• EMC design is not a black art; EMC problems can and should be solved during the design & test stages, not during production stages.
• Fortunately, design techniques used to solve emissions problems generally solve immunity problems too.

In addition to the information already presented, the following detail should allow you to interact with your design team to make sure that compliance techniques are implemented during the design stages. The biggest mistake you can make is to wait until the design is completed before compliance issues are considered. The added re-spinning of engineering and production effort and delays can cost money and keep products from the market for months.

The 5 Levels of EMC Control

There are five levels of EMC compliance implementation that you need to know about.

1. Regulatory requirements for the markets and countries into which a product is sold.



2. Components and circuit design techniques.



3. Printed circuit board design techniques: including back-planes, dies & flex circuits. (Most critical: EMC problems at the PCB level also create EMC problems on cables and at the system level.)



4. Cables (and harnesses) and connectors design.



5. System level architecture.

Each level has a time and cost associated it; the development and unit production costs and time to market may (but not always) be a bit more than if the process does not include design for compliance. There are risks, though… these risks will be outline below.

Regulatory Requirements
- That, which must be defended -

It's critically important to know what EMC compliance regulations are required for the specific markets and countries into which your product to be sold.

A non-compliant product may cost less to design and produce and the time to market may be less than that for a compliant product, but the risk is quite great. For example, If you are importing or exporting a non-compliant product, it will be caught in customs. If your product is produced and sold domestically, competitors or users can report the violations because of interference with other products or out of competitive zeal. In either case your company could face three levels of action: Marketing Citation, Notice of Apparent Liability, and Public Notice. Criminal penalties and fines can also be administered.

The consequence of not complying with the international standards is denial of product entry into any EU country.