„Once tested, globally accepted“

VDE dialog: Why, in your view, is conformity assessment more than just a formal step before a product enters the market?

Raymond Puppan: Because the functioning of the global economy depends on it. Global markets exist only because stakeholders can trust that products, systems, and services are safe, compliant, and, above all, comparable. This trust does not arise on its own; it is built exclusively through credible, internationally recognized conformity assessment. Without it, there would be no international trade in complex supply chains, no scaling of technologies across borders, no investment security, and ultimately no consumer protection on a global level. In short: without conformity assessment, there is no safety; without safety, there is no trust; and without trust, there is no global market.

In practice, what exactly is assessed during a conformity assessment, and what are the most common misconceptions from your experience?

 A common misconception is that conformity assessment is merely a product test carried out at the very end, once the product has been completed. In reality, it is far more comprehensive than that. The assessment covers technical requirements such as compliance with standards and functional safety. It also evaluates processes, including development, manufacturing, and – if change management is taken into account – modification processes. Management systems are assessed as well, covering quality, competence, and responsibilities. In addition, documentation, traceability, and the systematic evaluation of risks throughout the entire product lifecycle are reviewed. Particularly in complex supply chains, the focus is increasingly shifting away from the end product itself and toward effective process control and management.

What role does conformity assessment play in supply chains and international markets in general?

In the context of global trade, conformity assessment is quite simply an enabler. It creates comparability, reduces technical barriers to trade, and supports the principle of “once tested, globally accepted.” In supply chains involving numerous stakeholders, regions, legal frameworks, and industries, conformity assessment helps harmonize technical requirements, provides planning certainty for manufacturers, and builds trust among regulators and customers alike. This is particularly true for IECQ, the IEC Quality Assessment System for Electronic Components.

What distinguishes IECQ from traditional certification or testing systems?

As a horizontal system, IECQ follows a holistic, systems-based approach. The focus is not merely on whether a product is compliant today, but on whether the underlying system is consistently capable of producing and maintaining compliance over time. It is precisely this emphasis on long-term sustainability and process capability that fundamentally sets IECQ apart from many traditional testing and certification systems.

So the focus is really on the processes and structures behind the product?

Exactly!

You just described IECQ as a horizontal system. What does that mean in practice for different industries?

“Horizontal” means that the system can be applied across industries and is not limited to a specific technology or sector. IECQ does not assess isolated products within a particular industry; rather, it evaluates organizations, processes, management systems, and supply chains, regardless of the industrial environment in which they operate. As a result, the system can be applied to a wide range of sectors, including the automotive industry, aerospace, energy, and medical technology – extending far beyond the field of electrical engineering. This is a deliberate design choice, because modern products are highly interdisciplinary and are developed within complex global value chains. From both a technical and organizational perspective, industries are becoming increasingly difficult to separate clearly from one another. IECQ addresses this reality by providing a consistent set of assessment principles, independent of the specific application area. It establishes a common evaluation framework across industries, thereby contributing to greater coherence, efficiency, and trust in international conformity assessment. As system integration and digitalization continue to advance, this cross-industry approach will become even more important.

Why has the supply chain become such a strong focus, and how is this changing conformity assessment in practice?

Experience shows that defects rarely originate in the final product itself. In most cases, they can be traced back to upstream processes, such as unclear specifications, inadequate material control, or insufficiently qualified suppliers. The growing focus on the supply chain is fundamentally changing conformity assessment. It places greater emphasis on transparency and traceability, enables earlier risk mitigation, and requires stronger involvement of sub-suppliers throughout the value chain. Overall, the approach is shifting from a largely reactive form of testing to a preventive, systems-based assessment. As a result, conformity assessment is becoming an active management tool for organizations rather than simply a means of verifying compliance.

All of this naturally plays an important role in the circular economy. To what extent is conformity assessment itself changing as a result?

This is one of the key questions for the future. If we look at Europe and its simultaneous digital and green transformation, the expectations placed on conformity assessment are changing fundamentally. The circular economy requires products to be assessed not for a single use cycle, but for multiple life cycles. This highlights a regulatory challenge: current European legislation still only addresses multiple product life cycles to a limited extent in a systematic way. While developments can be seen in areas such as ecodesign and product safety regulations, these frameworks tend to reflect successive market phases rather than a continuous life-cycle approach in the true sense of a circular economy. The first stage of a product’s creation is particularly critical: Which materials are used? Are repairability, reusability, and recyclability considered from the outset? Are there substances that could prevent future recovery or reuse? It is at this stage that the decision is effectively made whether a product can be reused in the future or will ultimately become a disposal problem. As a result, the circular economy shifts the focus of conformity assessment to the very beginning of a product’s life cycle.

So the circular economy is also changing the requirements for conformity assessment ?

Absolutely – and it significantly expands the competencies required. If we look, for example, at European product liability law, which was recently revised, we can see a clear trend: responsibility is shifting much further upstream, into development, design, and organizational processes. The key decisions affecting safety, sustainability, and liability are made during the product creation phase. For engineers, this represents a fundamental paradigm shift. Technical excellence alone is no longer sufficient. What is needed is systems thinking across the entire product life cycle, including the supply chain, digitalization, and eventual reuse. International systems such as IECQ demonstrate how this transformation can be implemented in practice through a process-oriented supply chain approach that assigns responsibility and makes risks transparent. As a result, the role of the engineer is expanding beyond purely technical considerations to encompass environmental and societal responsibility as well.

In November, the international standards community will gather in Hamburg for the IEC General Meeting. What role do you expect this topic to play there?

I expect it to be a key topic, particularly because conformity assessment and standardization are inseparably linked. Conformity assessment always involves the practical application of standards – and that is precisely where its unique value lies. It demonstrates whether standards can actually be implemented in practice and, in doing so, provides important feedback on their effectiveness. For the IEC, which brings together both standardization and conformity assessment and also enables certification through its systems, this feedback loop is essential. Standards define the requirements, while conformity assessment verifies their practical applicability. Together, they create a process of continuous improvement. This is especially relevant for the DKE, as a significant share of standardization work in the electrical engineering sector is carried out within its framework, and the quality of standards is of critical importance. Conformity assessment helps ensure that this quality is continuously maintained and further enhanced.