Conformity assessment: Trust as a system

“Conformity assessment is not exactly a topic that comes up often in casual conversation,” admits Raymond Puppan of the DKE. However, when he is asked what fascinates him about the subject and why he is so committed to it in the Standardization Policy & Strategy department, his answer often comes as a surprise. “For me, conformity assessment is a kind of 'hidden champion' of the life we lead every day.”

What initially sounds rather dry turns out, upon closer inspection, to be a central element of modern industrial societies. Conformity assessment is one of those invisible structures that operate in the background yet are essential to ensuring that technical systems function at all. For many engineers, it appears to be a necessary step before a product can be placed on the market – a formal requirement that must be fulfilled. In reality, however, it creates the conditions that allow technical systems to be used reliably. Without this quiet layer of assurance, the use of complex technology would be far more cautious, fragmented, and ultimately less efficient.

At its core, conformity assessment refers to the demonstration that a product, process, or service complies with defined requirements. These requirements may stem from legal regulations or from standards that establish the state of the art. What is decisive is not a single test, but a structured overall process that links different levels together. This includes technical testing, risk analyses, validation procedures, and the assessment of development and manufacturing processes. In addition, there is the documentation, which must not only be complete but also transparent and auditable. It is precisely this systemic character that is often underestimated. “Many people think it is only about the finished product,” says Raymond Puppan. “In reality, we always assess the processes as well and examine how robust the overall development is.” This makes one thing clear: conformity is not a condition that is determined at a single point in time. Rather, it is the result of a controlled and reproducible approach throughout the entire development process.

The importance of these processes becomes particularly evident in an international context. Today, products are created within globally distributed value chains, and their components are developed, manufactured, and integrated across continents. Without harmonized conformity assessment procedures, every product would have to be tested separately for each target market. For this reason, Puppan describes conformity assessment as an “enabler” of global trade. This means that conformity assessment also becomes a decisive factor in the speed of innovation and the ability to scale economically.

A central principle underlying this process is comparability. Conformity assessment creates a common foundation on which manufacturers, regulators, and users around the world can operate. It reduces technical barriers to trade and enables test results to be recognized across national borders. Puppan summarizes this with a concise statement: “Without conformity assessment, there is no safety; without safety, there is no trust; and without trust, there is no global market.”

At the center of Puppan’s discussion is the IECQ system, the "IEC Quality Assessment System for Electronic Components". Originally developed within the field of electrical engineering, it has since evolved into a much broader international assessment system. IECQ represents an approach that goes beyond traditional product testing by focusing on organizations and processes as well. “IECQ follows a holistic, systems-based approach,” explains Puppan. The question is not merely whether a product is compliant at a given moment, but whether a system is capable of reliably producing and maintaining conformity over the long term.

This systems-based approach is closely linked to the horizontal character of IECQ. “Horizontal means that it can be applied across industries and is not limited to a single technology or sector,” says Puppan. Rather than assessing isolated products, IECQ evaluates organizations, processes, management systems, and supply chains. This creates an overarching assessment framework that functions independently of any specific field of application. In an industrial landscape where the boundaries between sectors are increasingly blurred, this very interoperability becomes a decisive advantage. IECQ therefore provides a common foundation for quality across technological and organizational boundaries while facilitating the integration of complex systems.

“Experience shows that defects rarely originate in the final product; they almost always arise in upstream processes,” says Puppan. This shift in perspective has far-reaching implications for conformity assessment. Materials must be specified and tested precisely, suppliers must be systematically qualified, and process parameters must be kept stable. At the same time, transparency and traceability throughout the entire supply chain are becoming increasingly important. Digital systems are making it ever easier to track components and parts throughout their entire life cycle. As a result, conformity assessment is evolving into a tool that identifies risks at an early stage and is closely integrated with the organization of quality management.

This results in a fundamental change in the nature of conformity assessment: it is becoming less reactive and increasingly preventive in its orientation. Transparency, traceability, and risk reduction are moving to the forefront. Companies are therefore required not only to optimize their processes but also to document them in a transparent and verifiable manner.

At the same time, another driver is gaining importance: the transition to a circular economy. Products are expected to be not only safe and functional but also capable of being used across multiple life cycles. “The circular economy requires products to be assessed not just for a single use cycle, but for multiple life cycles,” explains Raymond Puppan. As a result, the requirements for conformity assessment are expanding significantly. Issues such as resource efficiency, material selection, and recyclability are becoming increasingly important and must be systematically integrated into existing assessment procedures.