On June 9th D.A.R.E!! Consultancy AEMCLRP becomes the first Dutch laboratory that is AEMCLRP accredited. AEMCLRP is the abbreviation for Automotive Electromagnetic Compatibility Laboratory Recognition Program. This is a special program of the three main automotive producers in the United States : General Motors, Ford and Daimler Chrysler. The accreditation is performed by a designated auditor of AEMCLRP in close cooperation with the Dutch Council for Accreditation (RvA).  

Why AEMCLRP?
D.A.R.E!! Consultancy decided to commence the accreditation process early  2005 based on request from the market. Although the Netherlands does not have that many companies that produce complete vehicles, many components and subsystems that are delivered to the automotive industry, around the world, are developed and produced in Holland . In Europe only eleven GM AEMCLRP accredited third party laboratories are available. Apart from D.A.R.E!! Consultancy, there are six AMECLRP accredited laboratories located in Germany , three in the United Kingdom and one in France .

Few auditors available
The AEMCLRP accreditation process is complicated. To start with the laboratory should be accredited for automotive tests. Fortunately D.A.R.E!! Consultancy is accredited for these types of tests since 1998, so this did not raise an issue. Next the quality management system including all relevant procedures has to be assessed by the designated auditor. In Europe only six auditors are available, so it is clear they have busy agenda’s. D.A.R.E!! Consultancy is content with the fact that Phil Carter from UKAS was ready to accompany the accreditation process in cooperation with the Dutch Council for Accreditation.

Competence
The laboratory has to extensively show it competency. Special constructed test object, so called artefacts, have to be tested. The result are presented tot the auditors of the three fore mentioned companies. The goal of this exercise is for the laboratory to demonstrate its technical competence. At the same time the reproducibility of measurements between different AEMCLRP laboratories is guaranteed.

Lengthy process
The limited availability of artefacts does not contribute to a swift process. In the end all measurements have to be witnessed by the AEMCLRP auditor. Three reports for each type of measurement have to be submitted. These reports have to fulfil the requirements of AEMCLRP. All these heavy requirements and the limited availability of artefacts have lead to an accreditation process that took over one year.
  
Team effort
AEMCLRP demand extensive requirements to the knowledge and capabilities of the engineers that perform the measurements. According to Dennis van der Vlugt, director of D.A.R.E!! Consultancy, is the AEMCLRP accreditation a good example of a team effort. Also the cooperation with André Barel of the Dutch Council for Accreditation, Phil Carter and the people responsible at especially Ford en General Motors has been excellent.

  
Future
Besides all resourced needed for CE measurements, D.A.R.E!! Consultancy has extensive facilities for automotive measurements at its disposal. At the same time is D.A.R.E!! Consultancy market leader in the field of measurements for the automotive industry in the Netherlands and one of the two technical services accredited by RDW, the Notified Body for automotive. The extension with the AEMCLRP accreditation enables D.A.R.E!! Consultancy to further expand its positions and to acquire orders from neighbouring countries as well.

D.A.R.E!! Consultancy
D.A.R.E!! Consultancy is an autonomous company under the D.A.R.E!! Holding. The mission of the company to support customers in the field of CE Marking and e/E Marking. The laboratory is accredited by the Dutch Council for Accreditation in conformance to ISO17025 (L279). The new accreditation ensures a firm basis for the future. D.A.R.E!! offers employment to 35 people.

  
Growth
D.A.R.E!!, founded in 1992, has seen a strong growth over the past years and has established itself as a leading party in the field of measurements, consultancy, training assessments and calibrations.