Constant innovation and performance enhancements are the foundation of any solid growth strategy, especially for the industrial, high tech, and aerospace sectors. Your product is only as good as it’s last Engineering Change Order (ECO), the documentation that tells the story of the components, materials, and processes that will be altered by new product changes.
What many American companies may not realize is that those Engineering Change Orders (ECO) may be poking holes in the company’s export compliance track record. Certain changes to a product can mean the product needs to be reclassified.
Here are three questions manufacturers should be asking themselves with every ECO created:
- Have we communicated these changes to our export department?
- Have we reevaluated the classification of the product after the change was made?
- Have we ever exported a product that we changed but didn’t re-classify?
The risk of not considering these questions is an increased likelihood of a U.S. export violation—or worse, multiple violations.
Companies looking for a more proactive approach may also want to consider training their engineers in export commodity jurisdiction and classification. Learn more about this and other export compliance training topics, here.
By Michelle Kelley