To be able to verify the performance claims of any product it needs to be thoroughly tested this will ensure that it meets or exceeds the claims made about it. In addition to this there will be some aspects of a products performance that will require to adhere to the standards relating to product type. The standards should be achieved as a minimum in order to gain type approval for sale. The particular product safety testing that needs to be carried out will vary depending upon the part of the world that the product is destined to be sold into.Examples of this are CE marking or CCC certification.

Independent testing is a method by which a manufacturer can demonstrate that their product completely fulfils its design criteria and any local, national or global standards that are applicable. Testing by a third party with no vested interest in the manufacturer is in the manufacturers own interest as it goes a long way to assuring a potential buyer that the product is likely to perform well, meet the users need in terms of durability, combined with having been tested and found to also comply with all relevant safety requirements will reassure a potential buyer that their money is being wisely invested in a product.

Good product design will go a long way to ensuring that any product is capable of performing satisfactorily but poor performance of any individual component part could have disastrous consequences on the overall result. Carefully selected components from companies with a reputation for product quality will go some way to ensuring the quality of the resulting product but there are other factors involved:

• Processing of raw materials

• Human error

• Machine failure

Unless the materials making up a product are tested before use there will inevitably be a risk of them be being defective and subsequent use in any product may render that product defective.

Incorrect processing too can also result in the product being rendered not to specification.

During the design phase when prototypes are being produced it is possible to check the performance of all component parts but this may not necessarily be the case once the product is in full production therefore the alternatives need to be considered.

Whilst it may not be feasible to test every individual component before use, the testing or checking of batch samples should be carried out before their use in a production run.

The first sample of any production run should be inspected and tested to ensure that what is about to be produced is of acceptable quality.

Coupled with this should be a system of regular inspection of the product either at sub assembly stage if possible, and as a finished item, this form of inspection should occur at intervals during production. The more frequent the checks the less wastage there will be if a problem is detected.

Very important here is to check the last sample off the production line as this may have an issue that due to the timing of the other checks or tests might have been missed, this check must be carried out before the batch of product leaves the production facility.

CE Marking Directives   Toy Testing   Electrical & Electronic Product Testing