Certification for the Rail Industry
Certification for the Rail Industry
Electrotechnical products supplied to the Rail Industry must be reliable and safe. Getting your products to the level of compliance and performance acceptable to the Rail industry can be a challenging task. TÜV SÜD has in depth experience of rail industry requirements and offers certification services to benefit the manufacturers and suppliers.
Rail safety certification and assurance
TÜV SÜD offers a Rail Product Certification scheme by combining its extensive track record in certifying safety critical applications with its expertise in Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) and reliability.
Where there is a safety critical application for an equipment or component, an additional level of assurance is required. Product Certification provides an additional level of assurance over and above that provided by CE marking.
Through a rigorous program of type testing combined with production audit, the product attributes assessed are:
- Functional Safety
- EMC
- Reliability e.g. vibration and shock testing
The validity of the type testing program is reinforced by annual factory inspections to assess ongoing compliance in production.
Our Rail Product Certification scheme enables manufacturers to provide a visible and powerful demonstration of their commitment to safety and assurance in the rail industry.
International Rail Industry Standards (IRIS)
To ensure top safety and quality for rail vehicles, a host of processes must run like clockwork along the supply chain. To standardise and optimise these processes, a number of world class manufacturers have joined forces, with the support of UNIFE (Union des Industries Ferroviaires Européennes) to define the new International Railway Industry Standard (IRIS) for suppliers and manufacturers.
TÜV SÜD carries out IRIS certifications, which are based on the ISO 9001 quality standard and complemented by specific industry requirements. IRIS certification also addresses aspects such as project and cost management, customer service, lifecycle costs plus assessments of product reliability, availability, maintainability and safety.
TÜV SÜD estimates that IRIS will become the de facto standard for manufacturers and suppliers. Leading system and equipment manufacturers agree that suppliers should aim to be certified to the IRIS standard by mid-2009 and that certification will become mandatory after this date.
Manufacturers able to furnish proof, in the form of a certificate, that they have successfully applied the IRIS standard, will gain clear competitive advantage from this all encompassing mark of quality. Manufacturers can also gain from early entry in the IRIS database, which provides full details of ratings achieved in certification for all certified organisations.
In addition to IRIS, TÜV Product Service provides a full range of testing, certification, consulting and training and has considerable rail industry experience in:
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| Benefits of using TÜV Product Service for IRIS consultancy and certification |
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