Something big is coming your way and it has a big name: "Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 14, 2023 on machinery, and repealing Directive 2006/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Directive 73/361/EEC".
The - in short - new Machinery Regulation 2023/1230 saw the light of day in the EU in 2023 and is intended to regulate the placing of machinery on the European market from January 20, 2027. It is intended to standardize procedures and take into account the numerous technological developments of recent years.
It is also intended to replace the outdated Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC, which, as a
Now the question arises: does the new Machinery Directive also affect you and your company? Do you build
If so, then your company also falls under the scope of application.
Even if companies are not yet fully digitalized or even automated, digitalization has left its mark on production in recent years:
The requirements for health and safety protection have grown as a result and are to be regulated in a binding manner with the new regulation. Machine safety should be guaranteed despite new technologies and, more importantly, users should be given the assurance that they can trust even the most modern networked machines without restriction.
The new Machinery Directive also aims to optimize processes and reduce administrative work and costs for manufacturers. Administrative processes are to be simplified by increasing the use of digital formats. We will come to this in more detail later.
In contrast to the previous Machinery Directive, the new EU Machinery Regulation 2023/1230 applies to all EU countries to the same extent. When it comes into force in January 2027, the regulation will be binding for the entire EU. This goes hand in hand with efforts to establish a standardization of European safety requirements for machinery and to establish processes that are compliant with the EU's New Legislative Framework (NLF). (see info box)
New rules, new obligations. And these apply both to manufacturers and to other parties involved in the sale of machinery or associated parts. In technical jargon, this is generally referred to as economic operators. The following table shows which economic operator must fulfill which obligations.
The approach of regulating the introduction of machinery through legal requirements is not new. The Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC has been applicable within the EU since 2009. However, it is only a directive and not a regulation and is therefore freer to implement.
The Machinery Directive focuses primarily on the manufacturers of machinery and defines requirements for safety in the interaction between man and machine. These include
A word in advance: We do not want to go through the 100-page legal text in detail here and discuss every change. In this article, we are concerned with the changes for manufacturers of machinery and associated parts.
And a second word in advance: As you have already read, the Machinery Directive 2023/1230 is to be binding in all EU countries. Unlike the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC, the regulation does not have to be transposed into national law first. It will therefore apply in its written form from January 2027. This also includes the extended scope to include software, for example.
But let's take a look at some of the details.
In future, you as a machine manufacturer will be able or required to provide your customers with all relevant instructions and documents digitally. An appropriate system can provide you with significant support.
And if you don't want to introduce stand-alone software in your company for this purpose, then we have a tip for you: our flexible worker assistance system weasl not only supports your employees in assembly, it can also relieve you of tasks arising from the new EU Machinery Directive. Let's take a look at two specific aspects.