Posted to News on 24th Jul 2026, 09:00
Essentra Components achieves global automotive accreditation for Kidlington facility
Essentra Components, the global manufacturer and distributor of essential industrial components, has announced that its head office, Kidlington, Oxford, UK, has achieved IATF 16949:2016 certification, the internationally recognised quality management standard for the automotive industry.
Developed by the International Automotive Task Force - a body whose membership includes BMW, Ford, General Motors, Stellantis, Renault and Volkswagen - IATF 16949:2016 builds on the foundations of ISO 9001 with automotive-specific requirements covering defect prevention, process consistency, risk management, and continuous improvement.
Certification demands extensive upfront process documentation, rigorous internal auditing, and a third-party assessment conducted by an IATF-recognised certification body. For leading automotive OEMs and Tier 1 and 2 suppliers, the accreditation is central to partnerships with component manufacturers.
The accreditation follows a year of sustained work by Essentra's Kidlington team, implementing robust processes and systems, stronger cross-functional collaboration, and commitment to continuous improvement across the site's operations. The result is a quality management framework built to meet the demanding standards of automotive supply chains.
For Essentra's automotive customers, the certification provides assurance that the Kidlington facility operates to the highest standards of quality control - from process design and material traceability through to final delivery. In a sector where the consequences of component failure can cascade throughout an entire production line, that level of assurance carries real weight.
Chris Butler, Operations Director at Essentra's Kidlington facility, said: "Achieving this accreditation is a proud moment for the Kidlington team, and one that reflects a significant amount of hard work and dedication. This standard asks a great deal of your systems, your processes, and your people, and reaching it is a clear demonstration of the quality culture we have built here. For our automotive customers, it is a statement of confidence: that when they work with us, they are working with a supplier whose commitment to quality is independently verified to the highest international standard."
