Occupant, if it was "8f" than OK, somebody just forgot to specify the tolerance field. But "8fs" ruins everything, because "s" does not match here at all, so it leads to a conclusion it must mean something different instead. I don't think somebody would just use a part of a designation and change the rest. Since you have also seen this designation lots of times, it is widespread and must mean something.
Juergenwt, I have checked all the sources you mentioned. I found no references to "fs". I now believe the "tooth thickness error" or "tooth thickness variation" is a part of a gear quality class rating, e.g. quality class 8 tells us all about it. We take the DIN 3961 and DIN 3962 standards and find what profile error, angle error, pitch error, runout is allowed for our given gear. It is all in the class 8. What we lack is the backlash w/tolerance, which is specified by DIN 3967. But the designation does not match, and we're right where we started.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I still think "fs" means something, probably connected to backlash or cutting method (maybe reference profile), but as for now we didn't get any closer to the correct solution.
If anybody is able to help us here, your input would be highly apprecited.