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Approvals Engineering - Contents
- What is approvals management?
- What we offer
- Pricing
What is approvals management?
In many regions products are subject to requirements imposed on the manufacturer, or his representative, by law or a contract. The EU, for example, has a number of documents called directives which may apply to a product. In some cases, more then one EU directive may apply to a product, e.g. an electronic toy is subject to the toy directive, the generic EMC directive, WEEE and RoHS directives. Depending on the nature of the toy, it may also be in the scope of other directives such as the LVD or machinery directives.
Approvals management is concerned with meeting all relevant technical requirements in a cost effective way. Once all necessary approvals are obtained, any changes to these requirements have to be tracked to ensure that the approvals are kept current. This is also part of our approvals management service.
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What we offer
Any one of the aspects of approvals management can be purchased or a long-term, tailor-made service plan encompassing multiple facets can be negotiated. The various steps of approvals management are normally:
| Product Phase |
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| Pre-design |
- Deciding that the product may have to comply with technical requirements imposed by law or a contract . For example, a product placed on the European market is almost certainly subject to at least one of the over 20 CE-marking directives.
- Researching which legal or contractual frameworks are applicable. If an electronic product is marketed in the EU, then it is likely to be subject to an EMC directive and its regime. In China, it may be have to comply with the provisions for the CCC mark. In the US, the UL framework is available.
- Investigating what type of requirements has to be met. In the case of CE-marking directives for instance, apart from technical requirements, production control requirements also have to be considered.
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| Design |
- Exploring how to meet applicable requirements. If one has to comply with certain EU directives then it must be determined if relevant standards are available or if one has to comply by choosing another route.
- Determining what tests the product needs to pass in order to demonstrate compliance with the identified requirements. For instance, a product may have to meet a harmonised EN standard to show compliance with certain technical requirements of an EU directive.
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| Design verification |
- Market research for a cost effective test solution. A manufacturer may investigate which test house offers the necessary service or if it is more cost effective to have their own test facility.
- Submitting test sample with necessary paperwork.
- If necessary, modifying product design.
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| Production |
- If appropriate, establishing production control procedures.
- Holding appropriate certificates or a declaration of conformance. Certain EU directives require the manufacturer to issue a declaration of conformance.
- Determining if and what documentation needs to be kept at the disposal of the relevant authorities.
- Ensuring that the certificates or declarations of conformance are kept up-to-date. This may involve retesting if the product is changed or if a standard used has changed and includes more stringent requirements.
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Pricing
Fees vary depending on complexity and size of project. Please contact our office for further details.
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Martin Braun Consulting