Tracking material composition data: how a new jointly authored standard may automate and simplify the format for the entire supply chain.

To demonstrate compliance with environmental regulations, manufacturers must have information about the material composition of components and bulk materials that go into their products. However, few companies are able to efficiently collect, track and report electronics product material composition data. Regulatory requirements for product material data are matched by requirements from OEMs and customers. Suppliers currently receive requests for product material data in multiple formats--often in the form of lengthy questionnaires--and are responsible for collecting data from their own suppliers. Data are often incomplete and inaccurate, and response time is slow, requiring followup effort. The industry desperately needs an efficient means of collecting these data.

Global efforts have been underway for more than a year by iNEMI, IPC and RosettaNet to simplify and standardize how the industry collects, tracks and discloses product material content information. From these efforts has come a draft standard, IPC-1752, Materials Declaration Management, that will establish electronic data formats and provide standardized forms to simplify the exchange of materials declaration information. This draft integrates and leverages existing efforts, including recommendations from the iNEMI Materials Declarations and Material Composition Data Exchange projects, RosettaNet's e-business process standards for material composition and the Joint Industry Guide for Material Composition Declaration, developed by EIA, EICTA and JGPSSI and as of this writing expected to be released in early May as an EIA/JEDEC standard.

IPC-1752 outlines a supply-chain materials declaration format and process that provides a simple, effective approach to assist companies in meeting environmental regulation compliance. The standard also provides a material content declaration (MCD) form, which will simplify and improve material composition data exchange throughout the supply chain, driving cost savings and efficiencies. It will be under IPC revision control and available from IPC (ipc.org).

Data collection process flow. The iNEMI Materials Declarations Project team defined a data collection process flow (Figure 1). This flow assumes that the OEM (requestor) initiates MCD requests to its direct suppliers to establish necessary documentation of compliance. Tier 1 suppliers are expected to collect required data from their suppliers, and so on down the chain.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

Ed.: For the full article, please see circuitsassembly.com/cms/content/view/1517/

Richard Kubin is vice president, PLM solutions for E2open (e2open.com); [e-mail]. Nancy Bolinger, Ph.D., is senior engineer and program manager for Lenovo International (lenovogrp.com); [e-mail].