Glossary · Systems engineering and MBSE
Assembly of machinery
German: Gesamtheit von Maschinen
Under the EU Machinery Regulation, an assembly of machinery consists of machines or partly completed machinery that are arranged and controlled so that they function as an integral whole. The assembly as a whole is itself treated as machinery.
- Integrated systems
- Functional safety
- German source term
In one sentence
An assembly of machinery is a set of machines controlled as an integral whole; in EU machinery law the assembly as a whole counts as machinery.
Example
A palletizing line made of a conveyor, a robot, a stretch wrapper and a shared safety controller is an assembly of machinery, and the integrator who creates it is generally treated as the manufacturer of the whole line.
Explained in context
Context cards connect this term with others to answer one question. Also in British English and German.
How it applies
- Legal frame: The concept exists in the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC, which applies until it is repealed on January 20, 2027, and in the Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, which applies from January 20, 2027.
- Integrated systems: What makes an assembly is the common purpose and the control as an integral whole, not physical proximity. Shared safety functions and shared emergency stops are typical indicators.
- Machine safety: The risk assessment must cover the whole assembly, including interaction hazards that no single machine has on its own.
- Technical documentation: The assembly needs its own technical file and instructions for use. The documentation of the individual machines is input, not a substitute.
The German regulatory term Gesamtheit von Maschinen stresses the whole rather than the act of assembling: the point is the combined system, not the installation work.