New Machinery requirements have been published for Europe and will replace the existing Machinery Directive Jan. 20, 2027. OEMs will have to be compliant with the new requirements on that day since there is no transition period.
With a heavy focus on safety, the environment and machine learning, the main takeaways are that these are EU regulations. This means that manufacturers will not have to wait for each member state’s upgrade of the regulation into law. This may streamline the process although it could mean big changes for some member states that previously had fewer requirements.
And there’s another important consideration. Since we have entered the digital age, all certifications and instructions can be in digital format. One exception is the non-professional machinery’s safety measures which must be included in paper format.
As far as AI machinery and machine learning is concerned, this document is the precursor to the upcoming AI regulation. But the upcoming AI Regulation, when published, will consider these systems as high-risk Artificial Intelligence and impose additional requirements.
Source: EUR-Lex Read The Article
PSR Analysis: This is the first publish meaning that things will stay like they are, but they have already opened the door to many potential changes and modifications. The main focuses are strong, with a strong stance on AI and machine learning. We will have to wait until they publish the AI regulations, but we already have some inclination of what is to come. The next step is the development of the application guide of the Machinery requirements and the update of the harmonized standards. PSR
Christopher Bamforth is an Analyst – European Operations, for Power Systems Research
