How COBACK works

COBACK shows you which new rules could affect your company, and why.

An example shows it best. We follow a real EU regulation through COBACK in five steps.

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Official Journal of the EU

Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230

Applies from 20 January 2027

Digital twin

Example company

  • Packaging machines
  • Plants in Bielefeld and Ulm
  • Sales company in Vienna

The example

A machine maker and the new Machinery Regulation

Take a manufacturer of packaging machines with plants in Bielefeld and Ulm and a sales company in Vienna. The company is made up, the regulation is real: the EU Machinery Regulation replaces the old Machinery Directive and applies from 20 January 2027.

  1. Step 1

    A new rule is published

    Every day, authorities, parliaments and supervisors publish new laws, regulations and circulars. COBACK polls the official sources daily for the countries you choose and collects everything new in one place.

    In the example

    The Machinery Regulation appears in the Official Journal of the EU. It is one of many publications that day.

    Monitoring

    New publications

    Today

    • Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230

      Official Journal of the EU

    • Implementing regulation on fisheries controls

      Official Journal of the EU

    • Circular on outsourcing by banks

      BaFin

    • Amendment to the German Road Traffic Regulations

      Federal Law Gazette

  2. Step 2

    COBACK checks it against your company

    Whether a rule affects you depends on your company. So COBACK keeps a picture of it: which legal entities you have, where you operate, what you make or offer and who is responsible for what. We call this picture the digital twin. It fills itself from the systems you connect, public registers, your website and your people's answers to targeted questions.

    In the example

    The regulation applies to manufacturers that sell machinery in the EU. The twin knows that the plants in Bielefeld and Ulm build packaging machines that are sold across the EU.

    Matching

    Check against the digital twin

    Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230

    The regulation applies toYour company
    • Manufacturers of machineryBuilds packaging machines in Bielefeld and UlmApplies
    • Sales in the EUSells across the EUApplies
    • External check for self-learning safety softwareNot statedOpen

    Facts from: product catalogue, website, public registers, questionnaire

  3. Step 3

    COBACK explains what it means for you

    You get an assessment in plain words: what the rule requires, when it applies and why it does or does not affect your company. COBACK adds a number from 0 to 100, the relevance score, with the original source and the company facts it relies on. Where a fact is missing, COBACK asks a question instead of guessing.

    What the number means

    In the example

    The regulation affects both plants and applies from 20 January 2027. One question is still open: does any of your machines control safety functions with self-learning software? If so, an independent testing body has to be involved.

    Screening result

    Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230

    Relevance86Model estimate
    Applies from
    20 January 2027
    What it is about
    New safety rules for machinery sold in the EU. Replaces the Machinery Directive.
    Why it affects you
    The Bielefeld and Ulm plants build packaging machines for the EU market.Q12

    Q12In which countries does your company sell its machines?

    Across the EU. The company in Vienna handles sales in Austria.

    Answered by Anna Roth on 12 August 2026Open questionnaire

    Open question
    Does any of your machines control safety functions with self-learning software?
    Source
    EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2023/1230

  4. Step 4

    You decide

    You decide whether the rule affects your company: relevant or not relevant. COBACK never makes that call itself. It records who made it, when, and on what basis.

    In the example

    Julia Brandt, head of product safety, answers the open question with no. She then marks the regulation as relevant.

    Decision

    Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230

    Open question

    Does any of your machines control safety functions with self-learning software?

    No
    Mark relevantNot relevant

    History

    1. Assessment createdCOBACK · Today, 07:40
    2. Question answered: noJulia Brandt · Today, 10:12
    3. Marked relevantJulia Brandt · Today, 10:14

  5. Step 5Beta

    The right person gets a task

    When a rule affects your company, it turns into tasks: what needs doing, in which steps, by when and who is responsible. COBACK suggests the owner from the roles you have set up for your team. Everyone involved sees where things stand in one place.

    In the example

    Julia Brandt from product safety updates the declarations of conformity to the new regulation. Tobias Keller from technical writing checks the operating instructions. Both tasks are due on 15 December 2026, a little over a month before the regulation applies.

    Tasks

    Update the declarations of conformity to the Machinery Regulation

    Responsible

    Julia Brandt, Product safety

    Due date

    15 December 2026

    Steps

    • List the existing declarations
    • Replace the reference to the Machinery Directive with the new regulation
    • File the updated declarations

    Also created

    Check the operating instructions against the new requirements

    Tobias Keller, Technical writing · 15 December 2026

Relevance score

What the number means

For every new rule COBACK shows a number from 0 to 100. It says how far the rule applies to you, on everything COBACK knows about your company. It does not make the decision for you.

A scale from 0 to 100. From 80 the number turns green. The marker sits at 86, a model estimate.

0: shown not to apply100: shown to apply
What does the number from 0 to 100 mean?
It shows how far a rule applies to your company on the known facts. 100 means every condition of the rule is backed by confirmed facts about your company. 0 means every condition is shown not to be met. From 80 the number turns green. It is not a probability and not a compliance percentage.
What is a model estimate?
When the confirmed facts are not enough for a clear result, a language model reads the rule against the digital twin and estimates. That number always carries the label Model estimate. It never becomes a decision on its own.
Where do the facts about my company come from?
From the systems you connect to COBACK, from public registers, from your website and from your people's answers in the questionnaire.Connectors

A person always makes the decision.

COBACK takes the searching and reading off your team. The judgement and the responsibility stay with you.

What stays with you

  • The decision

    Relevant or not relevant is always your call.

  • The responsibility

    Every task has an owner in your team.

  • The scope

    You decide which systems, folders and channels COBACK reads.

What COBACK does not do

  • No legal advice

    COBACK prepares decisions. It does not replace a legal review of the individual case.

  • No guessing

    Where a fact is missing, COBACK asks. Model estimates are labelled as such.

  • No silent changes

    When a legal text changes, COBACK puts your decision up for review again instead of overwriting it.