Re: ATEX 100 certification
scale back manuals ... drop markets ... or figure out how to keep markets, provide good docs, and be cost effective.
Welcome to the "dark side" of international compliance.
Companies across industries struggle with these questions. For each firm, the answer will be different.
I know of companies that have made the strategic decision to be in a particular market even though all the products sold there could "fit on a conference room table." Clearly, the expense associated with translating, distributing, and marketing the products in such a small market exceeds the short-term revenue potential.
The beauty of international regulations is that they force companies to make tough decisions. What markets are we interested in? Do we think that we can make a good return in this market? What are the alternatives? Do they provide for better returns? Etc. etc.
For many markets, it's all or nothing. If you don't want to sell there, fine. But if you do want to sell there, issues like branding, imaging, and competitive forces would dictate that you should play to win. Among other things, that means providing all the information that will benefit users.
In this age of globalization customers have easy access to information. If they see that you provide customers in country X with better product/documentation/support/information, that will generate a lot of ill-will.
At the end of the day, there are no right answers but by going through an analysis process, you are more likely to find an answer that is right for your team.
Good luck,
Andres
P.S. Medical Design Online recently published a four-part article of mine on this issue. You can find the first article at http://www.medicaldesignonline.com/content/news/article.asp?DocID=%7BA5BBCE5 1-7525-11D3-9A64-00A0C9C83AFB%7D&Bucket=Features (at the bottom of each article, there is a link to the next one).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Andres Heuberger
<andresh -at- fxtrans -dot- com>
ForeignExchange Translations, Inc.
Phone: 401.454.0787
http://www.fxtrans.com
From print to web in 32 languages.
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