Excellent review Peter! I would add one thought for you to comment on.
My company routinely ships its products in pieces to be assembled at a customer site due to size and complexity. We toyed with the idea of adding the phrase "Part of a CE compliant system" on the shipping containers. Comments (good & bad!)? Charles Grasso EMC Engineer StorageTek Tel:(303)673-2908 Fax(303)661-7115 ---------- From: Peter E. Perkins[SMTP:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, April 14, 1997 1:37 PM To: PSNetwork Subject: CE marking components... a breath of fresh air... PSNet Editorial, Educate Your Customers from Test & Measurement World/April, 1997 by Martin Rowe, Technical Editor A reader who works for a component manufacturer told me that his customers want his company to place the CE marking on its components. (The CE marking indicates compliance with European EMC and Low-Voltage Directives.) The reader says his customers think that designing products with CE-marked components will ensure that the products will meet the standards. He also claims that should a product fail compliance testing, the customer can blame failure on any non-CE marked components. I'd like to inform that customer that components can't officially carry the CE marking. The CE marking applies to systems and subsystems available for sale to end users. Components are excluded. Manufacturers shouldn't place all blame for testing failures on component manufacturers. Even if the components in a design have excellent EMC and safety characteristics, a product can still fail compliance testing. Components can't compensate for a poor board layout, lack of proper shielding, and improper grounding. Another problem with putting a CE mark on components is that the end user might assume that a board or system filled with CE-marked components meets the requirements for the marking. Therefore, installing CE-marked components in your product can be deceptive. So what should this company do? Should the company place the CE marking on its components, adhering to the belief in "Rule number one: the customer is always right. Rule number two:see rule number one?" Should the company lose sales because it insists in not lulling customers into a false sense of security? Perhaps the company should try to educate its customers. The component manufacturer can explain to its customers why components can't carry the CE mark. The company should encourage its customers to design for EMC; its customers must understand that the burden for EMC and safety compliance fall on them. The trick is to make it clear that the company isn't just trying to pass the buck to the customer. If your company busy components to build into its products, you shouldn't insist that those components have the CE marking, and none should. If your marketing department or upper management thinks that having products loaded with the CE-marked components makes the products better, tactfully inform them that they're wrong. If you want your products to pass compliance tests, you'll have to design them with compliance in mind. - - - - - submitted by Peter E Perkins Principal Product Safety Consultant Tigard, ORe 97281-3427 +1/503/452-1201 phone/fax [email protected] email visit our website: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/peperkins - - - - -
