11th November 2022
When working in the electronics and electrical markets, one thing that often comes up and can be an overlooked barrier to growth is that of legislation and the appropriate certification.
Many machine builders find this to be a sticking point, but one of the many benefits to engaging with PP Control & Automation and its PP+ initiative is having access to the right experts and solutions without having to do all the legwork or attempt to go it alone.
In fact, it is widely accepted that navigating the maze of approvals is one that you really don’t want to be attempting alone. PP+ Growth Module Partner, Product Approvals Ltd is a specialist consultancy and testing solutions company with an exceptional track record in guiding businesses through these exhaustive mazes, and in-turn saving manufacturers time and money.
Demands of legislation can become complex, expensive and time consuming when launching or importing a product into the European, North American, and other markets around the world. PP C&A’s alliance with Product Approvals removes that complexity.
The partnership between PP C&A and Product Approvals has been heavily directed towards supporting businesses with UL 508a certification and NFPA79 compliance, covering industrial control panels and electrical cable harnesses, as well as other country and industry-specific approval and legislation needs.
For PP C&A, the partnership increases engineering bandwidth and access to technical expertise. This area of expertise has a newfound precedence for machines builders, as their products become increasingly customised. And with more customisation, comes an increased need to understand compliance to ever-changing global legislative demands.
Product Approvals’ specialist knowledge is very complementary to PP C&A’s design for manufacture (DFM) experience and provides an obvious connection to other PP+ Growth Module Partners, particularly those in the engineering design space.
Together, these services and partnerships give adopters of the PP+ initiative the ability to access much more in-depth engineering due diligence services and help de-risk new product and process introductions.
Established in 2006, Product Approvals is a product certification specialist supporting businesses to get products on sale in target markets as soon as possible by helping them meet required legislation.
UKCA marking for the UK, CE marking for the EU, UL certification management for the USA, and CB scheme management for multi-country product launches can be complex journeys for businesses to embark on, so Product Approvals offers training, testing and several services to guide manufacturers to sure compliance.
Product Approvals’ relationship with PP C&A recently evolved as it celebrated almost a decade in collaboration. Product Approvals now assign dedicated engineers to PP C&A, so that the fastest possible support can be delivered on a full portfolio of certification services.
But there’s more to it than that. Product Approvals engineers work directly with the PP C&A production team to scope out future projects and increase the benefits of the strategic outsourcing model by helping to further reduce lead times, eliminate legislation-specific risks and open-up new global markets by advising on the right certification.
Product Approvals can assist machine builders in the following ways:
✔ Consultancy, project management and delivery of third-party safety approval marks submittals
✔ CE marking
✔ CE Verification-Check-Test
✔ Compliance Strategy Review, Compliance Management Service and global market access
✔ Industrial Control Panel approval services – assistance with approvals, and training courses
✔ CE Authorised Representative service
✔ Training
✔ Data research and collation
✔ CE Declaration of Conformity Review
✔ Electrical/electronic product assembly and test service
Even machine builders with vast experience and product lines will often lack the knowledge and accreditations required to adhere to legislations in territories other than their own. And when they make the decision to sell in new territories, they’ll need to be absolutely aware of the impact of getting it wrong and not sourcing expert advice.
Underwriters’ Laboratories, or UL is a common area where pitfalls are rife. UL tests and evaluates components and products that allows a certification mark to be placed by the manufacturer and imported to North American markets.
It’s a specialist subject that requires several considerations: from component and cable use, design compliance and paperwork, to inspection and evaluation of the imported machines.
PP C&A has been an advocate of educating machine builders on pitfalls, considerations, and the opportunities at play for many years. A UL Standards educational campaign and a free UL Standards guide in the Resource Centre would be good places to start your eduction on the topic.
As a manufacturer of machinery, how confident are you that you are meeting the legal and technical requirements of the US and North American markets? Confusion in respect to UL508A and NFPA standards can be extremely costly.
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Referring to legislation as a maze makes perfect sense when there are so many considerations to get lost in. PP+ exists to offer machine builders, start-ups, and scale-ups a map to achieving the best possible outcomes.
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