TEST-4-SME

The Interreg project TEST-4-SME helped electronics small and medium-sized enterprises to better, faster and easier demonstrate the conformity of electronic products with international standards and speed up the product development.

The opportunity

New electronic products launched on global markets need to conform to rigorous international standards. Exporting electronics products require compliance with certain requirements before the products are sold. For manufacturers, conformity with standards means extensive testing of prototypes and many adaptations of the product. Early-stage testing allows to avoid failures in later stages and can thus save costs. The testing phase can be long, difficult, and costly for small companies that do not have yet processes in place. The improvement of the quality and efficiency of testing would then help many small businesses producing electronics to speed up the process of product development.

Electronics producing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the Baltic Sea region would need support in conformance testing/certification, standardization and entering global markets. More practical training and customized support would increase efficiency and reduce the testing time. As the Baltic Sea region has one of the most robust and competitive business environments in Europe and SMEs stand for its robustness, less costly and more optimal processes are needed.

The project TEST-4-SME aimed at tackling the challenges by engaging electronics producers in training sessions and providing them a framework for enhancing their capacities in testing and standardising.

details

Budgets

TEST-4-SME
in numbers

1.76

Million

Total
1.44

Million

Erdf
0.00

Million

Eni + Russia
0.00

Million

Norway

Achievements

The TEST-4-SME network brought together 19 easily accessible testing laboratories in the Baltic Sea region and equipped them with the necessary knowledge and procedures to support electronic SMEs. The project mapped the testing services in laboratories in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, and Germany, trained the laboratory staff to support SMEs guided SMEs through the complicated process of developing innovative electronic devices. The laboratories opened their facilities to offer testing services to 138 SMEs.

The project trained also the SMEs that could become customers of the networks’ testing labs. Close cooperation with research institutions was established and the involved SMEs received individual consultations and had a chance to visit the TEST-4-SME network laboratories.

The project made two major investments to fill the gaps. It purchased an electrostatic discharge required for testing any kind of electronic product and a reference solar cell allowing for quantitative measurement of the output power of modules.

The equipment obtained by the project was installed in Estonia. Another piece of equipment, a reference solar cell, calibrated by an accredited European entity along with a software interface was purchased and used by Protech laboratory in Lithuania. The reference solar cell and special software allow quantitative measurement of the output power of modules of any size and geometry.

The TEST-4-SME network reduced the barriers to innovation that electronics SMEs meet in the early product development and testing phases. The collaborating laboratories are working every day towards better, safer, and reliable electronic devices that will serve consumers having as priority sustainable development.

The Interreg project TEST-4-SME used EUR 1.74 million to establish an innovation support network, train the electronics SMEs, provide them with the exchange possibilities, and make the product development processes more manageable.

Outputs

Training curriculum for laboratory staff

The training curriculum for laboratory staff is a document outlining the scope, schedule, duration, target groups and participants, trainers, and the content of the training. The content of the curriculum was based on practical experiences of three laboratory staff training events within TEST-4-SME project and the participants’ feedback. Training and workshops were organised to improve the knowledge of international standards, and how to enhance quality and efficiency while reducing testing costs. The goal was to harmonize the level of knowledge and skills of specialists providing testing services in network laboratories.

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Best practice procedures for testing

The service provision rules are a set of principles that competence centres and other cooperating laboratories will follow to provide testing services to electronics SMEs. The rules aim at reducing bureaucracy when using the service, speeding up processes, optimising costs, and making the whole process of receiving testing services more SME-friendly. The document includes a description of testing principles and terminology and several annexes, which offer a common line for testing services within TEST-4-SME network laboratories.

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Sustainability strategy

The sustainability strategy explores the organizational aspects of the network, foreseen technological improvements, and potential national and international funding sources. The strategy addresses the technological advancement of the network competence centres over the next 5 years, collaboration, and funding of the network activities. The TEST-4-SME Network's sustainability strategy is planned to be used after the project as a guiding document for further collaboration activities. During the project implementation, it was agreed among the partners that the network would continue its activities through collaborative management and seeking joint funding for projects of mutual interest.

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