible.

How long does a TL 9000 audit take?

Audit days are dependent on the scope of certification and number of employees covered under the certification. You can get guidance from the TL 9000 Auditor Time document, which became valid on January 1, 2010.

What are NACE codes?

NACE codes characterize your business and are used to qualify auditors. See Qualification and Experience Requirements for TL 9000 Certification Body Auditors

Where can TL 9000 users recommend new content for the handbooks?

Anyone can recommend new content for the handbooks. Select the Contact Us button on the tl9000.org web site, fill in your contact information, choose as subject TL 9000 Handbooks and enter your comment in the text box. These comments will be forwarded to the appropriate TIA QuEST Forum Working Group for consideration.

Where can I buy the TL 9000 Requirements Handbook?

The TL 9000 handbooks can be purchased online.

My certification is showing as expired but I just had my audit and the auditor approved us. Why is my certification expired?

Your certification is showing as expired because the expiry date on the certificate has passed. Your certification body must log into the system and update the dates on your certification with a new expiry date in the future for your certification to not show as expired. The day after your certification’s expiry data, the certification will show as expired. Sixty days after the expiry date the certification is removed from public view until the dates are updated by the certification body.

I get Data Submission Receipts for one of our registrations but not the other one. What’s wrong?

When a data submission is received at the MRS, it is immediately processed and, if there are no errors, a Data Submission Receipt (DSR) is produced. The DSR is sent to the Registration Management System where the associated registration records are accessed. The RMS sends a copy of the DSR to each person associated with the registration who has also been designated to receive the DSR. The designation to receive a DSR is separate for each registration. To receive a DSR for a registration, your account must be associated with the registration and the Primary Registration Administrator must have given you permission to receive the DSR.

How long does it take to get a Data Submission Receipt?

99+% of online data submissions DSRs leave the RMS within 30 seconds of submission. Delivery through the e-mail servers will delay delivery but you should receive the DSR within a minute or so. The system runs non-stop 24/7/365.

I’ve lost the DSR from the system. Can I get another copy?

Yes, you can get a copy from the system. Log in and select your registration. Under Data Submission Management select the year of the missing DSR under Data Submission History. Next select the month then the product category. On the next screen the system will list all the DSR’s for that data submission. Click on the DSR icon to start the download process.

The time on my Data Submission Receipt is in UTC. What is UTC?

The TIA QuEST Forum servers all run on Coordinated Universal Time. UTC is the modern variant of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). For the purpose of determining if a data submission is on time or late, please note that UTC is used and not the local time of the submitter.

I need to resubmit data that was wrong the first time I submitted it. How do I do that?

The procedure to re-submit data is same as the original data submission.
Login at tl9000.org, select 'Registrations' link in the left menu bar under the 'TL 9000 Menu' section, choose the required Registration then click on 'Submit Data' link found in the 'Actions' section, select the required Submission Year as Data Year and the required Submission Month as the Data Month, enter/select data in the required fields and click the 'Choose' button to enter the data online or upload the corrected data submission template.

When I resubmit data do I just resubmit that data that changed or the entire data submission?

You must submit the entire data submission. Resubmissions replace the original submission entirely so they overwrite the old data.

When do I use the Delete Data Submission function?

Use the Delete Data Submission function only when data was entered in the wrong product category. If you entered incorrect data and want to change it, use the ‘Resubmit TL 9000 Data’ function. Once the Delete Data Submission function is used, data cannot be re-entered for the deleted data.

Why does the Category Table change so often?

The Category Table is updated to accommodate new products and services. Updates are also made to more clearly define certain products and services. The industry is fast paced and many people want to be certified to TL 9000 but there is no category for their products/services. The Category Table team must update the tables frequently to accommodate them.

Where is the latest category table kept?

The Category Tables can be downloaded from page https://tl9000.org/handbooks/pct.htm

How do I go about recommending changes to the Category Table?

Go to tl9000.org and select the Contact Us button on any page. Enter your contact information, select the ‘TL 9000 Handbooks’ for the subject and then enter your comments in the text box. Your comments will be sent to Category Table sub team for consideration.

How often are new category tables released?

There is no exact schedule as this depends on the amount and type of changes; however, a new category table is typically released every six to eighteen months.

Where can TL 9000 users or TIA QuEST Forum members recommend new content for the handbooks?

How is handbook content approved by the TIA QuEST Forum?

Each section of the handbooks is the responsibility of a specific TIA QuEST Forum Working Group. The content of a section is developed and approved by the appropriate Working Group through a process that includes draft document, comments on the new document, comment review, and work group approval. The overall handbook is approved by vote of all full members of the TIA QuEST Forum.

How do I resolve handbook interpretation issues?

The TIA QuEST Forum has a team of volunteer Subject Matter Experts (SME) to handle interpretation requests. Go to tl9000.org and select the Contact Us button on any page. Enter your contact information, select the ‘TL 9000 Handbooks’ for the subject and then enter your question in the text box. Your question will be sent to the appropriate SME for an answer, which will be returned to you.

Where can I buy the TL 9000 Measurements Handbook?

The TL 9000 handbooks can be purchased online.

Are Service Level Agreements required in addition to a contract to reduce the fix response period in FRT?

Situation: The organization has a contractual agreement with the customer to provide fixes to problems within 20 days, which is shorter than the default 30 fix response period specified in TL 9000. The FRT rules permits changing the 30 day fix response period through a service level agreement (SLA). Is a separate SLA required in this case?

Answer: There is no need for a separate service level agreement. The contract requirements are the same as an SLA.

I am a contract manufacturer and I don’t get return rate information from my customers. How should I report the FR data?

A contract manufacturer is dependent on their customers supplying the data needed to report BRR, since the contract manufacturer typically does not have visibility to the return information and, unless they are directly shipping to the customer, the original ship date information. If no customers are providing the data to the organization, then the correct entry in the data is "EXEMPT". Please note there is a new requirement for any TL 9000 certified organization to provide to their suppliers the data needed for the TL 9000 measurements. Any of your customers who are TL 9000 certified must provide you with the data needed for your return rate measurements. If they do not, then they are not in compliance with the TL 9000 requirements.

For the OTD measurement, I am unable to meet a delivery date to our customer due to natural calamity. Is this still considered late or would this be an exception?

The OTD measurement has no provision for delays due to natural causes so if the delivery was made after the CRD then the delivery is late.