InterRegs was recently featured in the Business section of The Detroit News (5th Sept) following an interview by journalist, Maureen McDonald, with Dave Houston, our US-based business development manager.
The headline ran 'Expert helps companies comply with auto rules' - Dave sums up InterRegs nicely in the final paragraph of the article when he says, "We are constantly tracking, compiling, translating and publishing vehicle regulations to keep the world informed."
You can read the full article here:
Expert helps companies comply with auto rules.
InterRegs, with U.S. office in Brighton, sells corporate intelligence on automotive regulations.
BRIGHTON -- With nearly four decades of monitoring vehicle regulations and compliance for Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp., Dave Houston now helps businesses worldwide understand the latest laws governing vehicles and motors in 50 states and 50 countries through InterRegs, with U.S. headquarters in Brighton.
Houston, business development manager for the U.K.-based company, sells a body of corporate intelligence about the most legally binding elements of motorized transportation -- illumination, crash-worthiness, fuel economy and emissions. The material is compiled on the Internet or CD, and an average customer pays $9,700 for the product. Some clients pay up to $500,000 a year for their services.
Houston helps others navigate their advanced product planning teams through an alphabet soup of regulatory bodies and standards, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, Corporate Average Fuel Economy, European Union and Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.
Daytime running lamps represent one headache the global auto industry faces when exporting vehicles.
"Japan prohibits them, Canada mandates them, U.S.A. allows them and Scandinavia requires motorists to turn on their headlamps but doesn't mandate installation of day lights," Houston said.
Customers of the Internet-based research company include Ford, GM, Hitachi, John Deere, Toyota, Pininfarina, Valeo Sylvania and numerous government agencies.
As original equipment manufacturers and their suppliers take more responsibility for design, testing and development, they also assume risk for understanding and complying with regulations, Houston said. Vehicles face recall and heavy fines if they don't comply.
Houston cited a new U.S. requirement that requires all vehicles weighing less than 10,000 pounds be equipped with electronic stability control systems. That also means the control panel must have an indicator that shows when the system is activated or is manually turned off.
InterRegs scans the government Web sites for new regulations, such as quieter mufflers on U.S. motorcycles, pedestrian safety features built into the front ends of European automobiles or brighter headlights on Japanese vehicles. The accumulated new and revised requirements are then organized by a staff of 20 around the globe, coordinated from its headquarters in Fareham, United Kingdom.
Companies pay InterRegs based on the breadth of their subscription for specific countries or specialized topics for monthly updates and flash alerts. Subscriptions are available online or on compact disc with a full-text search engine and detailed log of updates. The company pairs new laws and amendments to existing regulations to save legal and engineering departments time in their intensive research.
"InterRegs provides us with current regulations of countries around the world, insuring that our products meet the requirements when changes are put into effect," said Ric Karbowski, an automotive safety engineer for the accident avoidance department at Ford in Dearborn.
Having worked almost his entire career in regulatory oversight, Houston credits regulations with making vehicles safer. "Before collapsible steering columns, some people were impaled by the steering mechanism in a forward crash," he said.
Yet the pace of new regulations continues to advance, "like giant, shifting sand dunes," he noted.
"We are constantly tracking, compiling, translating and publishing vehicle regulations to keep the world informed."
Maureen McDonald is a Metro Detroit freelance writer.