The Quality Management Center (QMC) has been available to German automotive OEM's and their suppliers from August 1997. Under the leadership of Mr. Heinz-Günter Plegniere, the QMC operates within the section of the German Automotive Industry Association (VDA) run by Dr. Thomas Schlick.
The tasks performed by the QMC are as varied as the issues surrounding quality management in the automotive industry which occupy us on a daily basis. The spectrum ranges from developing systems and methods to shaping the future of quality management systems in the automotive industry.
These developments, as well as the direction of QMC, are steered by the top-level committee regarding quality matters in the German automotive industry, the QM Committee. The QM Comittee is formed by VDA members and consists of the Quality Management Directors of all the automotive OEM's, an equal number of suppliers, and the VDA represented by one of its Executive Directors.

The operational areas of the VDA-QMC are structured as follows:

• Specialist department supervising the VDA-QMC Working Groups
  The 19 Working Groups, which are engaged in a wide range of automotive quality management-related subjects, are comprised of Quality management experts delegated by the automotive OEM's and their suppliers.
• Certification Body for AutomotiveSPICE®
  VDA-QMC is responsible for the certification of ISO15504 Assessors working in the automotive domain. The VDA-QMC bundles the activities related to AutomotiveSPICE® in strong cooperation with its members from the automotive industry and other organisations and companies.
  IATF Oversight Office
• The VDA-QMC Oversight Office represents the German automotive OEM's and suppliers at the IATF.
• Training and Further Education
  The primary task of the VDA-QMC training department is to convey the output of the Working Groups to employees of the automotive industry via sector-specific QM training programs. Our main advantage lies in being able to create the content of the training seminars and have them conducted by the same VDA-QMC experts "under one roof".

method park has been successfully developing software for many years now in the field of safety-critical systems (such as for the automotive industry and in medical engineering applications). We have attained comprehensive know-how in areas where the most stringent quality and safety requirements are demanded. With this knowledge we are able to provide a complete solutions package to contribute to the success of your company.

method park is a competent partner for consulting, coaching, training, engineering services and products when it comes to software development processes. We are particularly specialized in software development where error-free operation is crucial.

The software product, "project kit", developed by method park offers you support in achieving the practical implementation of your development processes. With project kit the fulfillment of given quality standards (e.g. CMMI, SPICE, V-Model XT) and process models is assured. project kit facilitates distributed, global collaboration beyond company boundaries.

SynSpace is an international consulting company specialised in the improvement of processes for the development of software, hardware and systems. Today, SynSpace is familiar with the highest development standards in the sectors Automotive, Financial Services and Medical. Within these sectors, SynSpace belongs to the leading companies in Europe. In collaboration with our customers, SynSpace accomplishes an increase of the capability of the organisation taking into consideration constraints of cost, milestones, risks and specific safety requirements. Our guarantee of success is founded in 17 years of experience in successful method development and optimisation projects with the quality models ISO IEC 15504 (SPiCE), ISO IEC 61508 (Safety) and CMMI.

Vector Consulting Services is your partner in achieving engineering excellence. The leading SPICE expert we offer tailored SPICE-based process improvements and assessment services around the world. The consulting branch of the globally active Vector Group, we support clients from automotive, transport, aerospace, industrial systems, ICT and other domains in optimizing technical product development. Our vision: High-quality consulting with a lasting partnership with our clients. Our understanding of consulting is a results-driven implementation of hands-on solutions for your company. Our competences include ISO 15504-SPICE, Automotive-SPICE, CMMI, Six Sigma, safety (IEC-61508, etc.), security and efficiency improvement. Our experience is global, but we deliver our services locally, specific to your needs. We cover all phases of successful change: Setting objectives, supporting and driving practical implementation, and assuring sustainable results.

KUGLER MAAG CIE is an international consulting company working predominantly in the automotive, telecommunications, finance and IT industries. KUGLER MAAG CIE is specialized on systematic and sustainable improvements of systems and services.

Based on industry standards like CMMI®, SPICE (ISO IS 15504), Automotive SPICE®, Safety (IEC 61508, ISO WD 26262) we are realizing measurable improvements in budget, quality, and time. Our employees are experts with long-standing experience in the implementation of improvement programs.

For SPICE-based services we have more than 20 SPICE Assessors at your disposal. Among them are leading experts with more than 10 years of experience in hundreds of assessments, 3 SPICE Principal Assessors (iNTACS™) and well-versed trainers who have qualified over 200 assessors.

KUGLER MAAG CIE supports VDA (German Automotive Association) in the realisation of Automotive SPICE™ worldwide, is a founding member of iNTACS™ as well as a partner of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI), USA, sponsor of SEI-Europe and member of the Irish Software Engineering Research Centre, Lero.

Since 14 years ISCN moderates European task forces and networks for process improvement and systems engineering. The knowledge of the task forces is collected, analysed and archived in teamworking and knowledge management portals which created a unique European knowledge base for the industry. Also your company can benefit from collaboration with ISCN and access to this vast pool of knowledge.

ISCN is the coordinator of EuroSPI (www.eurospi.net, European Systems and Software Process Improvement and Innovation).

ISCN is the moderator of the German SOQRATES initiative (www.soqrates.de) in which cross company task forces collaborate to share knwoledge about practical implementation of SPICE.

ISCN is the technical director of the EU Certificates Association in which 16 European professions (with ISCN as prime manager of the Certified innovation manager network) are supported with learning and exam portals and Europe wide certification.

ISCN is the provider of the Capability Adviser software platform which supports SPICE assessments (Automotive, Finance, ISO 9001, etc.), online learning, and reporting. The systems are currently used by major suppliers such as ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Continental Automotive, Magna Powertrain, T-Systems, Giesecke & Devrient, etc.

ISCN is an INTACS accredited ISO 15504 Provisional Assessor (ISO 15504 and Automotive SPICE) course provider and offers an experienced team of assessors in collaboration between ISCN and Methodpark.

The SQS Group, (SQS) is the largest independent provider of software testing and quality management services in Europe. This position and its expertise stem from more than 25 years of successful consultancy operation. The company’s main competitive advantage is its strong methodology, based on decades of project experience. Over this period of time, the company has also developed extensive specialist knowledge in many vertical markets. With more than 4,000 successfully completed projects under its belt and approximately 450 customers, SQS has a strong customer base, including half of the DAX 30 companies, 30 percent of the STOXX-50 companies and 36 FTSE-100-companies. Among the clients, there are names like Barclays, BP, Credit Suisse, DaimlerChrysler, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Post, Dresdner Bank, Eurobet, Eurogate, MessageLabs, Phoenics, T-Mobile, T-Systems, or Zurich Group.

Knowledge Department is a service company in the field of software development. The services include training, software development and consulting. Knowledge Department has offices in Germany (Nuremberg and Berlin), England (London), France (Paris) and the USA.
Specific know how is offered for software quality trainings and for improving the software development process according to CMMI®, SPICE, Automotive SPICE™ and SPICE for Banking, as well as for software testing (ISTQB® Certified Tester) and Requirements Engineering (REQB® Certified Professional for Requirements Engineering).
With the in-Step® SPICE Edition for Automotive, Knowledge Department and microTOOL are jointly offering a tool that supports organizations in conducting their projects Automotive SPICE™ compliant and thus helps reaching a certain maturity level!

INTACS is a membership organization focussed on setting up qualification standards for SPICE based process assessors. This includes the qualification syllabus, Exam questionnaires and representation of process assessors on the ISO level as well as defining the processes, procedures and quality criteria for operating the scheme.

INTACS is a not-for-profit organization. The executive board is lead by its president Peter Bölter, Ludger Meyer (Siemens), Klaus Dehmel (Delphi), Gerd Grest (Draeger Medical) and Prof. Dehua Ju (ASTI China).

The INTACS qualification scheme is fully compliant to ISO 15504 (formerly known as SPICE). The accreditation and certification rules follow strictly the requirements of ISO 17024. These standards are widely used in many business sectors all over the world. Currently one of the main fields of intacs application is the automotive industry.

The scheme is implemented by accredited professional training organizations and services are carried out in more than 20 countries all over the world. Training applicants can ask for independent certification by accredited certification bodies.

We have established general partnerships with VDA-QMC (Association of Car Manufacturers, Quality Management Centre) and iSQI (International Software Quality Institute).

Development, maintenance and roll out of the qualification scheme is managed by the advisory board. Working Parties are organized to prepare the needed content. All work is provided on voluntary basis.

Serena is the leader in Application Lifecycle Management for the Enterprise. With 29 offices in 14 countries, we are the largest independent company dedicated to helping IT capitalize on its software development initiatives. More than 15,000 organizations around the globe, including 96 of the Fortune 100 and 90 of the Global 100, rely on our industry-leading ALM solutions and expertise.

For over 25 years Serena has been a leader and an innovator in the software change management industry. Today we continue to lead the industry by providing complete yet modular solutions that enable IT to seamlessly manage the enterprise software development process across global locations, platforms, and methodologies. In addition, these solutions increase and enhance collaboration and decision-making across IT. Ultimately Serena gives IT more power, at lower cost of ownership, to deliver business changing software.