Mark Haacke Automotive has a high level of expertise in legal requirements and their implementation, especially for technical products. The specific product is not the decisive factor here.
With 20 years of experience in type testing, recall management and CoP at a variety of companies such as
- officially recognized monitoring organizations
- various suppliers
- Single point of contact for recalls to 2 carlines of an international vehicle manufacturer
- 6 years as Head of CoP Complete Vehicle at an international vehicle manufacturer
- and several other stations
we have the perfect expertise to pass this knowledge on to employees of vehicle manufacturers and provide them with advice.
Vehicle manufacturer
Hardly any technical product is subject to such extensive regulations as motor vehicles. Through 28 years of experience in the automotive industry of our founder and owner Mark Haacke, we have our focus on automotive products.
Due to the complexity of their products, vehicle manufacturers are particularly affected by complex legal regulations. In addition, there are different technical standards and divergent requirements in different countries around the world.
In order to be able to meet the legal requirements and also the customer requirements, it is important that the employees have a high level of competence and qualification. With our training program, which is oriented to the product life cycle, we can offer appropriate training for all specialist areas. For this we have different qualification levels of the respective contents in the program.
Suppliers
The supplier industry finds itself in a particular area of tension. Legal requirements, tight specifications from vehicle manufacturers, cost pressure and global competition are forcing companies in the supply industry to optimize their processes to a particularly high degree:
- Many components are subject to approval – but does this apply to all markets and to all areas of use?
- In order to become a license holder, an “effective” quality management system must be in place. But what does “effective” mean?
- The obligations regarding CoP also apply to suppliers; both CoP-Q and CoP-P.
- If defective products have entered the market, they must be recalled. Who has a duty to the authority here? The supplier or the vehicle manufacturer?
On the part of the vehicle manufacturers, a PSCR (Product Safety and Conformity Representative) is required for all companies in the supply chain. This ensures product safety and product conformity.
We support companies in the supply industry from “A” like “initial assessment” to “Z” like approval.
Importers and distributors
Do you trade in products that are subject to compliance regulations, require approval or pose a risk to consumers?
Do you trade in products whose manufacturer is not based in the EU?
Then you very definitely have legal requirements to meet and may be a permit holder. E-scooters or other light vehicles with 2, 3 or 4 wheels and a variety of vehicle spare parts are affected.
We help you to obtain recognition by the authorities (initial assessment) and type approval for the relevant products. And even if a recall is imminent, we will help you assess the facts and implement an appropriate recall.
Manufacturer of bicycles, mobility scooters, e-scooters and more
Even products that are not subject to a specific approval requirement or are “only” subject to a national approval requirement must comply with a large number of legal requirements, such as the Machinery Directive, the Market Surveillance Ordinance or the Product Safety Act.
In addition to the “hard” requirements that your products must meet, you also have your business operations and processes as another challenge. Generating satisfied customers from concrete customer requirements (and legislative requirements) is much easier if you approach this in a structured way. ISO9001 certification offers you many advantages. But it doesn’t always have to be a certified quality management system.
Together with you we develop a simple but very effective quality management system, which allows you to act much more efficiently and effectively and to avoid risks. This not only gives you a significant competitive advantage, but also secures the future of your business. And even if a recall is imminent, we will help you to assess the situation and carry out an appropriate recall.
Authorities and technical services
Our customers now also include various authorities and technical services. Due to the constant globalization of supply chains and international trade in consumer products, the authorities are also faced with increasingly complex tasks, the fulfillment of which is significantly simplified and accelerated by the support of experts from the industry.
We are proud to use our expertise to make a small contribution to ensuring that global competition between companies in a wide range of industries remains fair and that we can support authorities in protecting end consumers from dangerous or potentially dangerous products. This also includes us acting as a neutral expert in the dialog between the authorities and the manufacturer/marketer to ensure clarity if the products in question actually meet all requirements.
Insurer and policyholder (liability)
In particular, insurance policies for large and industrial customers covering product defects and recalls, among other things, have a high cost risk.
In order to minimize the damage to the insurance company, you regularly need a high level of expertise to assess the facts of the case – in particular the following in various (dispute) relationships, such as recalls between manufacturer and supplier or supplier and sub-supplier.
To minimize the cost risk, we can:
- Assess a new policyholder in terms of their processes and products – how high is their recall risk and how extensive would a potential recall be? Based on our assessment, the policyholder can either improve its processes or the insurance company can cover a higher risk through appropriate premiums.
- Completely execute a product recall – from root cause analysis, through regulatory and customer communications, to coordination of product repair. Inexperience on the part of the policyholder if he attempts to do this himself increases the cost risk – several parties involved in the respective phases of the recall increase the expense.