This year, I left my employee job and started my own business.
Courageous? Yes.
Elegant? Not really.

“We've always done it this way.”
A sentence that sounds like a friendly stop sign in the world of Product Compliance.

“Please provide the complete technical documentation. Preferably yesterday.”
Sounds familiar? Welcome to the everyday life of many compliance teams. Between customer requirements, market requirements and legal requirements, one thing often gets lost: true collaboration on equal terms.

Why is collaborative cooperation with suppliers so important in the field of Product Compliance?

"We just need the CE mark."
I hear this sentence more often than I would like. But behind this small claim lies a big chain of issues, which often doesn't start within your own company, but with the supplier.

“When something changes, Product Compliance changes too.”

This rule sounds trivial, but it packs a punch. Because in practice, this is precisely the most common Product Compliance mistake:
People think that because a product was once compliant, it will remain so forever.
Thats Wrong.

For many, Product Compliance is a mysterious field full of rules, tests, and uncertainties. No wonder that all kinds of myths surround this topic, which are not only annoying but can also be really dangerous.

Here are my top 5 myths that we should definitely bury so that teams and products remain truly safe and compliant.

Imagine you have exactly one chance to give your team a single product compliance rule. No workshop. No 80 page PowerPoint presentation. No coffee compliance chat. Just one-golden-rule.

A few years ago, I managed Product Compliance for the launch of a new product. the project manager said to me: “We'll do compliance at the end, it's just paperwork.”
An economic fault. Because this is exactly where the most costly mistake happen.

Imagine you develop a great product, but it fails not because of the market, but because of the law. Ouch.

This is exactly where product compliance comes into play and with it the question:
Who is actually liable when things go wrong?

Who bears the responsibility?
Spoiler: It's not enough to just point to the specialist department and say,“I thought they'd take care of it.”

Have you ever wondered: What happens when a product is non-compliant?

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Not compliant? Then it can get expensive, embarrassing or really uncomfortable.

Many people believe, “It'll be fine.”
But if a product is non-compliant, things get serious. And not just for the company, but also personally for the management.

Here are 5 things that really happen when a product is non-compliant:

A good system typically includes:

In a world where products are developed, manufactured, and distributed across global supply chains, it is no longer enough to simply have a good product.