After months of work, Stern Rubber Company has received certification of registration to ISO/TS 16949:2009 for rubber compounding, as well as the molding and bonding of custom rubber products.  Stern Rubber has been registered to ISO 9001:2008 for 3 years.  During their recertification this year, the quality system was expanded to meet the additional requirements of the ISO/TS 16949:2009 standard.
Stern Rubber Company was purchased in October of 2015 by Zhongli Corporation, which is a supplier of automotive parts.  Prior to the purchase, Zhongli’s products were all manufactured in China, but they wanted to expand their manufacturing into North America, to support the North American automotive market.  This registration to ISO/TS 19646:2008 is one of the first steps for the Stern Rubber facility to expand into the automotive industry.
This registration is normally good for a 3 year period, with a surveillance required every year, and then a full recertification required in 3 years.  But, the ISO/TS standard was recently updated, and the update will be released in December of 2016.  All organizations that are certified to ISO/TS 16949:2009 have until September 14, 2018 to transition to the new standard.  Stern Rubber plans to go through a surveillance audit in 2017, and then the full recertification in 2018.