If a company wishes to sell a CE-marked product in the Single market, it must demonstrate compliance with the applicable European Union (EU) harmonisation legislation — and for most product categories, that means working with harmonised technical standards. As the legislator does not wish to specify all the technical details itself, it also refers to harmonised technical standards, which companies previously had to purchase.
Continue readingAuthor Archives: Dr. Ulrich Harmes-Liedtke
The Underutilisation Problem: When Good Laboratories Fall Short of Their Potential
Well-equipped, well-trained but underused
When visiting public quality infrastructure facilities around the world, a striking paradox emerges time and again: laboratories equipped with sophisticated instruments, staff trained through international development cooperation programmes, and test benches that sit largely quiet.
Continue readingWhen Data Creates Trust: The Quality Infrastructure Behind Codes and Digital Product Passports
The Challenge and Promise of QI Interoperability
Digital transformation is affecting all aspects of quality infrastructure (QI), introducing data-driven approaches that increase the visibility and reach of standardization, metrology, accreditation, and conformity assessment processes.
Continue readingBuilding Safe and Fair Workplaces: The Critical Role of Quality Infrastructure
Introduction
Quality infrastructure (QI) institutions, which initially focused primarily on technical and industrial sectors, now impact nearly every aspect of our lives. They influence how goods and services are produced and significantly affect the world of work, where safety, fairness, and dignity are essential. On a global scale, the International Labour Organization (ILO) sets the gold standard for workplace rights, creating norms that ensure decent working conditions for all.
Continue readingMetrology and the Panama Canal: A Historical Overview
When the Panama Canal was inaugurated in 1914, it stood as a monument to engineering prowess and the quiet, often invisible discipline of measurement. The accurate control of water levels, the precise alignment of massive lock gates, and the seamless operation of the canal’s machinery were feats that depended on precise, reliable, and consistent measurements—what we now recognize as core elements of metrology. Yet, at that time, Panama had no national metrology infrastructure of its own.
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