What's in a German requirement profile, and how to answer it with your portfolio

What a requirement profile contains

Whether it arrives as a full specification, a drawing or a few lines in an email, a German requirement profile usually covers the same points:

• The part or material: what it is, dimensions, drawings.
• Norms: the DIN, EN or ISO standards it has to meet, for example a steel grade to EN 10025 or a fastener to a DIN EN standard.
• Material and tolerances: grades, coatings, permitted deviations.
• Documents: inspection certificates, test reports, CE declarations where they apply, a quality management certificate such as ISO 9001.
• Volumes and delivery: annual or monthly quantities, lead times, delivery location.

How to answer it with your portfolio

A good portfolio makes the match obvious. It lists, for each product line:

1. The exact norms you produce to, with the standard numbers.
2. The documents you can supply with each delivery.
3. Materials and grades you process.
4. Your realistic capacity per month and your lead times to Germany.

A PDF you already use for customers is usually enough. What matters is that the standards and documents are named, not described in general terms like “European quality”.

How we match

We put the profile and the portfolio side by side. A match means every hard requirement is covered: norm, material, documents and volume. Soft points such as price expectations are for you and the German company to discuss.

If several manufacturers meet the same profile, each can be introduced. The German company decides whom to continue with.

Common gaps

• Norms named without the standard number, or only “equivalent to”.
• Certificates that expired or cover a different site.
• Capacity given as a maximum instead of what you can deliver every month.
• No contact who can answer technical questions in English or German.

This article is general information, not legal or regulatory advice.