MQB37_AB 8.1 is a Volkswagen test specification in which the designator is tied to a vehicle platform rather than to a document family, and the version number at the end shows that the specification is maintained for the platform as it evolves. That arrangement has become common in the industry because the platforms of a large manufacturer are used for many models over many years, so the electrical architecture, the harness and the requirements of the components installed in it are managed at platform level: a component developed for the platform is assessed against the platform specification rather than against a requirement written for one model. The consequence for a supplier is that a component offered for several models of the same platform needs one qualification, while a component carried from one platform to another may need to be reassessed.