Stellantis PF.901106 Component Traceability

The “Stellantis PF.901106 Component Traceability” standard, developed by Stellantis, a multinational automotive manufacturing company formed by the merger of Italian-American Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the French PSA Group, aims to define the Stellantis harmonized traceability standard, which describes the methodology of the traceability process, label formats, and the list of components to be traced.

This standard focuses on managed activities and components in vehicle assembly plants, mechanical factories that assemble modules for vehicles (e.g., suspension assemblies), and battery shops. Traceability of components in mechanical factories that produce powertrain assemblies (e.g., engines, transmissions) is addressed in another standard.

This standard defines and describes all traceability rules and processes defined in previous PSA and FCA standards to ensure that components with existing labels can still be traced using existing factory production information technology systems and that the collected information is correctly transmitted to existing vehicle databases. For this purpose, three geographic areas are defined in this standard.

This standard defines and describes the methods used to develop the required component code, traceability label information and format, mandatory traceability information and record keeping information for each component family (e.g., electronic control unit electrical label data) or specific vehicle category.

This standard applies to the management of the traceability process until the vehicle leaves the assembly plant. Some procedures, such as electronic control unit traceability and battery traceability, which are defined later, are also used to collect certain component information in aftermarket activities during the modernization phase and when specific parts are replaced in vehicles.

The list of components requiring traceability is included in this standard annex (Annex A). Traceability lists are reviewed annually.

The Stellantis PF.901106 standard is designed to meet the following requirements:

• To comply with the ISO 9001 standard: Traceability is the ability to retrace the history, application, or location of an object. In the event of a product failure, traceability can be linked to the origin of materials and components, the history of the processes applied to the product, the distribution and location of the product after delivery.
• For Stellantis' automotive operations: Traceability gathers all organizational arrangements and systems used to trace an event detected in a vehicle (or unit or part) back to the source of the event and, from that source, to identify the population of vehicles (or units or parts) where the same event is likely to occur.
• To support the customer in after-sales services: Data collected through the traceability process is used to manage vehicle updates and all customer services that Stellantis provides to its customer, or the vehicle lifecycle (e.g., battery life monitoring and recycling).

Gathering information and correlating it with tools allows Stellantis to conduct data research from customer tools down to individual parts (ascending approach) or to all potential tools affected by suspected parts (descending approach). The two approaches and key aspects of the process are shown below:

• The emerging approach:
• Increased traceability makes it possible to retrace the conditions under which a part or assembly was manufactured.
• It allows one to revert to the conditions under which an anomaly arose.
• This is usually done with appropriate signage and relevant recorded data.
• The decreasing approach:
• Reduced traceability makes it possible to find productions that are linked to the conditions under which a part or assembly was made.
• It helps locate vehicles affected by a potential anomaly.
• This is accomplished using data collected at the facilities and stored in a traceability repository.

The Stellantis PF.901106 standard covers the different traceability categories possible in Stellantis facility reporting, which are listed in the table titled “Different traceability processes”:

• Single-piece traceability / vehicle
• Single-piece traceability of the assembly.
• Single-piece traceability of the component to assembly.
• Single-piece traceability - Vehicle assembly plant sequence
• Single-piece traceability - Supplier sequential
• Single-piece traceability of the electronic control unit (via diagnostic tool)
• Vehicle-based batch traceability
• Batch traceability related to assembly.
• Batch traceability using logistics data workflow.

Traceability requirements apply to all parts falling into the following categories:

• Parts that affect vehicle safety
• Parts affecting vehicle homologation
• Parts required by the relevant authority/law.
• Parts that affect campaigns (e.g., difficult to repair or expensive to replace)
• Parts and data for after-sales management (e.g., key codes or electronic control unit software)
• New components to reduce potential risk.

The Stellantis PF.901106 standard defines harmonized requirements for component traceability across the company's global operations, ensuring consistent tracking of parts and materials throughout the supply chain. This standard establishes a unified methodology for traceability in the automotive supply chain. It applies to suppliers providing manufacturing parts, components, or materials to Stellantis brands. The aim is to ensure complete traceability from raw materials to manufacturing, assembly, and on-site.

The main objectives are as follows:

• Ensuring compliance with legal requirements (e.g., emissions, safety certifications, homologation).
• To support recalls, quality investigations, and warranty analysis by enabling the rapid identification of affected batches or components.
• For law enforcement or security purposes, tracking items that pose a high risk of theft or are of high risk.

This standard covers:

• Traceability levels: Specify when and how components should be traced (e.g., full batch traceability for critical parts affecting emissions, safety, or regulatory compliance).
• Labeling and marking: This section details label formats, including mandatory data elements such as barcodes, 2D data matrices (e.g., QR codes or data matrices), human-readable text, and more.
• Part number
• Supplier code and place of manufacture
• Lot/serial number
• Production date
• Other identifiers for traceability
• Data capture and systems: Requirements for suppliers to implement systems that capture and transmit traceability data (e.g., during production, shipping, and delivery).
• Applicable components: This applies to parts requiring monitoring, such as:
• Emissions / certification / regulatory compliance.
• Products with a high risk of theft.
• Components that are safety-critical or related to homologation.
• Processes and controls: Includes guidelines for verification, documentation, and integration with quality management systems (e.g., linking to control plans, production part approval processes, and inspections).

Suppliers must comply with this standard when supplying the relevant parts.

In the automotive industry, traceability standards such as PF.901106 are critical for risk management, especially given increasing regulatory scrutiny regarding emissions, vehicle safety recalls, and cybersecurity in connected vehicles. Non-conformity can lead to supplier quality issues, corrective actions, or restricted supply.

For many years, our organization, with its competent and experienced team, has been understanding the needs of its clients, providing the advanced testing services they require, and assisting them in the establishment, implementation, and improvement of management systems. Within this framework, we also provide testing services compliant with the Stellantis PF.901106 standard.