Maintenance 4.0: New guidelines require action

The new Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 on machinery (as well as the current Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC) sets out the health and safety requirements for the design, construction and operation of machinery, related products and partly completed machinery. This enables them to be made available on the market or put into service while ensuring a high level of safety and health protection for persons and, where applicable, the environment. In particular, the new Machinery Regulation is intended to minimise new safety risks that are increasingly arising as a result of ongoing developments in digitalisation and automation, such as human-robot collaboration (collaborative robots, cobots), internet-connected machines, the impact of software updates, autonomous machines and remote monitoring stations (remote operation and IIoT services).

Machines, interchangeable equipment, safety components, load handling attachments, chains, ropes, slings and belts, detachable mechanical power transmission, etc.

Safety areas for automated areas and robots, access control, filter systems for machine cabins to protect operators or other persons, network segmentation, changes after updates and patches, monitoring and analysis of systems, control cabinet Profinet or TSN-based networks for controlling a system, Modbus network for building management, securing the power supply or the communication network connection with the machine and much more.

• Publication of the new European Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 on machinery July 2023.
  
• Transitional period of 42 months - Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC still valid
  
• Mandatory application of the new Machinery Regulation from 20 January 2027 (cut-off date regulation) for the placing on the market and operation of machinery