The benefits for companies

Active involvement in the process of standardization is beneficial not only for large companies. Many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have the potential of offering their products and services not only in Switzerland but also in other countries. Worldwide standardization plays a significant role when it comes to lifting barriers to international trade. Therefore, SMEs that participate in drafting and shaping rules and standards will be able to significantly improve their competitiveness in international trade. This is confirmed by examples of successful Swiss companies and organizations that have opted for active involvement in standardization.

Example of a Swiss company:

Sekisui Alveo AG
Sekisui Alveo AG, a company based in Lucerne, Switzerland, is a manufacturer of foams that are used for making life vests, for example.
 
This product is subject to the requirements specified by the EU directive on personal protective equipment, which is mirrored in the Swiss federal law and ordinance on the safety of technical equipment and installations. Furthermore, it is subject to compliance with the Swiss regulations on domestic navigation. These include the basic requirements which lifesaving equipment must meet.
 
Originally, requirements differed from country to country, and it was impossible to supply a major market with one single product. Together with the SNV, Sekisui Alveo made a significant contribution to the drafting of ENEN
European Standard 395, “lifejackets and personal buoyancy aids”. Specifically, this means: the standard contains no obligation to implement the statutory provisions which Sekisui Alveo has not seen, helped to shape and approved. Owing to its committed involvement in the process of standardization, Sekisui Alveo has managed to lift its own practice to the level of an ENEN
European Standard standard, thus gaining an edge over competitors who were not involved in the process. Today, ENEN
European Standard 395 applies throughout Europe. For Sekisui Alveo, this means: one single product, one single specification, one single inspection, one single certificate, i.e. the CE label, which opens access to the entire single European market.
www.alveo.ch

SWISSMEMSWISSMEM
Swiss mechanical and electrical engineering industries
SWISSMEMSWISSMEM
Swiss mechanical and electrical engineering industries is an association that represents the Swiss mechanical-engineering, electrical-engineering and metal (MEM) industries, Switzerland’s largest export industries and most significant industrial employers.
 
“One reason for us to create standards is to avoid third-party inspection. This is illustrated by the New Approach in relation to which the use of third parties is avoided by means of application of European standards (ENs).”
 
Here are some examples:

• Machinery Directive 2006/42 CE, article 7, paragraph 2: Machinery manufactured in conformity with a harmonised standard, the references to which have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union, is assumed to comply with the essential health and safety requirements covered by such a harmonised standard.
  
  

www.swissmem.ch