The National Association of Trailer Manufacturers (NATM) has been granted a Certificate of Accreditation as an inspection body in accordance with ISO 17020:2012, the international standard for the competence of inspection bodies. The accreditation is a formal third-party recognition of competence to perform specific tasks and was awarded by ANAB, the ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board.
The scope of accreditation revolves around the NATM Compliance Verification Program, which verifies that light-and medium-duty trailer manufacturers have the processes in place to build compliant trailers in accordance with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) and the Code of Federal Regulations, Transportation, Title 49, Parts 200-399, Parts 400-571 and Parts 572-999.
“I am very happy to be able to congratulate the association on achieving certification,” said Andy Gehman, MGS, Incorporated president and a Past President of NATM. “We have spent years working towards the goal of having our compliance program accredited, and it was under the leadership of Assistant Director Kendra Fritz that the National Association of Trailer Manufacturers was able to see this come to fruition.”
Accreditation to ISO 17020:2012 (and the previous revision ISO 17020:1998) was long a hope of NATM, though it only officially became a goal with an associated timeline in the fall of 2011. NATM staff, under the direction of a Quality Team, honed pre-existing management systems and created new ones in order to meet the stringent requirements of ISO 17020:2012. ANAB conducted a thorough Document Review (Dec. 2014), Planning Visit (March 2015) and finally an Accreditation Assessment (June 2015) to verify compliance. This included a review of records, policies, procedures and verbal testimonials. The assessment, a 2½-day process, also included an on-site review of an NATM Compliance Consultation.
The accreditation to ISO 17020:2012 granted by ANAB lends substantial credibility to the NATM Compliance Verification Program as it is an internationally recognized standard that ensures not only compliance with the Standard but also competence in the area being accredited.