FACTORY PRODUCTION CONTROL SCHEME NOW IN PLACE FOR DHF MEMBER COMPANIES

Article first published 31/07/2009

Member companies within the Door and Hardware Federation (DHF) now have assistance available to them which will enable them to comply with the latest Factory Production Control requirements, thanks to an arrangement reached between the federation and Warrington Certification Ltd.  
 
The federation, which represents all the UK’s main manufacturers, suppliers and installers of industrial and commercial door and shutters and garage doors, has come to an arrangement with Warrington Certification Ltd, the leading quality systems and certification body which is also a member of the DHF. Warrington Certification Ltd will be working with the DHF to inspect and review issues relating to Factory Production Control (FPC) systems set up especially for the needs of the industrial door industry by DHF members.  
 
The arrangement will assist DHF member companies who need to CE mark their products under the Construction Products Directive (CPD) and its likely replacement – the Construction Products Regulation. This will give industrial door specifiers and end users the confidence that by choosing doors and shutters from DHF member companies they will be receiving correctly CE marked products, so ensuring they are complying with legislation.  
 
CE marking of construction products is set to become compulsory, probably by as soon as 2012. After that date, all industrial door manufacturers will be required by law to test their products to the standard and to have a documented factory production control system in place.  
 
Under the arrangement between DHF and Warrington Certification Ltd a package has been prepared for DHF members to help them either implement an FPC system, or ensure an existing system is up-to-date and fully compliant with current legislation. The package comprises a full summary of all that is needed for a FPC system and a simple questionnaire to enable existing procedures to be checked.  
 
DHF companies which already have ISO 9001:2008 certification in place are most likely to already meet FPC standards although ISO 9001 certification is not essential.  
 
Under the arrangement an independent inspector from Warrington Certification Ltd will visit DHF member companies to assess their FPC system and identify any issues thereby helping them to meet FPC requirements.  
 
DHF secretary Michael Skelding said: “With compulsory CE marking of construction products looming, companies are worrying that keeping their FPC schemes up to date is a difficult, time consuming and costly task. Our FPC assistance scheme is designed to demystify the FPC process.  
 
“As well as enabling our members to comply with CE mark legislation, effective factory production control helps improve business management, develop greater production efficiency and identify areas for cost saving and improvement. Above all, it helps companies produce better quality products, and that will give them the competitive edge over non DHF member companies in the industrial door sector.”  

Article ID No.: 184