Auckland, New Zealand, November 9, 2009: Rakon Limited (NZX: RAK) has just been awarded certification to the stringent Automotive Quality Standard ISO/TS 16949 by DNV, endorsing its position as a leading supplier of Frequency Control Products to the Automotive industry.
Rakon CEO, Brent Robinson, said the certification reflected Rakon’s continued commitment to the automotive segment and maintaining the highest quality standards.
“We’ve built our business on continually improving not only the raw performance of our products, but also the quality of our products, services and systems to meet the needs of our customers. Our reputation for this quality is highly regarded throughout the crystal industry.”
Although Rakon has been supplying the Automotive industry for over ten years it only recently sought formal qualification to the standard.
"We are seeing increasing demand from the automotive segment as more GPS units are fitted into cars in the factory, and increasingly having formal qualification to 16949 is a prerequisite to winning the business."
About Rakon
Rakon is a world leader in the design and manufacture of frequency control solutions based around quartz crystals. Rakon has leading market positions in supplying crystal oscillators to the GPS, telecommunications network timing/synchronisation and aerospace markets. Headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand, Rakon is a global company with manufacturing facilities in New Zealand, Europe, India and soon in China. Sales and customer support offices are located around the world. For more information go to www.rakon.com.
About ISO/TS 16949
The global automotive industry demands the highest levels of product quality in the world. To achieve this certification, suppliers to the industry must adhere to stringent specifications laid out in the quality management standard ISO/TS 16949:2002. The standard provides harmonised quality systems within the automotive supply chain, resulting in a consistent approach. For many leading vehicle manufacturers, certification to this specification is a mandatory requirement for doing business.
About Automotive GPS Market
In 2008, the world’s total shipment of GPS navigation devices surpassed 70 million units, of which 10% were factory OEM car navigation devices. The factory OEM car navigation devices market is predicted to surpass 14 million sets by 2011, with China’s car navigation devices sales of 3m in 2008 expected to double (source:
Global-and-China-Car-Navigation-Industry-Report-2009).