The performance indicator system of DIN 8743 has been transferred to the European standard EN 415-11:2021. DIN 8743 specifies the internationally introduced performance measurement system for packaging machines. It is not only used by German machine manufacturers and is accepted by customers worldwide. On the initiative of the Italian industry association UCIMA and under German chairmanship and German secretariat, this national standard was converted into a European standard in order to strengthen it also in view of the emerging Chinese competition.
What seems simple at first glance turns out to be a difficult undertaking in standardisation practice. For once the international standardisation process is opened, interests that were not communicated in advance come into play. More flexibility in interpretation, consideration of special cases, calculation too complicated – it takes quite a bit of diplomatic skill to capture the criticism constructively and at the same time transfer the DIN 8743 key figure system into the new standard without damage. This has been achieved. The international users of the standard can now continue to use the terminology and the system of indicators of DIN 8743 unchanged! This saves lawyers a lot of work and avoids discussions with customers during machine acceptance tests.
