To this end, Importers of some consumer electronic products that intentionally or non-intentionally emit radiation between 9kHz to 3,000 GHz radio frequency range including personal computers, fans, power stations for devices, LED lights, TV remotes, etc, into the USA must issue a Suppliers Declaration of Conformity (SDoC) which is supported by lab tests that may or may not be performed by an FCC-recognized and accredited lab as long as the testing is correct according to the standards (or may also choose to get the product certified as described above in some cases). This is a waste of human intellect and simply not good enough. In general, the buyer is the impetus for sellers to undergo conformance testing. This would include the documentation of how the testing is to be done and the directions for the tester to follow. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS Lock Departments using performance The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) are addressing XML-related interoperability issues by jointly developing test suites that are intended to complement the W3C Recommendations. I will be discussing topics covering all aspects of the Supply chain (particularly Procurement) fuctions, Change Managment ideas and theories and IT software solutions (General focus being ERPSystems such as INFOR M3)For business needs. Falsification testing subjects an implementation to various combinations of legal and illegal inputs, and compares the resulting output to a set of corresponding "expected results." They rely on self-assessment by the implementer (1st party testing) and acceptance testing by buyers. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. The overall purpose of a Ideally, it would be nice to prove beyond any doubt that an implementation is correct, consistent, and complete. Sample 1 Sample 2 A specification becomes an essential contract management document which is used to ensure that the chosen supplier provides what is specified. Any other brands or models Another alternative is the requirement that There are two types of specifications, Design and Performance. A conformance test program needs to be supported by an advisory or control board, whose role is to resolve disputes and provide technical guidance. and to invite maximum reasonable competition. A standard may classify features as "mandatory" vs. "optional," and provide a table listing features so classified. 0000002922 00000 n prepare all specifications. Validation is the process of testing software for compliance with applicable specifications or standards. Procurement professionals should be focusing on what type of specification they are sharing with suppliers and to guide their internal customers to draft their specification document according to that. On the one hand, a conformance certificate (or a claim of conformance) might only state that an implementation had been tested to completion, and provide a list of the errors that were found. trailer << /Size 1253 /Info 1209 0 R /Root 1216 0 R /Prev 331028 /ID[<421cc0d9af76233486a43ba075a266a0><421cc0d9af76233486a43ba075a266a0>] >> startxref 0 %%EOF 1216 0 obj << /Type /Catalog /Pages 1212 0 R /Metadata 1210 0 R /Outlines 157 0 R /OpenAction [ 1217 0 R /XYZ null null null ] /PageMode /UseNone /PageLabels 1208 0 R /StructTreeRoot 1206 0 R /PieceInfo << /MarkedPDF << /LastModified (D:20020325133406)>> >> /LastModified (D:20020325133406) /MarkInfo << /Marked true /LetterspaceFlags 0 >> >> endobj 1251 0 obj << /S 702 /O 971 /L 987 /C 1003 /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 1252 0 R >> stream predicated on a written specification which includes certain Performance decision-centered view, as the name suggests, are decisions. Generally, the more critical the application, the more formal the testing. Additionally it may specify the permissibility of extensions, options, and alternative approaches and how they are to be handled. 4 What are the characteristics of a good specification in procurement? In many of these cases the problem is not that the scope changed but that the original Specification was incomplete. products of a particular manufacturer as having the Development of the test suite may well be the costliest part of the conformance program. Sensor installation and measurement location specifications, performance and equipment specifications, test procedures, and data reduction procedures are included in this specification. This bulletin presents an overview of conformance and addresses conformance to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Recommendations for the Extensible Markup Language (XML) family of specifications. Values that may be different for different conforming implementations of the standard, The color model(s), if any, supported by the standard, Test tool (e.g., tool, suite, and/or reference implementation, Organization(s) to do testing, issue certificates of validation, and arbitrate disputes. They can then make any necessary corrections to allow the implementation to conform. Well explain what a CoC is, what its used for, and what it includes. Design Work that matches a design. performance specifications afford the manufacturer or bidder In some cases, it has to be provided for EVERY part with its own serial number. The term "optional" is used to indicate that if an implementation is going to provide the specified functionality, then the specification must be followed. A QPL is The rationale for this is to be able to acknowledge all the implementations tested, but "reward" those implementations that "get it 100% correct". requirements. This is usually in a conformance clause or conformance statement, but sometimes some of the criteria can be found in the body of the specification. How To Manufacture A Product In China (without losing your shirt)? specification is to provide a basis for obtaining a good or (IUT) is the object that is being tested for conformance. Extensions shall not re-define semantics for existing functions, Extensions shall not cause standard-conforming functions (i.e., functions that do not use the extensions) to execute incorrectly, The mechanism for determining application conformance and the extensions shall be clearly described in the documentation, and the extensions shall be marked as such. In such a case, the conformance clause should specify whether or not an implementation is considered to be conformant if it does not implement each approach? Well also examine in more detail the type of CoC you need to import consumer and electronic products into the USA and EU, as well as covering some other points on the topic, too. In 1996 ISO/IEC Guide 2 defined the three major terms used in this field. It increases a buyer's confidence in a product and its ability to meet their needs. Marketing teams and customers view quality in terms of satisfying customer needs and meeting customer expectations. These criteria and Conformance to specifications means to meet any requirements defined for the product, not only regulatory. Examples of conformance specification are: Engineering drawing A chemical formula Model name, number or brand etc Here, you may receive totally different proposals which includes totally different solutions, however all of them may be accepted as they all will be achieving the required performance. Conformance clause and specification wording. A profile is a subset of the overall specifications that includes all of the functionality necessary to satisfy the requirements of a particular community of users. Some standards have no official testing organizations. DOM Test Suite - NIST has developed a comprehensive set of tests that will check for compliance with the Document Object Model (DOM) Level 1 Recommendation. 0000001115 00000 n In contrast to the design approach, For example, some testing programs may require a very formal testing and certification approach using an independent (i.e., third party), nationally accredited testing laboratory while other programs may be more appropriate for self declaration and demonstration testing. 2. Within these DEVELOPING SPECIFICATIONS: Although The conformance testing policies and procedures should be spelled out before testing begins. for different products. %PDF-1.3 % /Length 10 0 R 6 What makes a good specification in procurement? There are different types of technical or engineering specifications (specs), and the term is used differently in different technical contexts. 2) The car shall have a really kickin stereo system. The tests are then executed and the results displayed. If by vendors to add products to the QPL. At the end of the 1-year period, the implementer would have to correct the errors to renew the certificate. Product to be packed in this carton box is Shampoo bottles, dimension of 1 bottle is 180mm height x 50mm width & weight of one bottle is 50ml. By this they mean that they found out about key requirements of a solution late in the development process. Examples of what typical specifications may be like include; Compared to conformance specification, performance specification has a number of ADVANTAGES such as; When is it advisable to use performance specification? Inspections will be conducted on the products at delivery:6.1.1 Any defect on the products.6.1.2 Conformance to specifications and functionality.. Conformance to specifications requires formal data specifications, which may address any or all of data . The initial version of the test suite will not include the formatting objects part of XSL; however research is underway to determine how NIST can make a contribution to this part of the specification. As a procurement professional . Developers/Customers often complain that Scope Creep occurred during a project. While actual testing (1st or 3rd party testing) and certification (branding) can be carried out by various organizations, it is essential that there be a centralized sponsor or owner of the conformance testing program. criteria for the purpose of qualifying the bid document. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. This nesting continues until level n, which consists of the entire specification. XML Test Suite is available from the NIST web site, http://xw2k.nist.gov/xml/index.html. https://www.nist.gov/itl/ssd/information-systems-group/what-thing-called-conformance. In general, the . requires something unique, to be custom made or custom built, as Taking the time to think, write & challenge what your internal customer need is one of the most important keys to have efficient, smooth, transparent & successful procurement process. This type of testing is called conformance testing. a. the sealed bidding terminology as used throughout these specifications is synonymous with their negotiated procurement counterpart unless specifically stated otherwise. These will be cheaper, more reliable and easier to source. Paper combination is: 3 layers carton (Layer1 is Kraft liner of 125GSM + Layer2 is Test/Recycled liner of 100GSM + Layer3 is Kraft liner of 125GSM) with mentioning Flute type and total GSM. Conformance Clause Every specification SHALL contain a conformance clause. The following discussion defines conformance and conformance testing as well as describes the components of a conformance testing program. The conformance clause may specify minimal requirements for certain functions and minimal requirements for implementation-dependent values. Dont forget that in order to affix the CE mark to your product and get the EU DoC you will need to create and submit the technical documentation that demonstrates that your product complies with EU regulations. The test software, consisting of a set of test files (i.e., data, programs, or scripts) checks each requirement in the specification to determine whether the results produced by the implementation match the expected results, as defined by the specification. 3. Define performance specification. However, this is generally impossible for implementations of nontrivial specifications that are written in a natural language. Although conformance testing is not a guarantee for interoperability, it is an essential step towards achieving interoperability. A buyer would typically ask for a CoC on products/components that are critical or high risk. If you do not use a third party laboratory, you may label this section N/A. If the mattresses being certified are for cribs or childrens size mattresses, please see the requirements for issuing a CPC. Specifications can be attributed in two ways; 1) Attributes - related to things such as the part, component or raw material. Give examples of performance specification. But what are specifications? Do you have any questions or experiences to share about certificates of conformity? If you cant describe what your organization need on piece of paper then imagine how suppliers can understand your needs, then quote/propose the right solution for it. Performance responsibilities focus on strategy, value creation and resource utilization whereas conformance responsibilities focus on providing assurance to stakeholders that the organization . There are two main types of specification when contracting namely: With this type of specification the buyer says what they want and how they want it and the supplier has to meet this. specifications by bn reviewed by rh this procurement is being solicited as a small purchase request for quotation (rfq). Although the terms validation and conformance testing are often interchanged, they are not the same. 0000007141 00000 n This makes the purchasing process inefficient. They often refer to particular documents, and/or particular information within them. We want to make it easy to do business with us while also helping you navigate the regulations involved in the aerospace and defense technology sector. products, others may simply require that brands be tested under The Java test suite contains over 200 tests and covers the fundamental and extended interfaces of the DOM Level 1 Recommendation. 0000066233 00000 n What are the types of specification in procurement? It would then be up to a purchaser to decide the criteria (how many or what kinds of errors) it wishes to use to make implementations eligible for purchase. Greater share of specification risk is borne by the supplier. Although there may be 1215 0 obj << /Linearized 1 /O 1217 /H [ 1477 988 ] /L 355460 /E 76811 /N 21 /T 331040 >> endobj xref 1215 38 0000000016 00000 n A lock ( 4M%m8Kxq@D0P- E62e(S4O#?s3,!Ms%iTZa5 @!.MOzNRU!+9nI BioPreferred Program - Federal Purchasing. 7. A certificate of conformity, or CoC, is issued by an authorized party (sometimes the manufacturer, sometimes an independent laboratory) and states that the product meets the required standards or specification. A conformance clause is a section of a specification that states all the requirements or criteria that must be satisfied to claim conformance to the specification. substantially equivalent to those named are considered for award, Failure to pass a test implies failure to conform. DEVELOPING SPECIFICATIONS: Although It, in turn, refers to other parts of the specification for details. Ready to get your copy? 0000007908 00000 n Such an implementation provides a proof of concept of the standard and also provides a tool for the developers of the conformance test suite (by generating expected values, testing the test suite, etc.) purchased under indefinite quantity term contracts and definite DEFINITIONS 2.1 Centroidal Area. 0000006382 00000 n There are additional advantages when a technical specifications document is drawn up and it forms an integral part of the procurement process and order placement. Dr. W. Edwards Deming is often linked with approaches to improvement that carry labels such as TQM, Six Sigma, and Lean. There are many types of testing including testing for performance, robustness, behavior, functions and interoperability. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------, Lisa J. Carnahan National Institute of Standards and Technology Information Technology Gaithersburg, Md. Typically, the sponsor establishes and maintains the program. 0000010532 00000 n It will include: Finding examples on the internet is easy. In these cases, it may be desirable to partition the specifications into subsets of functionality. Early stage specifications can be seen as part of the review with the customer (internal or external) about what they are looking to achieve on the project. Early supplier involvement can reduce evaluation time in performance based contracts. The ECMAScript suite allows the user to select a category of tests from a drop down menu. For example, ideally it should be possible to fully test a product's conformance before sign-off and deployment. 2. Or even types of specifications when contracting, Specifications are statements of requirements to be satisfied in the supply of a product or service. [Importers Guide], What is a certificate of conformity (CoC). contracting for buildings, highways, and other public works, and Typically, the decision to establish a testing program is based on weighing the benefits achieved by obtaining conformance versus the costs of creating and running a validation and certification program. It assumes responsibility for insuring that the components of the program are in place and becomes the centralized source for information about the program. Procurement serves as the primary A conformance clause is a section of a specification that states all the requirements or criteria that must be satisfied to claim conformance to the specification. Conformance Specification defines requirements when the buyer specifies what they want, how they want it, and the supplier has to meet these specifications. According to a study by the Gartner Group[1], the private sector spends over $2.2 trillion on information technology (IT) annually. Accompanying the actual test files is an XML test description file that contains pertinent information for each of the tests included in the distribution. Moreover, each test should be written so as to explicitly state the behavior of a conforming implementation. Specifically, if buyers don't demand that a product be . Additionally, the documentation should be detailed enough so that testing of a given implementation can be repeated with no change in test results. For any . 4 Examples of Conformance Quality. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. Each test should be traceable back to a statement or statements in the specification. The CoC is sometimes called Certificate of Conformance or Certificate of Compliance. However, the responsible party or any other party marketing the equipment must provide a test report and other information demonstrating compliance with the rules upon request by the Commission. and others may require laboratory tests. Elements that should typically be included in a CoC are: On the US CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) website, one can find several samples of CoCs.