DAC History

The original owner started Detroit Automotive Certification (DAC) in 1995, and audited to the QS-9000 standard. The concepts for DAC Audit Services was the fact that many automotive companies were unhappy with the accredited registrar choices they had made. Many registrars treated clients as subjects instead of clients. Registrars, and auditors, at the time, thought they were well above the company’s they were registering. Attitude was definitely an issue to the customer base.

Instead of guiding them through the minefields of obtaining registration, Registrars decided companies did not need to know what they were purchasing. No one explained the registration requirements such as the reasoning for number of audit days.   They just would send auditors in and police the company, find as many CARs as possible, then do a follow up audit. This led to many bruised quality staffing and dissatisfied companies, as well as unhappy auditors.

Many times auditors would be replaced routinely. Consequently, companies would get conflicting findings between various auditors. This did not sit well with the clients. Many Registrars would not listen to the company’s complaints.

The cost for audits were not structured. There were many “fees”. Many companies never knew what they were going to pay from year to year. There were additional “surprise” audits due to findings.