Quality, safety, and the environment at ZD Electrical Panels: How important are safety and quality today in the production of electrical panels? And how can a company contribute to the issues of sustainability and protection of the environment?
We asked Alessandro Strobbe, Production Manager at ZD, who gave us a clear insight into the company’s values and the actions which ZD implements every day to do its part.
Alessandro, today there is a lot of talk about the quality and safety of electrical panels. What can a company do to demonstrate its commitment in this area?
It’s true, safety and quality are very important topics in the electrical panel sector today. Safety has always been crucial, for obvious reasons, but now a company must be able to consistently prove its commitment to customers. This is why ZD has decided to obtain one of the most complex certifications related to safety: UL 508A Industrial Control Panels Certification | No. E535619.
Can you tell us about this certification?
Certainly, it is a certification specific to industrial control panels, issued by UL, an independent global organization recognized worldwide for its prestige. Obtaining the UL Mark means that the company has tested representative samples of a product, evaluating them as meeting standards or other requirements related to potential risks (fire, electric shock, and mechanical hazards).
This certification is essential for working in major markets like the USA and Canada, but it also helps demonstrate to Italian and European customers ZD’s commitment in terms of safety.
I should add that this commitment is ongoing, because the certification is not obtained as a ‘one-off’; but companies must continuously prove they meet the necessary requirements and pass the checks by inspectors to maintain it over time.”
From safety, we move on to quality, with the ISO 9001: 2015 certification, which specifically relates to business quality. What can you tell us about it?
It is an important certification, which we believe is essential to demonstrate to customers, but also to suppliers and other professionals who interact with ZD, how we operate.
The ISO 9001:2015 certifies a company’s quality based on well-defined parameters, and also in this case, it is not granted as a one-off; it must be renewed annually, which requires thorough checks. For us, maintaining the certification is important not only because it is a mark of quality, but also because it is a challenge to keep improving and to maintain extremely high-quality standards within the company.”
Let’s move on to a highly relevant topic: what is the environmental impact of the materials used in the production of industrial electrical panels, and are there eco-friendly or sustainable options for the design and production of these products?
Here too, quality plays a key role. A high-quality job is one that lasts and benefits the client in many ways, because they have a product that performs optimally and lasts over time. This reduces costs and, generally speaking, is good for the environment.
To go into more detail, with a targeted design of electrical panels and the use of quality components, it is possible to optimize energy resources, and this is what we have always done here at ZD.
There’s a lot of talk about sustainability. What can a company do today to contribute?
Recycle. At ZD, we have a specific machine, a press which, precisely, compresses the cardboard from packaging. This allows us to store it more efficiently, to save time when transporting it to recycling centres, and, as a result, to reduce the number of trips, which means less CO2 in the environment.
For businesses, packaging is something they deal with daily because boxes are opened every day. These boxes might be made of cardboard or packed with plastic. If this is not carefully recycled, there is a risk of producing a large amount of waste. That’s why ZD has chosen to participate in a recycling project where plastic packaging is processed to become reusable bags. It’s a process that comes with a cost, but it’s undeniably beneficial to the environment.
Lastly, a company can also do a lot at an office level, as work still requires printing documents. ZD has decided to join global reforestation programs linked to printing, which involve planting trees. Everyone can do their part, whether in production departments or the more ‘office’ jobs.
For more information on ZD’s electrical panel production services, click here.
