Name: From Design to Launch: Avoiding Hidden Electrical Safety and Sanitation Delays in Food Equipment Development
Uploaded: 2026-10-07T17:16:18.450Z
Duration: 59 min
Description: From Design to Launch: Avoiding Hidden Electrical Safety and Sanitation Delays in Food Equipment Development

Transcript for "From Design to Launch: Avoiding Hidden Electrical Safety and Sanitation Delays in Food Equipment Development": Hello, everyone, and welcome to today's webinar. Before we begin, as always, we'd like to run a quick poll to get some, information from you on issues that might be keeping you awake at night. So I'm now going to open that poll up for our participants and share that to the screen. So the question is, what is keeping you up at night with your equipment development projects? And you can see there are some options there. So we'll give everybody about thirty to forty five seconds to take a look at that and respond, and then we'll move on from there once we have some results. Alright. As the rest of those results roll in, we can see it looks like it had started out as though something was gonna be leading the way, but, it seems fairly evenly divided. Now certification, documentation, and component approvals is a big concern. Sanitation requirements that are forcing design changes also coming in, and then a smaller amount for some of our other options. So I will stop sharing that poll right now, and then we will begin to move toward the, the content of our webinar today. I'm gonna hand it over to Sam Cole, who leads our food equipment division to start things off. My name is Sam Cole, and I'm the director of our food product certification for food equipment. Also joining me is Larry Levine. He is our client and industry partnership manager. Joining us for the q and a is gonna be Nick Crowley. He's a senior project manager within our electrical and sanitation certification team, as well as Steve Fabian, who's our senior technical director here in North America. An agenda for our call today is first, going through introductions, which I've kind of just done. But then we're gonna be moving kind of into the who is NSF for those of you that don't know us, and then industry observations. What are some of the things we're seeing across the industry? Both from a trend standpoint and what may be leading to some of these delays. And then moving into improved performance. So what are the important things within the safety and the performance of the equipment, and how can we help kind of navigate some of those challenges? Or you as a manufacturer, what do you need to be aware of, to kind of streamline streamline and navigate some of those challenges? Then kind of like the best in class. Right? Like, what are the things that you could put into place, to help make sure, that you're navigating certification the best you can, getting through the process, and how NSF can really partner with you, to help you meet your company objectives. Touching on same with the field evaluations for those one off pieces of equipment that you need a field evaluation instead of certification on, and then opening it up to q and a, to go through and answer some of your questions on the specifics, for the different topics that are covered. But first, who are we? For those of you that don't know us, NSF, was founded a little over eighty years ago, founded in 1944, is a partnership with the University of Michigan out of their, Department of Public Health. The first standard written by NSF was actually a food equipment standard. So we've been doing this since we were originally created. And our vision is really to be our client's trusted partner for safety, quality, sustainability, brand protection, and the growth leveraging all of our science backed, principles, testing, and all of the engineers within our team. So NSF by the numbers, you can see here, you know, as a member of the TIC industry, not only do we do testing, inspections, and certification, but we're also a standard writer. Right? So that first standard I talked about back in 1944, was the first standard that NSF wrote, the first food equipment standard. So we've been working with the commercial food equipment industry for a very long time. You know, we work with all of the different health departments, regulatory bodies, industry, and keeping all of those food equipment standards updated and relevant with all of the updated regulations, the innovations, the evolving equipment, the robotics, the automation, all of those pieces. Right? So you can see over 680, thousand certified products. Over 330 audits completed annually. You can see as a company, a 160 plus standards and protocols that we've published. So across the industry, definitely participate, throughout, all of the different segments that kind of come together in this regulatory certification food equipment world. Here you can see a little bit of what NSF does across the board. So food equipment certification sits within our food division. We kind of call it farm to fork. Right? So that group works with everything from agriculture, from the farmers growing the food, to auditing the supply chain as it moves its way to a restaurant, retail audits within the restaurant to make sure that food safety protocols are in place, and then the certification of the equipment that's used to cook that food within the restaurant. So across the food industry, we work with all of the different segments, and we're in constant communication with all of... Really understanding the industry trends, what is it from the QSR or the restaurant side that they're really seeing, what they really want, working with the building inspectors, the health inspectors, all of those pieces to kind of keep the restaurant going. And then, obviously, all of you is the food equipment manufacturers. So being able to understand the needs of the restaurant and the needs of the manufacturer, talking to both sides really helps position ourselves, to be kind of the best partner that we can be for all of you. You can see that we're also very heavily focused in water, through water filtration, plumbing, all of the different pieces, all of the water filters used in the different restaurants are certified by NSF. And then really the last piece is kind of the wellness side of it. So all of the sports supplements that we certify, all of the cosmetics, all of those different pieces. So those are the kind of the three major divisions to NSF as we cover a lot of the different pieces in the restaurant world. And then location wise, we are a global company. We're located in many countries around the world. However, specific to this group and the testing, we've got a number of different testing locations, where we can do the sanitation, the electrical safety, the Energy Star. In the last year, we've added several locations in China, several locations across Europe, a new lab in Korea. And we're continuing to add labs in Mexico, additional labs in Europe. So we're continuing to really try to put ourselves out there, especially from a testing capacity to avoid shipping product all over in the locations that will both benefit our client base, but also focus on reducing those turn times so that you guys are really able to manage your Gantt charts and and meet your launching timelines, your certification timelines, and go out there, get that business, win that business. Right? So from there, I really wanna turn it over, to my colleague Larry to kinda kinda start talking through some of, the industry pieces and insights, and kind of pitfalls of certification that we'd like to help everybody avoid. Larry, welcome. Thanks, Sam. I appreciate it. As Sam mentioned earlier, my name is Larry Levine, and I'm a client and industry partnership manager for NSF. At NSF, we understand that time is money. You need to get your product to market profitably and protect your reputation. We understand your commercial pressures and your industry. We want to be a trusted partner, not just a regulatory compliance provider. Today, we'll walk you through our observations over years of managing certification projects, sharing valuable insights and strategies. By the end of the webinar, we hope you're better equipped to manage the regulatory and compliance portions of your Gantt charts and better equipped to move forward with your next product or innovation. What is driving equipment innovation and what are some of the some of the responses? Well, severe labor shortages and rising costs. Extreme turnover turnover and wage inflation in US and Canadian markets demand a reduction in manual labor dependencies. So how is the industry responding? With physical AI and cooking robots. You know, fully autonomous systems for frying, burger assembly, salad assembly, and coffee service, which you may see in some of the airports you travel through. Speed of service and throughput. Pressure to maximize drive through and peak hour efficiencies while maintaining order accuracy. So how is the industry responding to that? Voice AI and multi sensory POS, AI order taking integrated with products such as Toast or other POS systems, and vision based license plate recognition. Another is consistency across franchise networks. The need to ensure identical product quality across thousands of sites regardless of staff skill level. So how is the industry responding? Self calibrating equipment, such as intelligent ovens or coffee grinders that are with grind by weight and thermal compensation to standardize cycles. Another is high upfront capital, and return on investment hurdles. Franchisees require twelve to eighteen month payback periods, which are... Which is really fast, making large CapEx outlays difficult. So how is the industry responding? Robotics as a service or RAS, subscription models that convert hardware cost into predictable OPEX, providing day one return on investment information. Menu complexity operational burdens arise. Adding items like hand breaded chicken strains capacity and increases labor complexity. So how is the industry responding? Well, predictive pacing and smart layouts, AI engines that pace production based on fifteen minute demand forecast to manage kitchen flows. Another is food safety and ESG compliance, Strict if the... Strict FDA health and Canada regulations and rising energy costs demand rigorous monitoring. So how is the industry responding? Energy efficient and connected systems. An example for electrical is inverter based tech forced GHG reduction, and in sanitation, automated clean in place monitoring is expanded. We also are seeing shrinking store footprints. High urban real estate costs require high output equipment that fits in a compact digital only lay... Kitchen layouts. So how is the industry responding? Again, modular and flexible automation, scalable, high throughput systems that remove the need for front of house beverage stations. Consumer expectations are driving significant innovation across appliances and cookware. Rising energy and utility costs are increasing demand for products that reduce operating expenses, leading manufacturers to focus on inverter technology, improved insulation, and water efficiencies as examples. Consumers continue to prioritize energy efficient appliances with Energy Star products remaining a key purchase driver. Smart connected appliances are becoming mainstream with AI, sensors, and advanced controls helping performance, convenience, and energy use. In cookware, concerns around chemical coatings are accelerating the shift towards clean label, toxin free materials and finishes. Safety is also a growing differentiator with manufacturers introducing intelligent safeguards and AI enabled features that help prevent accidents and improve cooking outcomes. Finally, changing lifestyles are driving demand for convenient health focused appliances driving strong growth in countertop product products such as air fryers and other high performance small appliances. Overall, the market is moving towards products that deliver greater efficiency, connectivity, safety, and consumer competence. As manufacturers continue to innovate, equipment is becoming more sophisticated, connected, and automated. We're seeing increased increased automation and robotics, including automated kitchens and robotic arms being integrated directly into food equipment. Vending machines are also evolving beyond simple dispensing and are now being used for complete burger and meal preparations. Equipment is becoming more connected. The IoT or Internet of Things enabled technologies, software controlled functionality, advanced direct electronics, and variable frequency drives are examples of eating... Increasingly common products to improve performance, control, and efficiency. The use of flammable refrigerants is increasing as companies work towards sustainability and environmental goals. While these technologies offer benefits, they also introduce additional safety and compliance considerations. Beyond technology, manufacturers are placing greater emphasis on operator safety and ease of use for both operators and end users. Energy efficiency continue... Continues to be a priority alongside sanitation and hygienic design requirements that support food safety objectives. All of these developments sit within an increasingly increasingly complex regulatory environment where compliance remains a critical consideration throughout product development. The engineering challenge is that every innovation introduces new compliance considerations that can affect project schedules, development timelines, and market access strategies. As standards evolve, manufacturers must address new requirements and ensure compliance is built into the design process from the outset. Electrical safety, sanitation, and automation are no longer separate disciplines. It's really important for us to take a look at that. Electrical safety focuses on shock and fire protection. Sanitation focuses on cleanability and hygienic design. Machinery safety focuses on moving equipment hazards. Functional safety evaluates safety related controls and software, and equipment needs to be energy efficient. So modern equipment today frequently requires all five things to be considered, which is what we're talking about today. NSF understands all of this. We know what we know that when equipment gets more complex, it becomes more difficult to manage projects and keep all the moving parts in sync. NSF knows where the pinch points can be, and with us, you have a single point of contact. We do the coordination so you don't have to, a tremendous advantage working on your projects. By working with NSF to cover both certifications, electrical and sanitation, the goal is to avoid hidden delays and costs and get clients through the certification process as quickly and smoothly as possible. So what are some of the challenges? Well, the challenge is using separate providers can be, client pursued sanitation service... Certification with NSF and electrical certification with another provider. The challenge is design changes were required to meet sanitation certification, which could affect the electrical designs. And the complexity of that is any reviews may cause difficult back and forth communication between the different companies. Design decisions required validation from both organizations separately, which can be a bottleneck. The outcome can be costly project delays and increased complexity, less efficient and less linear certification processes. Both certifications were ultimately achieved, but with avoidable complications, additional time, and increased cost. When using NSF for both certifications, the design changes were required to meet electrical safety certification requirements, are are managed internally and discussed with the sanitation team. So changes needed to maintain compliance with both electrical and sanitation standards is a smoother communication. We're communicating with the, client and giving them all of the information, cohesively throughout the process. So what's the advantage? Again, NSF managed both the sanitation and electrical certification projects, and coordination between NSF and our clients' engineering teams enabled a more functional review of design proposals. With the hopeful outcome being efficient resolution of compliance challenges, streamlined certification process with minimal rework, client met a critical go to market deadline. NSF knows where the obstacles are. We've seen this many times. Before we get into specific compliance challenges, let's start with the reality that many engineer... Engineering teams face today. A product can functionally complete perform exact... Complete and perform exactly as intended and still miss its planned launch date. When that happens, the impact goes beyond the engineering team. Delayed market entry can affect revenue forecasts, consumer commitments, sales opportunities, and competitive positioning. Every month a product is delayed is a month that revenue is postponed and market opportunities lost. What we consistently see is that most launch delays are not caused by a major technical failure, but by issues discovered late in areas like component suitability, documentation gaps, sanitation designs, electrical safety requirements, or market specific certification needs. A common pattern is that compliance is treated as a final checkpoint after design is complete. Engineering finishes the product, then the organization sits there and asks, can we get this certified? By this stage, even relatively small findings can trigger redesign, retest, and additional project costs. It's also important to clarify that certification itself is rarely the root cause of the delay. The real challenge is discovering certification requirements late in the development process when changes become more difficult, more expensive, and more disruptive. The manufacturers that reach the market most efficiently are typically the ones that treat compliance as a design input rather than a final hurdle. They consider sanitation, electrical safety, automation, and market access requirements from the very beginning. Many launch delays are preventable when compliance requirements are identified and addressed earlier in the product development cycle. That's why we encourage any company to get involved with NSF as early as possible. Common misconceptions about certification. Well, the first is certification is end of line product testing. Again, early consideration of certification requirements helps avoid costly redesigns and delays. This works for either sanitation or electrical. Again, the emphasis is getting us involved early to avoid pitfalls later on. Fiction is detailed technical documentation is not required for certification. Can't emphasize enough how much this is inaccurate. Providing complete and up to date documentation allows for accurate project cost evaluation, testing requirements, and overall timeline. Again, if you give us accurate information upfront and we provide costs, those costs shouldn't change if we have all of the accurate information initially. Certification is a complicated process. Here at NSF, we believe that when you work with us, you'll discover that the certification process is clear, orderly, and consistent. Certified components guarantee product compliance. Using certified components alone does not guarantee product compliance, and this is, very heavily in the electrical certification side where if parts are certified to UL or CSA standards and you specify those throughout the, throughout the product, that doesn't mean that they actually will work together or that they will be accepted working together. That is why, again, just by using, products that are already certified is not a guarantee that it's going to get through the certification process. Sometimes things appear a little gray when it comes to standards, and NSF has the expertise to ensure that the right product is certified to the right standard for both electrical and sanitation requirements. Ask NSF. Please don't guess. We are here to help. We want to help, get in touch with us. NSF does not interpret anything. We know the standards and how they apply them because often the written standard doesn't doesn't clearly define how to apply it. Manufacturers often need guidance on new technologies and revised standard requirements, From sanitation to NRTL certified component selection and verification, environmental considerations, alternate product modifications, or even how standards apply to unique designs that are not specifically addressed in the standards are reasons to always ask questions. Never hesitate to ask NSF any question. We're here to help. Here is a simple high level overview to what NSF tries to do to save time and money throughout the entire process, including the various steps to certify your products. Whenever possible, we try to provide cost savings and an efficient process in order to support your product launch plans. Yes. We actually pay attention to your Gantt chart. Of course, we can never guarantee that your product will pass the first time, but we are acutely aware that if you need something quickly, we will do our absolute best to manage your project as efficiently as possible. So just a quiz... Quick overview or a quick glance at this, at this slide. You know, basically, again, it's early concept drawing prototype, meaning send us the information early, ask us questions early. Right? At that point, you apply for whatever it is you wanna certify, whether it's a new product, a modification to an existing product. We'll get into more of that in a little bit. Again, supply the documentations, eventually send a sample. Eventually, we're going to evaluate the construction of it, both on the sanitation and electrical side. Eventually, there may be performance testing depending again on sanitation or electrical requirements. And then, we'll also talk about how this, working with NSF on both certifications, you get, one combined on-site audit for both electrical and sanitation, which is a tremendous time and cost savings. You know, again, a combined audit, you know, again, reduces the amount of people coming in. In the case of electrical, there's typically two audits annually. In the case of sanitation, it's typically one audit annually, although there is one certain circumstance where two, can take place. Now I'll walk you through what we see when everything is in order with the goal of making the process as smooth as possible and prove to you that NSF is the best in class in certification management. All new products, whether it be new technology or simply a new product concept, get the NSF team involved before prototypes are developed. Again, get us involved early, not later. Let us be your partner. We can help you avoid critical errors or holdups throughout the certification process. So, again, best in class solutions start with early engagement. We're gonna... You're hearing it throughout this presentation, and we'll continue to talk about it. From concept to drawing to prototype to parts and material selection, speak to our team as early as you can, and let us be part of your team for greater success. As soon as you engage with NSF, we're thinking about the end certification, and that means collecting the right information as early as possible so that our clients stay on course. That means getting the foundations right as much as possible even at the application stage. We are the experts, and we can help you. In electrical, we reference the right standard upfront. For example, which EMC directive, might be involved, which product categories, and the type of products we are dealing with. In sanitation for existing clients, we encourage you to reach out to your project manager, and remember, NSF has dedicated project manager, a single point of connection for you and your team, especially if it's a new concept or just to double check even if it's an existing product to be safe. The intention here is to avoid the wrong standards being used in the first place, which ends up in a rework later. For brand new NSF clients, the same applies because we want to set you up on the right path. We know the standards to use, and we're here to help. So ask us any question that may arise. Also mentioned earlier is Energy Star. We are a full Energy Star certification body including all of the testing and reporting to Energy Star. Documentation review, what's important? NSF is always looking for better ways to manage your documentation for future changes, whether the changes are by choice or component and material availability related. When we take a look at this slide and you see a checklist. Right? So on the sanitation side, it says technical documentation review, and that is product photos, drawing, any information you can give us so we can evaluate it and look at it to make sure we're going down the right path. Components certification, you know, manufacturing facility details. Where is it being made? Which country is it being made? Very important. Description of what the product is and what it does. We often will say, what is it? You would be surprised at how many questions come to us, and we have no concept what it is that the product is. We can't help you unless we know what the product is and how it applies. We document all all the parts and materials that have direct and indirect food contact on the CPL on the sanitation side. The CPL is called the certified parts list. I already mentioned know the countries that you intend to sell it in. That's very important in addition to where the facility is located. On the electrical side, again, product photos or drawings, where the manufacturing facility is located and the details of it. We're gonna ask you for wiring diagrams and power ratings. We're gonna ask you for a list of the critical components that are... That needs to be provided on specific forms that NSF will provide to you. And, again, explain to us what countries you intend, to sell it in. We need to know the critical components. I can't emphasize that enough on the electrical side as well as the materials and anything touching food on the sanitation side. Talk to us early so we have a strong preliminary understanding of the product goals. Preliminary review, what's important? Again, I mentioned this before. We're always going to ask you, what is it? Again, we're not mind readers. We'd like to think we are, but the more information you can give us and the greater details you can give us, the more accurate we can answer you and the more accurate our quotes will be and the smoother that the certification process will be. So you have a concept, tell us what it is. A model determination for a family. What we're looking for is once we understand the product, each product requires its own family. So we need to identify, can this be merged into an existing family, or is this going to be a new and exclusive family? What standards are are... Is the product involved with? How will it be tested? What's involved in the testing? Again, that's driven by what is the product? What markets are you going to? US, Canada, The EU, Asia? Tell us where you're planning on selling it. This helps us make sure that all the requirements for certification are met. Which components are best? Again, we can't tell you which components to use. However, we can advise to you if something may or may not, work or may or may not be an option, and that we'll encourage you to look for, additional or alternative options. What design criteria should be considered? Again, we can't dictate to you what changes to be made. We'll reference the NSF standards. We can give you suggestions and advise you on where to look and what to consider, but we'll do everything we can within our legal rights to advise you so that the process is smooth. Again, bringing us into the conversation early saves your company critical time, resources, and our intention is to save you money too. So a construction review, what's important? Again, review the current construction. What that means is we're looking at what the construction is as it relates to the clause in the standard or the standard itself. So in other words, every product has its own standards that are involved. We need to review that to... Based upon the current construction of your product. Model testing determination. Again, as part of the certification process, we're going to pick out what model needs to be evaluated both physically and in any kind of testing. Okay? So we will make, a determination of what's needed based upon the technical review of the documentation in both sanitation and electrical. Corrective actions, what does that mean? It's called a CAR, corrective action report. And what happens is during physical evaluation, any testing that that re... That's required in electrical or sanitation, if something, you will always get a report if there's any corrective actions that we find need to be looked upon and, perhaps evaluated. There's lots of opportunity to discuss what we found versus what you consider, and we're always open to discussions on how to resolve corrective actions. Critical component review, again, imperative. When you talk about sanitation or electrical, a detailed list of... On the CPL for sanitation and on the component... Critical component list for electrical, It's very important that everything that you use in manufacturing that product, is on that list. And on the sanitation side, again, it's in the food zone. Food contact, is the... Are the key areas that the CPL is involved, meaning the parts. Safety performance testing. What's important? Well, we conduct performance testing identified with... Identified in phase one of the electrical evaluation, and then, we conduct performance testing for the sanitation side depending on what the equipment is and if performance testing is required. And I'll expand upon that in a moment. We evaluate compliance against applicable requirements. We identify any nonconformances or nonconformances or test failures. We notify the client immediately if issues are identified. We support corrective actions as needed. In other words, those car reports that we spoke about, anything that arises, talk to us. You're not on an island. We're happy to help you navigate it. And then where needed, we have to retest affected items after issues are addressed if the product fails the testing. So, again... And these are examples at the bottom of this slide, the NSF standard logo or or sanitation logo, the NSF electrical logo. And and then with Energy Star, it'll be the Energy Star logo that can be applied, you know, when that when that passes certification testing and is reported in. So there are two types of facility audits, and this is something that often people don't understand. So hopefully, this will make it a little bit more clear. Initial audits. What are initial audits? Initial audits are only involved in facilities that are new. It can be new to an existing client or it can be new for a new client. And what typically happens in an initial, facility audit is it's an announced audit, and we go to the facility. It's three to four hours, and we explain what information we will be seeking when we go there on the annual unannounced audits. We train the people on what to look for, how to access NSF Connect, what the documents look like. And so everybody is prepared for the future unannounced audits. So then there's regular follow-up inspections. As part of the certification process, unannounced audits are required. Why is that? This is how we maintain, productive... Production matches to the original tested or evaluated equipment. In other words, are you using the same materials? Are you using the same electrical parts? Is it by the same manufacturer? Is it the same ingredients? Is the design the same from the photos and the physical evaluations that we've done? In other words, we're making sure that you are making the equipment consistently and continuously the way that it was submitted to NSF originally. This is part of the certification process. This is why health inspectors trust NSF certified products is because they know we are looking at everything consistently on an annual basis. And on the bottom, it says, for initial inspection, review NSF's guidance with your facility team and raise any questions with your project manager. So, again, when you get started with NSF or if you... Existing client work with NSF, always start with a... Reaching out to your project manager. We're happy to help with any questions. So product listing and certification. What's important? It confirms compliance with the national safety standards after testing and inspection, the certification mark authorization, approval use... Is approval use of the NSS certification mark to indicate safety certification, public NSS certification directory. This is an example on the slide of where you land when you're looking for certified products. It lists the certified products publicly for regular... Regulators and consumers to find any products. Ongoing compliance audits ensure, again, products continue to meet evolving safety and certification requirement. The information used to build your online listing is pulled directly from the documentation you provide during your certification review. In other words, if you want people to be able to look up products the way you believe they need to be known as, you're the one that's going to supply that information to NSF. NSF does not determine what those listings should look like. There are parameters that we have to meet, that dictate certain things. But overall, it's your control, what you want seen and listing, and it's very important for you to recognize we're here to help you. Field evaluations, an alternative to certification for limited production. So what's important here? What's the purpose is ensuring safe, compliant, correctly installed equipment when no certification exists or equipment is modified. When is it required? Uncertified prototype or custom built equipment or requested by authority having jurisdictions, also known as AHJ. Key standards involved can be NEC, which typically is NFPA 70, electrical safety, including UL, CSA standards, equipment construction, local building, and health codes. To provide a quote, we must first receive the completed NSF field evaluation application, and we'd be happy to supply that to you whenever needed. The reason for field evaluation, local municipality... Municipalities and AHJs require that each piece of equipment put into a facility comply with the appropriate ANSI, NFPA, and NEC publications. Field evaluations are used for small production amounts where equipment could be specialized. Field evaluations could be used just to test a viable market before actual certification, such as a large chain, a restaurant operating chain is working with a factory on a prototype, and they want a certain amount of units that can be sent into the field for testing in the locations. NSF can can supply both a sanitation and electrical field evaluation of those to say to those... The varying bodies, that it is safe, it has been reviewed, and, it's okay for it to be utilized in a temporary status. So, again, customer low volume equipment are still required to meet sanitation and safety requirements, so it's very important to understand that. NSF electrical field evaluator reviews, review the equipment on-site at a manufacturer or the final installation. Visual inspections, mechanical hazards, NDT, and component verification are all taken care of at that time. A label is applied to compliant equipment. A report is issued documenting evaluation and any limitations. The authority having jurisdiction or the AHJ is the final approver of equipment. They look for the report and the label. Your NSF field evaluated label shows that your product meets the requirements of the local authority, having jurisdiction, AHJ again, and that AhJ inspector is the final approver. Sam, that's it for me. I'll hand it back to you. Thank you, Larry. So before we move on to q and a, I just kinda wanted to wrap it up. Hopefully, all of the different examples and scenarios and situations that that Larry went through were helpful in kind of understanding the different steps in both the certification process, but, you know, the r and d, the innovation landscape, the the new product, and the areas where we're really seeing, the different pitfalls that may be causing delays, in the areas where we can help, kind of eliminate those delays or, help you through the certification process. Right? Like, our journey over the last couple years, is we've really been working with our clients to understand how we can help and support, is what's led to kind of the development of of these offerings and our desire to get involved early at, like, the r and d or the prototype phase to do drawing reviews or eval reviews or all of the different pieces that we can do to kind of help you, meet your market deadlines and manage your Gantt charts. Right? It's been an evolution of kind of moving beyond being just a certification body and really wanting to be a trusted partner to work with you to help you meet your goals and objectives. So speed to market, that efficient product certification, is our number one focus. Right? Prompt responses, efficient turnaround times, working with one team of people. We are the food equipment experts. We've been doing it for eighty years. So we want to help you through that process as efficiently as possible. Working with one certification body and getting involved early definitely leads to leads to improved timelines, but also improved r and d costs. You know, Larry had talked about the tooling, the redesigning. We wanna get involved early to help avoid all of those pitfalls. Access to the market. Like I said, we've been doing this for for over eighty years when it comes to food equipment. You know, we are the experts. We've been doing this. We've seen lots of different pieces of equipment. We understand and know how to interpret all of the standards. So we are kind of here to provide that knowledge, that guidance, and help you through the process. And then customer service, like I said, we wanna be a trusted partner, not just a certification body, not just a checklist on your Gantt chart to get there. We wanna help exceed your timelines, help you hit the market faster. Right? So with that, there may be, a number of pieces of equipment. Maybe you work with us on the sanitation side and you wanna bring over your electrical. Maybe there are a number of pieces that aren't with us for sanitation or with us for electrical. It is very easy, to bring all of that over. So if you're right now managing multiple CVs and you're just, hey. I wanna deal with, you know, my current project manager to handle all of this. We do have a very streamlined process to bring over any sanitation certification or electrical. So it just starts with an NSF review where we verify the current product design matches what's in the existing records. Right? So we'll look at, either the documentation report for your existing sanitation certification or, the existing documents for your electrical and just make sure that everything is current and matches, full documentation assessment. You know, we will look at a a physical sample, and, you know, we will have to do a facility audit. As part of it can be done during your existing sanitation annual audit where we do, like, an initial electrical audit. And then if there are any discrepancies found, you know, we may have to work through... Like, if you've made changes but hadn't notify your existing CV, Work through making any of those updates before we bring it over. But it's really designed overall as... Let's just take a look at the documentation. If everything lines up, you know, we'll work through the process, get it transferred over, very easily. From there, I'd now like to bring all of our experts out, to kinda go through and answer, all of the questions that you guys have submitted throughout the webinar, to help provide any additional clarity, or answer any of the questions on on something you might have heard or questions on how NSF can support. So let's kick it off with our first question. Alright. Well, while I call our presenters and technical experts to the stage, a couple of quick Q and A reminders. So for today's Q and A, if you have a question, drop that in your Q and A console, and we'll get to those... As many of those as we can. Also, if you'd like a copy of today's deck, make sure that you drop the word deck in the q and a console, and then an NSF representative will follow-up with you directly. So, I'll get to the first question that we have, which is, about common failures. What are the most common electrical safety failures that you see during certification? So getting right into the the brass tacks of it. Who'd like to address that? I'll I'll take it done. So they can be held earlier, and that is the complexity of the equipment is is getting greater with each year with the, advancements of all the different technologies. But, when it really comes down to what the hiccups are, it's almost the simple things that really get in the way. It's the relevance of which standard to choose because of all the different complexities, but it's also the little things that, are in the design, such as... I just came across this recently, and that is a simple design, spacing problem on a printed circuit board. It may seem very trivial, but in the long run, now the manufacturer has to go back because he didn't have the appropriate spacings, on the board, and now he's got to go back and respin an entire board and lay it out. So it's a simple thing, but it creates major problems, major cost, major delays. So the emphasis here is also, you know, getting us involved early on By doing preliminary reviews of products ahead of time, we address a lot of these questions that may come up as far as which, not not specifically the components or the selection of components, but whether the components that were selected are appropriate for the application and being used. And, of course, in the end, you know, we can put the whole system together and advise you ahead of time foreseeing what may fail, in the design stage before the actual application and going through the testing routine. So, again, emphasizing early engagement, and, we would help you and be part of the team. So, anything else, Nick, you wanna. add to that? That pretty much you think? it. I think, you know, the the key is getting us in the beginning. Right? Early design. Right up right up on pencil and paper, get us involved, bring us in as part of the team to avoid some of those issues, especially when we start talking about grounding and bonding and, some of, you know, the high voltage, low voltage spacing as a common thing, wiring, you know, gauge of wires for the load, labeling issues, things like that. So, having us as part of the early discussions is the key to avoiding a lot of the issues. Exactly. And and, again, reviewing the design because depending on the complexity of the unit itself, you know, we may be engaging EMC, software, electrical safety, mechanical hazards, sanitation. So all of these have to be put in priorities as which is more concerning and, engaging each one, separately and, therefore, Yeah. getting One thing to. add too is also, bring up, families of products, especially for the electrical side where a lot of times we can evaluate one model to represent all models. So understanding the similarities between the different products that you may be submitting is key to understand in the beginning also to avoid, any testing that's not needed or... Especially on cost too. We can save you cost, by testing and... So... I agree. Yes. Also, you know, the the change in standards, especially in the refrigeration, systems where now we're doing a lot of, gas leakage test, this is definitely something that should be reviewed ahead of time because really understanding the test and the parameters of that test, how the different gases propagate, and what components are being, evaluated and why they're being evaluated is, a big concern, simply because it's new. It's basically... A lot of the manufacturers don't understand how the test is actually performed and, actually, how the gas propagates throughout the unit, whether it be on or off. And, therefore, you know, getting us involved early, we explain the test, where the sensors are, what volume of gas is being propagated, why it's being propagated, and which components, such as spark, driven components such as, a relay or brush motor are of concern, taking a look at each of these ahead of time. We've come across this recently as well where, you know, this is being looked, in hindsight instead of foresight, and and now it's a big redesign in order to understand how to isolate the gases, when they do, or. possibly. leak. Great. Good you. stuff. I'm gonna I'm gonna jump in to get to another question here because we wanna make sure we get through some stuff. No worries. Oh, sorry. There's a. little bit of... Obviously, there's not a little bit. There's a lot of crossover in what these folks are dealing with between electrical safety and sanitation requirements. So the question about, are there sanitation requirements that could cause potential issues with electrical safety and what might those be? Yeah. I mean... Yeah. I can kinda, start with wanna. I mean, answer that? again, electrical sanitation, they are somewhat two different disciplines, but they're very important to work concurrently with a product a product. You start introducing water, steam, chemicals, and, you know, cleaning practices, around electrical. Right? That can definitely cause a shock, electrical shock hazards, fire. There's a lot of issues that can come that... With that. So having, it's involved in the beginning from both disciplines, will result in a safer product down the line without avoiding any issues. Usually, we will tend to do a sanitation, evaluation first, while we're reviewing the paperwork for the electrical side. And if... As long as there's no changes, then we move right into the electrical after. So they're done in phases, but it is very important to consider both, especially when you're introducing any kind of liquid into an electrical environment. Steve, anything to add to that? Yeah. You hit it right on the head, and that is anytime you're dealing with cleaning of electrical equipment, you're always concerned on how that's, liquids are going to propagate or possibly bridge, electrical components. Also, what I find is the selection of materials because, you know, they have to meet the sanitation requirements, but at the same time, they have. to have flammability and various characteristics for the electrical. So, meeting both, needs to be considered right up front, because that can change the design also, Great. Thank you. greatly. We're getting close-up to time, so I wanna make sure I give, Sam and Larry a chance to to offer some final thoughts or some wrap ups. If you've got, like, a single takeaway, you'd think somebody who's been here... Been through our presentation today should take home with them to think about as they move forward. Please give it a chance to share. I'll go first, Larry. I I think just really the biggest takeaway, and we've talked about it often is, well, just the getting us involved early. Right? Like, I talked during, my portion of the presentation. I was really wanting to be more of, like, a partner with the client than just a a certification body, a checklist item to kind of happen at the end. You know, getting involved early, looking at the drawings, the designs, all of those pieces. We're we're just really focused on really kind of streamlining, and helping all of the manufacturers, meet their certification timelines, meet their launch timelines. And us just kind of being able to do this as a group across all of the certifications is something that, you know, we're hoping that we can do a lot more for all of our clients. So it's really where... I I guess my closing thoughts, Larry? Yeah. The only thing I'll add, Sam, thanks for that, is, is that, what we find out there is that people appreciate, how quickly we we respond, the quality and depth of information that we supply. We, we work diligently, to help you get things done. We're not gonna leave you on an island. We've mentioned that before. In our experience, the data has been each time an organization, works with NSF or gives us the opportunity, they're pleasantly surprised at how quick the information gets done, how how quickly we can get, handle the information. We realize that sometimes we get busy and so does everybody, but we'll we'll we'll work, very diligently to stay in in good standing. So, again, communication is key. Can't say it often enough, and that's what we excel at, and we wanna prove that to you. You. Great. Thank you. Well, a big thank you to all of our presenters today and especially to all of the folks who are attending today's webinar. As a reminder, this webinar will be available starting about an hour after its its end time on demand for anyone who wants to watch. So, if you've attended today and you want to share this with some colleagues, you can use the same link that you use to register or you'll also be receiving a follow-up email, which will include a link to the on demand that you could share freely. So, once again, thank you to everyone who attended today, and thank you to our presenters. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to NSF via nsf.org on our contact us page or through your direct contact if you've already got somebody you're working with. We look forward to hearing from you, and we look forward to seeing you at our next webinar.