CE Services Help Customers Comply with Directives

Pilz Automation Safety L.P. offers a range of CE marking services to help customers exporting to Europe comply with the essential requirements of the European Union’s Machinery and other Directives. 

Machinery manufactured and imported from non EU countries or substantially modified equipment is subject to the CE marking process when put into service in the European market. By applying the CE mark, the supplier is claiming the machinery meets the essential requirements of the relevant EU Directives- mainly the Machinery Directive. Assemblies of machines such as robot cells and production lines must also be CE marked. 

The CE Marking process and the interpretation of relevant Directives and standards requires a high level of knowledge and expertise. Such a level of competence is difficult to maintain in an ever-changing regulatory environment. Fortunately, however, Pilz Automation Safety L.P. has consultants and engineers available who can assist customers with both the CE marking process and implementation of any additional safety measures that are found to be necessary to meet the essential requirements of the Directives. 

Pilz can manage the entire CE marking project on behalf of a client or provide input as needed and when called upon. Typically Pilz undertakes the following activities on behalf of clients: identification and application of the relevant Directives and standards; hazard analysis and risk assessment; creation of a safety concept and generation of related safety design; evaluation of compliance with the essential requirements and, if necessary, recommend actions required to achieve compliance; conduct all required checks, tests and measurements; compilation of the legally required documents including the technical construction file; management and archiving of documentation. In both individual machinery projects and projects involving the linking of machines (known in the Machinery Directive as complex assemblies), Pilz can optionally take overall responsibility for CE marking to the extend of signing the Declaration of Conformity.

Even with machinery already installed in the EU and that already displays the CE mark, customers still have a responsibility to ensure the safety of workplace machinery. Pilz can therefore examine such machinery onsite in the EU to ensure that the documentation and machinery meet the necessary standards and that the machine is, in fact, safe. Pilz also offers an equivalent service, based on US standards and OSHA requirements, for equipment installed in the United States.

Whatever the nature of the project, if the safety-related aspects of the machine need further work, customers have the choice of doing it themselves (provided they possess the necessary competences) or work with a third-party supplier, panel builder or system integrator. Alternatively, Pilz Can provide engineering services, as well as an extensive range of machinery safety products.