Questions we are asked about this
What is the difference between full import and SKD assembly for EV chargers?
In full import, a finished, tested and packed charger crosses the border and is sold as received. In SKD assembly, tested board sets and component kits cross the border and the final assembly, end-of-line testing and packing take place at a site in Europe. The design, the platform and the supplier are the same in both cases; what changes is where the product is finished, what is declared at import, and who performs the final test.
Does assembling a charger in Europe make it EU origin?
Not automatically. Article 60(2) of the Union Customs Code, Regulation (EU) No 952/2013, provides that goods produced in more than one country originate where they underwent their last substantial, economically justified processing or working in an undertaking equipped for that purpose, resulting in a new product or an important stage of manufacture. The Commission's guidance on non-preferential rules of origin states that processing which is not economically justified, or which consists of minimal operations, does not confer origin. Whether a particular assembly operation meets the test depends on what is actually done at the site and must be assessed case by case; a binding origin information decision from a national customs authority is the way to settle it with legal certainty.
Does SKD assembly reduce import duty?
It changes the classification of what is imported, which may or may not change the rate. A finished charger and a kit of boards and components can fall under different headings, and general interpretative rule 2(a) of the Harmonized System can require an incomplete or unassembled article to be classified as the finished article where it has its essential character. Duty rates for the relevant subheadings should be confirmed in the EU TARIC database for the specific product and origin rather than assumed, and the classification itself is worth confirming with customs in advance.
Does SKD assembly shorten lead time?
It does not shorten production or ocean transit; it changes what you are holding when a customer order arrives. eectec's serial production lead time is 45 days in either model, and kits travel the same route as finished units. What SKD changes is that the stock held in Europe is generic boards and components rather than finished variants, so a change of enclosure, label, connector type or firmware configuration can be answered from local stock instead of from a new production run.
What does a company need in place to run SKD assembly?
A site, trained operators, end-of-line test equipment and a controlled process. eectec supports this with engineering transfer: test programmes, ATE fixtures, documentation and training move to the customer's line. The obligations that come with it are that the end-of-line test must be equivalent to the factory test, the traceability record has to be maintained locally, and the party placing the product on the market under its own name holds the CE technical file for the product as assembled.
Is SKD the same as CKD?
They differ in how far the product is disassembled. SKD, semi knocked down, ships major assemblies — in EV charging, tested board sets, enclosure parts and component kits — for a short final assembly. CKD, completely knocked down, ships the product at component level for a full build, including operations such as board assembly. CKD demands substantially more equipment and process control on the receiving line. The terms are commercial rather than legal, and neither term determines customs classification or origin on its own.
Who does the final quality test in an SKD model?
Your line does, using the procedures and fixtures transferred from ours. In our own factory the sequence is AOI after SMT, ATE circuit testing after through-hole assembly, functional test on every board, board-level burn-in, then full-function ATE testing and burn-in of every assembled charger before packing. The end-of-line portion of that sequence is what moves to an SKD line, and its equivalence should be documented, because it becomes part of your conformity evidence.
Does SKD assembly affect the CE marking?
The obligation does not move, but the evidence has to describe the product as actually assembled. The party placing the product on the market under its own name or trademark remains the manufacturer under EU product law and holds the technical file. If assembly, cabling or configuration differs from the tested configuration, that difference belongs in the technical documentation and may require assessment. Agree with the supplier in advance which test reports cover which configurations.
Can we start with full import and move to SKD later?
Yes, and starting that way is usually cheaper. The transferable parts are the test programmes, the fixtures and the documentation, so the practical question to settle at the first contract is whether those are available for transfer and on what terms. Building the first volumes as full import also produces the field data that makes the business case for a line.
What is the smallest sensible SKD volume?
The floor is set by the board minimums — 300 sets for a standard controller board, 1,000 sets for a custom design — but the real threshold is the fixed cost of the line: equipment, fixtures, operator training and the quality system around them. Below the point where that fixed cost is recovered by the flexibility and service gains, full import is the cheaper answer. That calculation is specific to a product range and is worth doing explicitly rather than by analogy.
