IDEC Engineering Insights #6: an engineer dedicated to raising awareness of safety and IDEC products in the China market

In recent years, awareness of industrial safety in China has been growing and changing.

Engineer Hao Lu has seen this shift in thinking firsthand, in his role in the hardware development department at IDEC (Shanghai) Corporation. He brought us up to speed on the changing industrial safety landscape and how IDEC is adapting.

I was given the opportunity to join a safety product development team not long after joining the company 3 years ago.

Back then, being responsible for safety products hadn’t crossed my mind. I wasn’t expecting to move into the safety technology field, I didn’t have any experience as a product manager, and I had no idea what the role would involve.

Joining the development team was where my journey with IDEC – my journey toward understanding the true meaning of ‘safety’ – began.

The thing I admire most about IDEC is its persistence in designing products that conform to multiple international safety standards and certifications. (CE, TÜV, UL, etc.)

It’s not easy to design safety products that satisfy all of those different requirements. Even so, IDEC remains committed to developing and offering products that can be used safely in any region.

This philosophy naturally means research and development teams need to do more, but it’s a reflection of IDEC’s ongoing dedication to maintaining quality and safety. That approach resonates with me on a personal level.

The more that I read about the world of safety, the more fascinating it becomes.

Understanding international safety standards was the first hurdle in this role. Most guidance on ISO and IEC standards is only available in English, it’s extensive, and it’s full of technical terms.

When I started trying to read it, I thought, “Will I be able to understand this?” I had to carefully review almost every page.

However, as I continued to read and research, I discovered that the safety world is vast. There’s so much to discover.

That process of gradual, in-depth learning helped me to realize something:

Safety products represent achievements in technology, and also represent a responsibility to workers in the manufacturing environment they’re installed in.

International safety standards are the result of a global consensus. They provide the universal requirements for controlling and reducing risks, building redundancies into design, and for functional reliability.

My understanding of these concepts became the solid foundation for my work in safety product development.
The deeper I look into safety, the more my own depth of knowledge grows.

It was the HR8S safety relay module. It’s already on sale in China, and we’re preparing to bring it to the Taiwan market in 2026. There are also plans to gradually launch the product in other global markets, including Europe.

As it was my first project, everything was a challenge. The HR8S is a functional safety product, so it went through a much more demanding development process than other products.

We had to interpret and confirm the relevant safety standards and evaluation requirements, and understand third-party certification reports (e.g. the UL certification the HR8S received in North America).

Those reports are long and detailed, and I still remember how long they took to read and understand. However, it was through such deep involvement with the project and the safety requirements that I realized how essential functional safety products are.

This experience taught me that “Safe products can’t simply be made – they’re only complete when their safety is proven.”

We demonstrated that with the HR8S. That thinking is the foundation of my career in engineering.

IDEC’s standardized processes and rigorous quality management systems really impressed me.

Skipping a single step in the development process can create risks, especially when developing safety products. IDEC’s dedication to following processes is a major factor in how well the resulting safety products can be trusted.

There are 3 essential elements of a good safety product:

• High reliability (a low failure rate) – stability is the top priority.

• The ‘exact functionality’ the customer needs – meeting requirements without piling on features.

• Easy on-site installation and maintenance – workplace-friendly.

As an example, ‘exact functionality’ is important because when it comes to safety products ‘more’ doesn’t always equal ‘better’. The most important thing is that the product can provide the necessary functions safely and reliably, and that it maintains that high quality level to the end of its lifecycle.

IDEC is established (well recognized) in the region as a manufacturer, and for our product quality.

Right now, many customers in China see IDEC as primarily a maker of quality switches, relays, and indicator lights.

These products have been trusted by customers for many years, and continue to be an important part of our identity in the region.

IDEC offers a much wider product range, including PLCs, HMI, safety sensors, and other safety devices. Our portfolio is much broader than many people realize.

Based on my experience in safety product research and development, I can see a strong opportunity for us to help more customers discover the breadth of IDEC’s expertise, technologies, and product lineup.

In China, safety products in particular are a relatively new field, and interest in them is growing quickly. I want to help spread a new brand image for IDEC that reflects this growth in interest: a company that delivers reliable, high quality solutions across both the control and safety fields.

There have been significant changes over the past 2-3 years. By visiting customers in China, I’ve noticed that safety awareness at manufacturing sites is steadily growing.

End users and equipment manufacturers have started proactively using terms from international safety standards, such as ‘Performance Level’ (PL, from ISO 13849-1) and ‘Safety Integrity Level’ (SIL, from IEC 61508).

2 examples come to mind:

1) End users specify the safety levels they need.

In China, achieving a certain safety level was traditionally the manufacturer’s responsibility.

Recently, more end users have started to specify the safety level they need instead. For example, during a painting equipment project, the customer specifically demanded that “the safety circuits for this system must meet PLrd”.

It’s interesting, because the end user often isn’t expected to understand safety standards in such depth. Not all companies and users are fully familiar with the technical details of safety standards. The fact that they’re willing to clearly state the exact level of safety they need and seek out solutions is a big change.

2) Equipment manufacturers ask more safety-related questions.

I visit equipment manufacturers all over China. They used to ask relatively simple, one-off questions, such as “is this part compatible with my system?”.

Now, many of their questions are specific and high level:

• “What’s the best way to build a safety circuit that meets PL/SIL requirements?”

• “How do we design systems to meet the appropriate safety level for the application?”

• “How should we verify the safety of the design and prepare functional safety-related documents?”

In the past, these kinds of discussions were uncommon. This shift in the field makes me think that safety awareness in China is building at a grassroots level.

Choices matter, and products alone cannot ensure safety.

Visiting manufacturing sites has left me with the strong opinion that, in many cases, end users select the wrong devices.

Through my interactions with customers, I’ve discovered that many companies still have misconceptions about how safety products should be implemented.

Before the question of product quality even comes up, they face other issues:

1. Focusing on certification, ignoring whether or not it actually applies.

Product certification doesn’t apply in every use case. The safety level must be assessed in line with the real-world requirements.

2. Failing to consider the system’s overall safety performance.

Even if individual safety products in a system meet the required PL/SIL, the system as a whole may not.

For these reasons, I believe that the manufacturing industry in China should focus more strongly on:

• How to select the most appropriate safety products

• How to build a safety architecture that meets requirements at the system level

• How to ensure correct installation and use on site

Our work to build awareness continues. When we visit manufacturers, we clearly explain the basics of international safety standards, key points for verifying certificates, and how to build circuits that meet the required safety level.
These cases show that products don’t solve a problem or ensure safety by themselves.

Safety devices are simply parts of a safety system. That system can only function properly and effectively when the products in the system meet the requirements of the application.

No matter what the product does, or how well it’s designed to perform, if it isn’t selected, installed and used correctly then safety can’t be guaranteed.

I believe these are fundamentals everyone at an industrial workplace should understand. We will continue working hard to provide Chinese customers with the safety solutions and technical guidance they need to address on-site issues.

As the global IDEC Group, we’re working to create the optimum environment for humans and machines to safely coexist.

It’s the company’s philosophy, and personally I want to aim for the same future. I’m involved in developing safety products because I want to help build that optimum environment and contribute to the future of China’s manufacturing industry.

Safety is about more than controlling and preventing risks – respecting workers is just as important.

In manufacturing, humans and machines often work in the same spaces. We believe that even compact safety devices can help to create environments where equipment operates reliably, and contribute to worker peace of mind.

IDEC has many strengths and capabilities beyond switches and relays. We need to make that common knowledge, especially in the China market.

I want to create more opportunities for discussion, and for more people to know about IDEC’s safety products, philosophy, and technological know-how. It’s important for us to increase the opportunities we have to directly interact with customers and change their perceptions.

By communicating IDEC’s offering and value effectively, I hope to spread a new image of IDEC in China as a manufacturer of a wide variety of safety products. Together, we can build a stronger, safer manufacturing industry.