Valley achieves TS 16949 certification

Jan. 1, 2020

Tow and hitch manufacturer Valley, after more than 60 years in business, has earned TS 16949 certification from the Automotive Industries' Quality Management System.

Untitled DocumentTow and hitch manufacturer Valley, after more than 60 years in business, has earned TS 16949 certification from the Automotive Industries' Quality Management System. Driven by the merger of Valley's east coast automotive division with the company's towing division, headquartered in Lodi, Calif the certification qualifies Valley's design and manufacturing processes for the automotive sector and better positions the company to bid on new business opportunities. "By virtue of the certification process alone Valley has fine-tuned already stringent plant processes to the benefit of our customers in terms of elevated design quality and improved manufacturing efficiencies," says George Caplea, Valley CEO.

As the worldwide standard, developed to create one quality management system, the TS 16949 certification specifies system requirements for manufacturers in the international automotive industry. Today the certification is a key parameter in the vendor selection process, takes more than a year to complete and must be audited by a third party auditor to show compliance. The scope of the certification was on the design and manufacture of automotive towing systems and accessories as well as automotive bumpers. Requirements included continual quality process improvement, customer satisfaction measurements and reduction of overall costs. Valley has previously achieved ISO 9001:2000 and TL 9000 certification standards. The company employs more than 300 teammates and operates four distribution centers in North America. For more information, visit Valley online.