association comment
Standards matter S
AMDEA executive Sian Lewis highlights the importance of standards when it comes to legislation compliance
ometimes it seems as if policy makers are always wanting to revise or add new laws to govern even more aspects
of the domestic appliance industry. Older colleagues reminisce about the golden days when it was really only safety and certain performance aspects that were regulated. More recently, environmental aspects
have become increasingly important, with pressure to find ways to reduce our impact on the planet. We now have laws to control hazardous chemicals, energy efficiency, and treatment of waste electrical and electronic equipment, to name but a few. But how does a manufacturer know, and
prove to the authorities, that their products actually comply with all this legislation? One way of doing this is by testing to officially
agreed standards. For certain legislation proven compliance with a relevant standard is deemed to demonstrate compliance. AMDEA has a technical team who are
very active in standards work and AMDEA representatives chair various committees and working groups at UK level and beyond.
The UK’s national standards body is the
BSI (British Standards Institution) which has around 10,000 committee members working on standards development and revision. The BSI began life as the British Electrotechnical Committee in 1905 and was a founder member of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). CENELEC is the European Committee
for Electrotechnical Standardisation and is designated as one of the three official European Standards Organisations (the other two being CEN, the European Committee for Standardisation, and ETSI, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute). CENELEC members are the national
electrotechnical committees of European countries plus 13 affiliate members from Eastern Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle-East. There is also the International Organisation
for Standardisation (ISO) which is responsible for non-electrotechnical products, and AMDEA is involved with their environmental standards. ISO, founded in 1926 (under a different name), is now an association of
Getting smart T
his year’s retra annual industry conference theme is the Smart Connection, embracing not only
smart home and connected technologies but also connecting the many sectors of our industry. Retail, manufacturing, service and installation will come together under one roof to discuss the topics that are affecting our industry as a whole. It is this joined up thinking, this Smart Connection, which will underpin this year’s conference exhibition area, the speakers and the discussion panels. The service sector will have strong
representation at this year’s event, addressing the growing number of issues that affect all parts of our industry. Smarter products are bringing new challenges in this area, from more complex diagnosis to understanding who is ultimately responsible for a fault. Hardware manufacturers, software creators or service providers? How do we as an industry address these issues, what training is required and what commercial opportunities are there for service businesses?
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national standards bodies from 163 countries. AMDEA is also involved in CISPR, the International Special Committee on Radio Interference. Standards are developed by technical committees of experts who may be joined by representatives of government agencies, testing laboratories, consumer associations, industry groups, non-governmental organisations, voluntary groups and academics. Modern domestic appliances are made
for the international market so it helps if standards are global too. This is particularly true for safety standards but environmental aspects such as greenhouse gases or dangerous chemicals also affect everyone in similar ways around the world. So there is a point at which it makes life easier for everyone if all the national standards bodies can agree on the same requirements! • AMDEA is the UK trade association for
manufacturers of large and small domestic appliances. It has 42 member companies who between them manufacture over 100 brands
Retra chief executive Howard Saycell looks ahead to the annual retra industry conference on October 11
Once again our line-up of speakers and panel discussions brings a vast wealth of knowledge and experience to this one-day event. The keynote will be provided by industry veteran Andy Griffiths, sharing his thoughts for the future based on his background at Sharp, Sony, Samsung and now GDHA. Hughes Smart Home general manager Ashley Shorey-Mills will provide an insight into the connected home opportunity, and Nick Simon at GfK will share key market data from across the industry, along with predictions for the season ahead. The ever-popular interactive voting buttons
return to this year’s conference, allowing delegates to vote on key debate topics and on questions posed by the event host, Declan Curry. The combined results are shown in real time, giving a very accurate representation of the mood and direction of industry attendees. The key retail and manufacture panel
debates have this year been enhanced with a wide range of retail panellists and senior service professionals joining the manufacturer session. Once again this is a truly open industry
forum and we encourage retailers to ask questions that are important to their business, no matter how difficult. The panel discussions have provided a lively and often animated debate in previous years and, with the challenges now facing independent retailers, this year will be no exception. Retra member retailers can win one of 50 free
tickets to the annual retra industry conference 2016, including the gala dinner. Simply send us your questions for the retail and/or manufacturer and service panel debates right now, and you will be entered into the prize draw. Winners will be notified on September 9. Delegate passes to the retra annual industry conference 2016, including gala dinner, cost £275+VAT. To send us your panel questions and
entry into the draw, bookings or any further information on the retra annual industry conference 2016, please contact Pat Sheldrake on
pat.sheldrake@
retra.co.uk.
July/August 2016
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