{"id":1742,"date":"2023-02-22T11:39:14","date_gmt":"2023-02-22T10:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gt-engineering.it\/approfondimenti\/%tipologia_approfondimento%\/guide-to-application-of-the-machinery-directive-2006-42-ec\/"},"modified":"2025-04-05T08:53:31","modified_gmt":"2025-04-05T07:53:31","slug":"partly-completed-machinery","status":"publish","type":"approfondimento","link":"https:\/\/www.gt-engineering.it\/en\/insights\/machinery-directive\/partly-completed-machinery\/","title":{"rendered":"Machinery Directive and Partly completed Machinery, Guide 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n    \n        <section\n            data-name=\"Contenuto testuale con immagine\"\n            class=\"bow-gte-testo-media u-spacer-base\"\n            id=\"\"\n        >\n            \n<div class=\"o-text-media px-side-spacer sm:px-side-spacer-sm lg:px-side-spacer-tablet 2xl:px-side-spacer-desktop flex flex-wrap items-start md:block\">\n\n    \n        \n                    <div\n                class=\"h-auto mb-6 md:mb-4 lg:mb-8 xl:mb-9 float-left mr-6 md:mr-4 lg:mr-8 xl:mr-9  overflow-hidden shadow-content-image w-full md:w-1\/3\"\n            >\n                \r\n\r\n    \r\n        \r\n            \r\n                \r\n                    <picture\r\n                        class=\"\"\r\n                                            >\r\n                                                                                                        <source\r\n                                media=\"(max-width: 150px)\"\r\n                                width=\"150\"\r\n                                height=\"150\"\r\n                                srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gt-engineering.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Capture-28.png-150x150.webp\"\r\n                                type=\"image\/webp\"\r\n                            \/>\r\n                                                                                <source\r\n                                media=\"(max-width: 300px)\"\r\n                                width=\"300\"\r\n                                height=\"224\"\r\n                                srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gt-engineering.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Capture-28.png-300x224.webp\"\r\n                                type=\"image\/webp\"\r\n                            \/>\r\n                                                                                <source\r\n                                media=\"(max-width: 659px)\"\r\n                                width=\"659\"\r\n                                height=\"491\"\r\n                                srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gt-engineering.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Capture-28.png.webp\"\r\n                                type=\"image\/webp\"\r\n                            \/>\r\n                                                                                <source\r\n                                media=\"(max-width: 659px)\"\r\n                                width=\"659\"\r\n                                height=\"491\"\r\n                                srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gt-engineering.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Capture-28.png.webp\"\r\n                                type=\"image\/webp\"\r\n                            \/>\r\n                                                                            <img\r\n                            class=\"a-image transparent border-image h-auto  w-full\"\r\n                                                        srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gt-engineering.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Capture-28.png.webp\"\r\n                                                        title=\"Capture-28.png\"\r\n                                                        type=\"image\/webp\"\r\n                        \/>\r\n                    <\/picture>\r\n\r\n                \r\n\r\n                    \r\n    \r\n            <\/div>\n        \n                    <div class=\"relative w-full\">\n                \n<div class=\"a-text font-text text-base normal mt-8 first:mt-0 space-y-4\">\n    <p>The latest edition of the Guide to the<strong> Machinery Directive 2006\/42\/EC<\/strong> was published in 2023. The English version can be downloaded from the link at the side of the page.<\/p>\n<p>One of the aspects they tried to clarify is related to<strong> partly completed machinery<\/strong>. The definition is as follows:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><em>[Machinery Directive 2006\/42\/EC] \u2013 Article 2 \u2013 Definitions<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>\u2018partly completed machinery\u2019 means an assembly which is almost machinery but which cannot in itself perform a specific application.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The classic example is a robot. This is built by ABB, Yaskawa, Fanuc or other manufacturers and sold to an integrator, who programs it for the specific application and places it in a robot cell. The robot was not made for a specific application, but it has one once it is programmed by the integrator. The manufacturer of the robot issues a Declaration of Incorporation of Partly Completed Machinery to the integrator who, after installing it into the new production line, CE marks the assembly.<\/p>\n<p>Here is what the Guide to the Machinery Directive writes about this:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>[Guide to the Machinery Directive &#8211; 2023] <strong><em>\u00a746 Partly completed machinery<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>As an example, industrial robots are usually designed without a specific application until incorporated into the final machinery [\u2026]. The manufacturer of the final machinery takes the necessary measures so that the robot can perform its specific application safely within the assembly. <strong>In practice, only an industrial \u201cstand and function alone-robot\u201d<\/strong> provided with both an end-effector and control system so that it can itself perform a specific application, is a complete machinery under the Machinery Directive..<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Some pratictioners place the accent on the &#8220;<em>provided with both an end-effector and control system<\/em>&#8220;, but ignore the part: <em>an industrial \u201cstand and function alone-robot\u201d. <\/em>Stand Alone means it does not need any signal from the rest of the installation to perform its task.<\/p>\n<p>There is another important passage that the Guide to the<strong> Machinery Directive 2006\/42\/EC<\/strong> emphasises in order to understand the concept of partly completed machinery:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>[Guide to the Machinery Directive &#8211; 2019] <strong><em>\u00a746 Partly completed machinery<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Machinery that meets the definition in the first three indents of Article 2(a), so it can in itself operate independently, performing its specific application [\u2026], but which only lacks the necessary protective means or safety components, such as guards, is not to be considered as partly completed machinery.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Basically, it is not possible to build a machine without certain protections, &#8216;which the user will then put on&#8217;, and call it a &#8216;partly completed machinery&#8217;: in this case, such a product falls under the definition of machinery and must be CE marked.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, there are few such unequivocal examples. A more complex example is the case of a<strong> manufacturer of rolling stands<\/strong>. The customer simply wants the cages with all the equipment in the field (motors, hydraulic power unit, etc.) but he will do the integration into his plant control and safety system. It is clear that the cages have a very specific application, but only after being equipped with an automation and safety system. The manufacturer will then sell the product as a partly completed machinery.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, the <strong>New Machinery Product Regulation<\/strong> clarifies further the issue by slightly modifying the definition of Partly Completed Machinery:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><em>[Machinery Product Regulation] \u2013 Article 3 \u2013 Definitions <\/em><\/strong><br \/>\n<em>(10) \u2018partly completed machinery\u2019 means an assembly which is machinery<strong> but for the fact that it cannot in itself function<\/strong> so as to perform a specific application and which is only intended to be incorporated into or assembled with machinery or other partly completed machinery or equipment, thereby forming a machinery product;<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In addition, the following clarification is given in the recitals:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><em>[Draft to the New Machinery Directive \u2013 April 2021 ] \u2013 &#8220;Whereas&#8221;<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\n<em>(21) <strong>Partly completed machinery<\/strong> is a product within the scope of this Regulation which <strong>needs to undergo further construction<\/strong> in order to be able to perform its specific application, namely the well-defined operations for which the product is designed. It is not necessary that all requirements of this Regulation apply to partly completed machinery but, in order to ensure the safety of the product as a whole, it is nevertheless important that the free movement of such partly completed machinery be guaranteed by means of a specific procedure.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>In essence<\/strong>: a small robot equipped with a start and stop button and which, for example, cuts the grass on a lawn or helps people to walk properly (so-called service robots) is a machine. <strong>The scorification robot of a melting furnace is a partly completed machinery, as it needs to receive interface signals from the rest of the plant in order to function properly.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In the attachments section of this page you can download the 2023 Guide to the Machinery Directive 2006\/42\/EC.<\/p>\n<\/div>            <\/div>\n        \n        \n                <div class=\"clear-both\"><\/div>\n        \n\n    <\/div>\n        <\/section>\n\n    \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Guide to the Machinery Directive 2006\/42\/EC has been updated in October 2019. It contains a number of clarifications and corrections to the concept&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34020,"parent":0,"menu_order":105,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tipologia_approfondimento":[46],"class_list":["post-1742","approfondimento","type-approfondimento","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tipologia_approfondimento-machinery-directive"],"acf":{"sottotitolo":"","allegati":[{"string_block":"Directive 2006\/42\/EC","file_block":34012},{"string_block":"2023 guide to the Machinery Directive","file_block":45234}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Partly completed Machinery<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u00a0 The Guide to the Machinery Directive 2006\/42\/EC has been updated in 2023. 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