Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department Auditing and System Certification

“Auditing and System Certification” was a two-part seminar held by Engr. Ferdie Javier and Engr. Jose Ramon Cruz. The first part talks about system certification and auditing and is handled by Engr. Javier. He is a graduate of Polytechnic University of the Philippines – Sta. Mesa with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Electronics Engineering. He is currently a Facilities and Logistics Officer at Victory Christian Fellowship of the Philippines. In his current job, he heads engineering maintenance and insurance, service contract monitoring, oversees property condition monitoring, key management and facility storage and also to ensure proper furniture, fixtures and office equipment usage.

According to Engr. Javier, facilities management exists in order to ensure that facilities operate with excellent standards of event service, safety, cleanliness, and orderliness to support an organization’s mission and vision. It is a job that mainly supervises different facilities such as housekeeping and security, engineering maintenance, events and logistics, audio and visual lights, and also covers the supervision of finance and purchasing. Engineering management talks about the different types of maintenance that a facilities manager follows.

First type is the corrective maintenance wherein it is implemented right after there is a defect on a certain equipment. Second is preventive maintenance and it is when you plan what to on a certain equipment if ever it might degrade or have a defect in the future and also, it is when you buy spare parts and equipment to be used in the future as the present equipment might degrade and breakdown. This type of maintenance is used to reduce the probability of equipment and spare parts breakdown and degradation. And lastly, the third type of maintenance is condition-based maintenance wherein a monitoring of equipment is done in order to decide what maintenance is needed to a certain equipment and it is only performed when a certain equipment shows signs of decreasing performance and it is also where they decide if they should repair a certain equipment or just buy a new set of equipment as the repair costs might increase if the problems and defects continues every after repair. Engr.

Javier also talks about a comparison of what maintenance are most used in a present condition and in the future after an equipment has been bought. In order to have an optimal maintenance that yields to a reduced maintenance costs, one must select the most cost-effective strategy for each individual item and equipment in a certain building and the optimal allocation of logistics and personnel. Following this strategy is also a part of engineering maintenance in forms of maintenance management, maintenance control, and supervision equipment management.

The second part of Engr. Javier’s seminar talks about auditing. Auditing is defined as the combination of management, financial, economic, and engineering and other practices applied to physical assets with the objective of providing the required level of service in the most cost effective manner. In an engineering field of work, auditing mainly talks about asset management. Asset management has four objectives and in order to maintain and manage an organization’s investments and these are levels of service, customers, cost of service, and asset services.

The second part of the seminar is about Certification and Testing and is handled by Engr. Jose Ramon Cruz. He is a graduate of Rizal Technological University with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. He is currently a Test Engineer at TÜV Rheinland Philippines, Inc. He conducts independent safety testing and reporting test results of different appliances and equipment that are commonly seen on a household like air-conditioners and plugs and socket outlets. He is also an electrical laboratory maintenance officer.

Certification is the processes of certifying that a certain product has passed different tests and meets the qualification criteria stipulated in contracts, regulations, or specifications and these are handed by a certification organization. One common example of these certifications is the ISO 9000. Having an ISO 9000 certification means that an organization has a uniform high level structure, support of management, and a strong customer orientation.

Product certification and testing is done in order to guarantee product quality as it is an essential step in bringing new products to the market. Through these tests, one can also discover any defects early before going to a consumer while also highlighting any regulatory compliance issues found in a certain product that has undergone testing and these can help manufacturers to make changes to products early to avoid costly product recalls and fines. A certain product undergoes different analysis and testing like Electromagnetic Field Testing, Mechanical Safety Testing, Electrical Safety Testing, and Failure Analysis. EMF testing measures the amount of EM exposure a product emits to its users. Mechanical testing is a safety type of safety evaluation that involves the assessment of the mechanical aspects of the products. Electrical safety testing is done to evaluate potential risks of electrical shocks to customers when using their products and are subjected to high voltage test, leakage current test, insulation resistance test, and ground continuity test. Failure analysis is a comprehensive and forensic investigation into the reasons why a certain product has failed and it ensures certain benefits to customers as it can avoid disappointment for end customers that can damage a manufacturer or a brand’s reputation and also to improve the quality and safety of products to reduce the risk of similar failures in the future in similar devices.

Having this two-part seminar is helpful to us graduating students and students in general who are looking into working on different engineering fields in the near future. To be able to learn and grasp the scopes of auditing, system certification, and product testing will help us to have a broader sense and knowledge of what’s to come if we venture into these fields.