ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

ECJ Italy correspondent Anna Garbagna reports on recent association activities there.

The institutional activity of Afidamp is becoming increasingly important.  In 2021 the association carried out several projects which resulted in the definition of interassociative activities to create a high value network for the sector and its members.

With this in mind, Afidamp has recently joined CEI, the Italian Electrotechnical Committee, which proposes, develops, publishes and disseminates technical standards which set the reference for the presumption of conformity to regulations for products, processes, systems and electrical systems.

With the appointment to the presidency of sub-committee CEI 59/61J “Motor electric appliances for professional cleaning” of Stefania Verrienti, director of Afidamp, and of Alessandro Panico as secretary, delegate for product compliance and regulatory affairs of IPC Group and coordinator of the  Gruppo di Lavoro Macchine di Afidamp and of the associated research groups, Afidamp is confirmed as the reference association for the sector.

The foundation of the sub-committee allows the association to become a full member of the  responsible body at national level  of technical standardisation in the electrotechnical, electronic and telecommunications fields and therefore to participate in the drafting and definition of standards dedicated to its category.

The appointment will also allow Afidamp to give free access to 25 companies among its members, who will be able to take part in projects carried out by the organisation which boasts a direct participation, under the mandate of the Italian state, in the  corresponding European and international standardisation organisation CENELEC (Comité Européen de Normalisation Electrotechnique) and the IEC  (International Electrotechnical Commission).

“We are proud that CEI welcomed our nominations for the roles of secretary and president. Afidamp will be present in the sub-committee with a large number of member companies and it will be an honour for us to work in synergy with such an important and strategic partner,” Stefania Verrienti commented.

The association has also published the Position Papers on Transition 4.0. There is no doubt the concessions provided by the National Plan of Transition 4.0 (which encourages private investments and provides stability to companies) represent a very important instrument to incentivise producers, distributors and customers.

Understanding the rules

But the rules around such measures are not always easy to understand and apply. For that reason, it has defined its position with regards to the Transition Plan 4.0 and the incentives generated from it, by publishing the document  ‘Transition 4.0  - the incentives for investments in assets 4.0 in the professional cleaning machines sector’ which supplies information to allow producers and distributors to convey the right information to the market regarding access to the incentive.

This is a comprehensive 80-page report that takes into consideration all the  regulatory and temporal aspects, the necessary requirements and documentation and above all the classification and the eligible investments for every type of machine. It is an essential tool created by the Afidamp machines working group.