Manufacturing
Machinery and equipment certificates
Tracking paperwork attached to a machine rather than a person.
Machinery documentation has a wrinkle that makes it harder than people's: the machine moves. The same crane is on one site this month and another the next, and its paperwork has to travel with it.
The three levels to cross-check
| Level | Documents | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| The equipment | Declaration of conformity, manual, marking | No, unless modified |
| Its maintenance | Periodic inspections, latest checks | Yes, and it is the most forgotten |
| Whoever operates it | Specific training, authorisation to use | Yes |
Important
A machine having its certificate does not authorise anyone to use it. The cross-check between machine and person is where industrial document control fails, and it is exactly the one examined after an accident.
What changes versus tracking it by site
If the case belongs to the site, every transfer means rebuilding it and the machine arrives with no paperwork. If it belongs to the equipment, it travels with it: assign it to the new site and its documentary status follows, with its dates.
Watch out
Hired equipment arrives with the hire company's documentation, expiring on their schedule rather than yours. Mark it the same way: hired equipment with a lapsed inspection is your problem while it is on your site.
Worth knowing
Setting inspections to warn 60 days out leaves time to schedule the downtime. Fifteen does not, and the machine sits idle waiting for a technician.
›Can I have one case per serial number?
Yes, and that is what lets you follow it between sites.
›What about small equipment?
Items that neither expire nor need training do not need a case; forcing it fills the system with noise.
›Does it serve for a labour inspection?
It is exactly the cross-check they ask for: equipment in order and an authorised operator.
A real case
The situation
A manufacturer tracks machine documentation by site and loses it on every transfer.
What you do
- Moves each machine to its own case, by serial number
- Marks inspections and training with expiry dates
What you get
The machine arrives at the new site with its documentary status current, and the supervisor checks it from a phone.
The situation
A machine is bought without its documentation.
What you do
- Requests it on the purchase order, before paying
What you get
It is asked from the only position of leverage.
The situation
An item of plant's documentation sits in a drawer.
What you do
- Captures and stores it with the equipment
What you get
It is found where the machine is.
The situation
Calendar inspections get forgotten.
What you do
- Records expiries per item of plant
What you get
The warning arrives before the date.
The situation
A client asks for the machinery certificates.
What you do
- Checks each item's file
What you get
It is handed over without reassembling anything.
The situation
Equipment is sold and its documentation does not travel with it.
What you do
- Hands over the complete file with the machine
What you get
The buyer receives what covers it.
This article answers
- machinery document control
- equipment conformity certificates
- periodic machine inspections
- work equipment documentation