Process for Engineers to join FEM R&S Working Groups

We welcome engineers to participate in our Working Groups, as long as their company is a Member of our FEM Racking and Shelving Product Group.

Joining and participating in a Working Group is a good way for engineers to work with a wide range of experienced colleagues and to improve their knowledge of rack design. It also enables their company to influence new codes and raise their own views and issues in the creation of new codes.

We currently have the following active Working Groups:

• Working Group 5: Conversion of 10.2.06 Shelving code to an EN code. Chair is Jorge Huren and Technical Secretary is Alan Worrell.
• Working Group 14: Industrial Platforms to create a new code 10.2.20, which was approved by the 2022 AGM. Chair will be Wim Zeers and Technical Secretary will be Margadant Diederik, both from the Netherlands. The first meeting of this group is 21/22 Septmeber 2023.

Participation in the Working Groups is generally open to anyone with relevant experience and expertise from companies who are members of their appropriate National Association. It should be noted that all meetings are held in English and can be very technical and that FEM R&S does not pay for the time, travel or other expenses associated with the Working Groups, therefore, it is expected that engineers will have sponsorship or funding to cover the costs for their attendances.

The number of meetings can vary considerably, depending on the current workload of the Group, but may range from one to five meetings per year, generally held in locations central to Europe and with convenient transport options. It is expected that companies will allow some work to be undertaken between meetings. Since the coronavirus pandemic, much of the work has been done online.

Up to now FEM R&S has not limited the number of representatives from one Member or Country but all those on Working Groups are expected to work co-operatively to come to agreement on best practice and standards in the interests of the industry as a whole.

If an engineer wishes to join one of the Working Groups, then the following Procedure should be followed:

• An email of application should be sent to the relevant Working Group Chairman and Technical Secretary, with a copy to the Secretariat, keeping informed the appropriate National Association.
• It must include the full name of the Working Group of interest.
• It should also include the full name, email, company and telephone contact details of the engineer concerned.
• The details of the Country or Member being represented should also be provided.

The Chairman/ Technical Secretary will liase with the prospective member and advise of dates of meetings and any relevant documentation, available through the Working Groups database.

They will also advise the Secretariat of changes to the Working Group membership so that access to this database of active documents can be added or removed.