A machine with no technical file is almost always discovered too late: at commissioning, at an inspection, or after something has happened. By then the invoice is paid and the supplier is hard to reach. Requirements are cheapest to set while you still have the money.
Where purchasing decides the outcome
- 1
The specification
Writing down which rules the delivery has to answer to, and what documentation is included. A line saying the machine shall be CE marked is not enough — every supplier claims that already.
- 2
Assessing the supplier
Finding out whether they have done it before. Who compiles the technical file, who signs the declaration, and can they show an example from a previous delivery.
- 3
The contract
What happens if the documentation is missing on delivery, who pays for completing it, and how payment is tied to it existing.
- 4
Accepting the delivery
Checking what can actually be checked before you sign: the declaration, the marking, instructions in the right language, and that the technical file exists.
Questions worth asking before you order
- Does the delivery follow the Machinery Directive or the Machinery Regulation? The answer depends on when it is placed on the market, not on when we order.
- Is it supplied as complete machinery or as partly completed machinery? The documentation differs, and the latter must not be CE marked.
- Who CE marks the whole if the equipment is to be connected to our existing line?
- What language are the instructions supplied in, and are they included in the price?
- What Performance Level do the safety functions have, and is the calculation documented?
Assemblies of machinery are the purchasing question that costs most
If you buy machines from several suppliers and connect them into a line, somebody becomes the manufacturer of that line. If the contract does not say who, the answer in practice is you.
Questions from purchasing
- We buy second hand. Do the same requirements apply?
- A used machine already on the EU market and sold on as it stands generally keeps its status. Import a used machine from outside the EU, however, and it counts as new to the market, at which point the requirements are the full ones.
- The supplier says the machine is CE marked. Is that enough?
- The CE mark is the supplier's own claim, not a certificate from an authority. What gives the claim substance is the declaration of conformity and the technical file behind it, and those are what you should ask for.
- Does the whole purchasing department need to take it?
- The people who buy machinery and equipment get the most out of it. The licences sit in your pool, so you can start with a few and hand out the rest once you have seen the content.
The course for buyers
Written from the buyer's perspective rather than the designer's: specification, supplier assessment, contract and acceptance.
See the courses