Safety consulting, certification and standards creation are among the core competencies of the Underwriters Laboratory. The organization supports manufacturers in vital industries, by promoting adherence to safety standards and best practices. The mission, scope, and services the UL provides impact your business and the operations of your suppliers.

Overview

The mission of the UL is stated simply, but its implications are wide-ranging. Working for a safer world is the organization’s driving purpose. The principles and values supporting this mission include the application of safety science and hazard-based safety engineering. Research, investigation, and support of environmentally safe products are also key drivers. The organization fulfills its mission by offering a wide variety of services and solutions that range from thought-leadership to certification.

Stakeholders and industries serviced by the UL include manufacturers, service companies, retailers, consumers, and regulators. The benefits of maintaining safety standards and UL certification include sustainability and socially responsible business practices. Input from stakeholders informs the direction and standards creating process, making it important to take an active interest in the organization and its strategic initiatives. If customers are suffering from manufacturing safety issues, cybersecurity risks or inefficient operations, the UL can leverage its resources to help.

Services

The spectrum of UL services helps stakeholders improve multiple facets of their operations and value chain. Industry standards, advisory guides, and best practices give businesses benchmarks for performance. However, testing and system auditing administered by UL personnel provide a high level of management assurance. UL certifications, in particular, add credibility to businesses that can market their credentials to enhance competitive advantage.

Categories of services offered include:

-Testing

-Auditing

-Certification

-Inspection

-Validation & Verification

-Advisory & Education

Engagements that involve UL personnel can be tailored to individual clients that are public or private. The net benefit to stakeholders in these engagements is hard to quantify. Safe, socially responsible manufacturing and service environments are good for society, employees and investors. Without the UL, organizations would struggle to develop their own standards of performance, without the insight and guidance of other industry experts and professionals.

Standards

The subject matter covered by UL standards includes, but are not limited to, the safety of products and the testing of systems and services. Measuring and validating performance, environmental health and safety are also important areas focused on in the standards. Given that technology and the business world are constantly evolving, standards constantly need maintenance to ensure that industry stakeholders focus on relevant best practices.

The standard setting process is formal and incorporates peer review techniques, to create final guidelines for stakeholders. There is a concerted effort to harmonize the standards to prevent duplication or the repetition of ideas and to correlate with other industry standards. Standard setting is a continual work-in-progress, and members of the UL dedicate much of their time and energy supporting, protecting and enhancing the integrity of the standards system.

Solutions

The UL offers enterprise solutions that mitigate risk and enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of operations. Cybersecurity, management systems, knowledge systems, and product supply chain intelligence are among the solutions offered. UL personnel partner with stakeholders to find the right products and services to optimize operations. This relationship is beneficial for businesses, their investors and customers. Transactional solutions and other financial products are also available, for companies looking to optimize their revenue cycle and accounting processes.

Continuous improvement solutions, revolving around concepts such as six sigma, lean, quality management systems and quality auditing are available. Quality assurance initiatives have the power to transform organizations on multiple levels, including financial and customer-related measures. Profits can go up and waste costs can decrease when quality is at the forefront of organizational objectives. Customer satisfaction can also reach new levels. UL personnel work with clients to customize quality solutions to meet clients’ needs.

To learn more about the Underwriters Laboratory and Hallmark Nameplate products and services, please contact us today. We strive to meet or exceed customer expectations through adherence to industry best practices. Knowing safety and production standards is key for maintaining product quality.

Manufacturing state-of-the-art electronics, membrane switches, and graphic overlays require precision to ensure customers receive safe, high-quality products. We place an emphasis on safety because of the impact on our customers. From product design and quality management systems to electrostatic discharge safe workstations, our attention to detail is critical for meeting end-user requirements.

ESD-Safe Facilities

We work in an electrostatic discharge free environment that prevents human body and device electrical discharges. Threats such as these can damage or destroy electrical components. If we produce defective products, we are not living up to our mission, and we are potentially causing losses for our customers. As a result, we put safety first in the design of our production techniques. Given the competitive nature of our business, protecting our stakeholders on a continual basis is a priority.

QC Inspections

Circuit boards, electrical assemblies, ball-grid arrays, and other components are sensitive to contaminants and prone to damage. Even slight defects caused by poor manufacturing processes or natural phenomenon can lead to critical failures, ultimately impacting the products utilized by end-users. These failures can cause rework, delays and product returns. That’s why visual inspections of electronics, along with other testing methodologies, are critical in our production processes. Without this basic control, defective products can slip through unnoticed and cause harm.

ISO 9001:2016 Certification

Delicate components, such as electronic devices, must meet rigid design specifications to function properly, and becoming ISO 9001:2016 certified is a means to ensure product conformance. This ISO standard and subject area focuses on quality management systems. To meet this standard, companies must demonstrate an ability to consistently manufacture products that meet customer and governmental requirements. Processes for continual improvement and the assurance of conformity to customer requirements are also needed for certification.

That’s why we embrace quality to minimize defects and provide reliable service to our customers. Quality management systems help prevent internal and external failures, mitigating the risk of liabilities and lost business for organizations. Hence the need for these systems and safety in the manufacturing process. If our manufacturing process produces defects, corrective action requests are used to address the issue, fix the root cause problem and introduce a solution that enhances product conformance.

ISO 13485:2016 Certification

Building on the assurance provided by ISO 9001, ISO 13485:2016 focuses on quality management systems in environments where medical devices are manufactured. To meet ISO 13485, organizations must show the ability to provide medical devices and related services that meet government and customer requirements, on a consistent basis. According to ISO, the primary objective of this standard is to facilitate harmonized medical device requirements, for quality systems.

Conformance to this standard and its requirements is key for our business. If government regulations change related to medical devices, then quality management systems must also be adjusted. Given the complexity and safety implications of medical devices, we strive for conformance to ISO and for continued certification. We realize that defects and poor quality cause safety issues that can impact people on a personal level. While it can be difficult to meet ISO quality management system standards, it ‘s imperative for ensuring the long-term viability of our business.

Supply Chain Reliability

As a supplier of critical components to a variety of important industries, we have a material impact on our customers and their supply chains. We have worked hard to build and maintain these relationships, giving customers the products they need to fulfill their objectives. If we do not maintain safety in our production facility, we can impact downstream customers and interrupt supply chains. We embrace safety to make sure our customers receive the products they need when they need them. This keeps our stakeholders’ setup for success and our business viable over the long run.

Taking safety measures to protect customers, employees and other important stakeholders are critical in our operations. Creating quality products that meet or exceed customer expectations ensures that external product failures are reduced to a minimum. Look to Hallmark Nameplate for the components needed to enhance production processes or consumer goods.

 

Buy a product and actuations aren’t something you often think about, but they are there. And not only that, but they have a lot to do with whatever it is you own of a mechanical variety. Further, in certain products, actuations are something that can mean a lot, but even then you probably have little more than a passing concern over them. The truth is that actuations are something that everyone should be concerned with, whether they own a product or are considering purchasing one.

What is an Actuation and How Does It Work?

Webster’s defines an actuation (actuations is the plural) as the act of putting something into motion. It could be something as simple as pressing a lever that lights a flame on a disposable lighter or as complicated as pressing a shutter release that causes a picture to be taken, or turning a key that turns your car on. Regardless of the context, an action is taken that causes motion to begin and continue until that motion is successfully completed. After all, without actuations, there is no reason to have most products.

The truth is, however, that actuations can have several concerns. For example, some people might be unaware of a concept known as planned obsolescence, which is a consideration built into nearly every product, which accounts for a period of time or activity that allows a product to wear out or break down. Otherwise, a product would never need to be replaced. Instead, manufacturers create their products with a theoretical time when that product will break down or become obsolete and need to be replaced.

Actuations can be thought of by a wide variety of terms. For example, nearly all cars are sold with a warranty period or a time limit during which a maker assures a new owner that the car will perform as expected. Unfortunately, after that period is completed, practically anything can happen, and often does. Even the conditions of actuations can differ. For example, most prospective car buyers wouldn’t buy a vehicle that had high mileage on its odometer, but how many people would think about, much less consider buying an old camera that might have exceeded its actuation period long before?

Of course, just because a product might have exceeded its expected actuation period long ago doesn’t mean that it is in danger of falling apart, but it should be a consideration when a purchase is planned or a job is considered. An example of this issue might be when a large printing job is considered for completion on a press, a folder, or any other type of equipment that because of its age or maintenance history, might not be in condition to complete the job. Wouldn’t any reasonable person wonder if their car, which has 100,000 plus miles could complete a coast to coast vacation drive?

It is important to remember that actuations are not the end-all when it comes to the lifespan of a product. Obviously, many products often meet and even exceed the number of actuations that are planned for it. History is rife with examples of products that have far exceeded their expected life. Who hasn’t heard, for example, of the light bulb in the Livermore firehouse that has burned continuously for 117 years? Called the “Centennial Lightbulb,” it even has its own “cam” at https://www.centennialbulb.org.

Again and Again

Actuations can be used to consider simple repetitions too. How many times have you seen, and even ignored, the print count on a printing press or copy machine? In this case, actuations serve as an excellent indicator of a product’s life or need for maintenance. Instead, unfortunately, most equipment owners or operators ignore the need for monitoring actuations or paying any attention to their meaning. Obviously, this is a serious mistake since understanding the meaning and importance of actuations can mean the difference between an early breakdown of equipment, or one that far exceeds its expected useful life.

Just as is the case with many products, actuations are something that you can ignore or pay close attention to, but if you choose the latter, you will probably have many years of good service in the future.