Industrial Goods: Complying with Laws & Regulations
Compliance, Laws, Regulations – why are they necessary? Even if you do acknowledge their necessity, why must they be so strict and uncompromising?On the product or supplier's end, these regulations may seem unfair at times. However, many times these regulations serve the best interest of the general public, among other ways by protecting product users from untested products with potential security or health issues.
In most cases, compliance laws and regulations tend to increase the total product price, due to the extra company expenses related to compliance with one or more standards and such.
Among one of the most common and well-known standards for most types of goods, is the ISO (International Standards Organization). The ISO, a United Nations body, is responsible for creating a unified set of international standards, thus facilitating the international exchange of goods and services, and enabling international cooperations to take place in a more comfortable environment.
In most cases, when designing a product, service, or shifting an existing one to comply with any specific regulations and standards, all different divisions in the company will have at least some connection with the compliance process.
The legal department will have to evaluate the possible legal issues involved with avoiding compliance to one or more standards, while consulting with the financial department to evaluate the costs involved with compliance, as opposed to the risk involved with non compliance.
The marketing department must evaluate the effects compliance will have on the product's marketability. If compliance to a certain standard, for example, is not a legal obligation, the marketing department would need to estimate how much of an increase in sales & marketability is going to be caused directly as a result of moving forward with such compliance. Sometimes you'll find the financial and structural investments simply aren't worth the small increase in revenue.
One of the largest, free sources to receiving comprehensive information, and answers to the key compliance & standards related questions is the government website at: http://www.business.gov/topic/Frequently_Asked_Questions