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| | Interview with Birgit Kämpfle |
Whatever we claim, the ultimate test for a product comes in the testing room. Does the product really deliver everything it promises? Can customers rely 100% that what the label claims is really true? At Fujitsu Siemens Computers the most stringent and exacting tests are carried out at our own testing facility in Augsburg. These facilities are so state-of-the-art that other companies often come to have their products tested there.
The tests laid out for standards such as "Energy Star" and "Blue Angel" are tough, and to make sure that nothing slips through that shouldn't Birgit Kämpfle makes sure that all tests are done to the highest standards . . . |  |
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1. Can you tell me about your role in the company? |
Hello! I suppose you could say that I am the person responsible for checking, testing, and double-checking that the products FSC produces comply with our environmental requirements.
I test Fujitsu Siemens Computers products in our Augsburg test center to make sure that they live up to the high environmental standards that we and the standards bodies like Energy Star or Blue Angel expect! I’m also the owner of the Fujitsu Siemens guidelines for product development and design. |
2. How large a role does the “environment” play in your job? |
Absolutely everything I do is related to the environment in one way or another! I need to make sure that Fujitsu Siemens Products are environmentally friendly and pass or exceed environmental standards.
I perform a range of tests and measurements on each individual product so that we can understand its precise environmental implications. |
3. Can you give us some examples of the testing which you do? |
One thing I do is test how easy it is to recycle our products. For example, we look at how we can make the body for certain components such as TFT monitors as simple as possible and we also try to design hardware products so that they are easy to disassemble.
I also look at what types of construction materials are being used; for example, checking that plastic parts are halogen-free, what flame-retardant materials are being used and things like that.
After this I look at the characteristics of the products. Here, I look at three main areas: testing product energy-efficiency; testing product noise emissions; and testing packing materials and product weight.
The bottom line is that we end up testing practically every aspect of the products to make sure that we completely understand them, what their effect on the environment will be, and how we can minimise it!
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4. How can people be sure that the results we publish are 100% accurate? |
Testing is an incredibly well-monitored and painstakingly accurate process! If there are any discrepancies at any stage in a product’s development, we modify and correct the product, before sending it on for further testing. When we are producing a product for standards bodies like Energy Star or Blue Angel we even supply them with our test results.
All our testing takes place in our accredited test center in Augsburg, which along with our product testing methodologies is itself subject to regular inspections from external bodies. So you can see, everything is checked and double-checked right down the smallest details! |
5. What inspires you most about your job? |
| I really like that fact that I play an active role in shaping environmental standards for all sorts of products. It’s great because the meticulous product testing stages give me a really deep understanding of the environmental characteristics of all the FSC products and working with colleagues looking at ways to make our products more and more energy-efficient is my way of making a small contribution to the wider climate debate. |
6. Describe one of your greatest challenges! |
| It is a real and constant challenge to ensure that each and every FSC product has an environmentally friendly design, low noise emissions, and low energy consumption. I suppose that testing our first Green Consumer PC (SCALEO Li2405) was one of my greatest challenges; we had to look thoroughly at every single ecological feature possible and this all had to be done incredibly quickly due to the fast-moving nature of the IT market and to make sure that it was ready in time for IFA! |
7. What will be the next big project for you? |
There are a few main targets, really. The first is to ensure that our customers associate FSC with quality “Green” products; we want our products’ eco characteristics to be a clear differentiator between us and our competitors in the marketplace.
We are also working to improve information available to the end customer about the energy efficiency of our products. Lastly, we will be working hard to implement new – even tougher – eco requirements for product production in line with new guidelines set out by the standards bodies such as Energy Star and Blue Angel!
In a nutshell: We’ll be implementing even higher testing standards to ensure that our products are “greener” than ever before and we’ll be working hard to make sure that our customers realise just how eco-friendly our products are and the benefits which they can deliver!
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