Exporters Need to Know: Strategies to Meet Laser Equipment Environmental Standards

This program provides laser equipment exporters with a response strategy to environmental standards, including interpretation of international environmental regulations, optimization of certification processes, and improvement plans for the production process.This helps companies to quickly meet standards in terms of material selection, waste treatment, and energy consumption, reducing the risk of trade barriers, and giving them a head start in overseas markets.

Why do we need to worry about environmental standards for laser equipment?

Over the past two years, our friends in foreign trade should have a pretty good understanding of the fact that European and American clients are always asking for environmental certification.Last month, for example, a manufacturer in Zhejiang Province had its entire shipment returned because it lacked a RoHS certificate.Nowadays, environmental standards are like a passport for the export of laser cutting machines or similar equipment. Without it, you can't even get to the negotiating table.

An in-depth analysis of the demands of the mainstream market.

Hidden obstacles in the CE certification process.

Don't think that just because you have CE certification everything is hunky-dory. The CE certification process now includes a special module for electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and a module for restricting the use of hazardous substances (RoHS 2.0).Especially in the cooling systems for the generators, many manufacturers have run into problems with the environmental performance of the coolant not meeting standards.

The Energy Star certification in the North American market.

Last year the US Customs Service began to closely examine the standby power consumption of laser equipment. There is a small trick: add an intelligent sleep mode module to the equipment, and the energy consumption will immediately drop by 30 %, and you can also take the Energy Star certification.A Guangdong company we've worked with has done this, and they've raised their prices by 40 %.

Three steps to environmental certification.

A slimmed-down list of materials.

The first step is to find the "dangerous elements" from the bill of materials.For example, the traditional laser tubes used cadmium-based materials, but now they have been replaced with yttrium aluminum garnet materials. This does not affect performance and avoids the environmental hazards of cadmium.Make sure that suppliers provide the latest MSDS reports, which are now checked during inspections.

Upgrading of the waste water treatment system.

The dust from the cutting can't be discharged directly. It costs very little to install a three-stage filtration system.There is a factory in Suzhou that uses a combination of electrostatic dust removal and activated carbon adsorption, which brings the processing efficiency up to 98 %, and which also qualifies for local environmental subsidies.

Dynamic management of certification documents.

Don't treat certification as a one-shot deal.It is recommended that a special position be created to track the latest standards in various countries. For example, in March of 2003, Japan revised its Chemical Examination Law, making 12 changes to the regulations concerning laser equipment.Cloud documents can be used to keep track of different versions, and the latest compliance certificates can be retrieved at any time.

Tips for saving money in everyday production.

Digital energy consumption monitoring.

Every machine is equipped with an intelligent electricity meter, and the data goes directly to the central control system.This not only allows for accurate environmental auditing, but also helps identify the processes that consume the most electricity.A customer has reported that after optimizing his system in this way, he saved over NT $ 2000 in electricity costs per month.

The waste recycling industry is a channel for turning waste into cash.

Instead of treating metal cutting residue as garbage, the Yangtze Delta now has professional recycling companies that come to pick it up.High-purity aluminum alloy scrap can fetch NT $ 12,000 per metric ton, enough to cover half the labor protection expenses for the entire factory.This is a matter that requires a lot of attention.