Companies and manufacturers in the automotive industry are faced with a dynamic environment characterized by increasingly complex products, new technologies and challenges regarding product quality as well as conformity. Cutting-edge technologies must be developed with increasing speed in individual projects. To successfully collaborate when working on new projects, clear and precise communication about the requirements and objectives of the products being developed is key. The present VDA volume is a completely revised edition and is the result of major revisions and updates in terms of content. In addition to experiences from the past several years, new features such as agile working methods have been considered (among other things). New requirements regarding electronics, software applications, product compliance, functional safety, cybersecurity and other aspects have been incorporated and/or updated according to the current state of technology. Furthermore, the present volume was aligned with other VDA volumes and the regulatory requirements set out in ISO 9001 and IATF 16949.

This volume describes a new, standardized structure for a Component Requirements Specification (CRS) agreed upon between a customer (the recipient of a delivery, regardless of its level in the supply chain) and their resource provider (supplier). Scopes of supply and services are the contractually agreed new parts/products (all categories, e.g. hardware, services, software, and materials to be processed), including their associated development and production processes (see VDA Volume Maturity Level Assurance for New Parts). A standardized process for the development of requirement specifications is not part of the current VDA volume.

The objective of the procedure and structure described in this volume is to obtain an unambiguous and comprehensive profile of requirements for the product, and therefore for its production process. This is to be achieved by systematically considering all product-related requirements.