Most companies not ready to prove RoHS compliance

August 4, 2006

A study that went out to hundreds of manufacturers in the electronics industry finds that most companies are not ready to prove they’ve done their due diligence in complying with the European Union’s RoHS laws that went into effect on July 1. Arena Solutions, a Foster City, Calif. product lifecycle management company that helps manufacturers prepare due diligence data, queried hundreds of manufacturers on their readiness to prove they have implemented controls to assure RoHS compliance.

Almost 60 percent of respondents said they did not have a good understanding of the regulations or how to demonstrate compliance and due diligence. That same percentage is not confident that they can track all parts and materials in their products and produce a compliance record. A surprising 73 percent do not have sufficient controls and documentation around change management, compliance verification of incoming parts and a closed-loop process for non-conforming materials. And 63 percent recognize that their current solutions to track compliance will not scale for multiple regulations.

Posted by Rob Spiegel on August 4, 2006 | Comments (1)

August 14, 2006

In response to: Most companies not ready to prove RoHS compliance
DCE commented:

Setting up our compiance tracking took quite a bit of planning, but I'd like to think that we can prove compliance if/when it's challenged. No parts were added to our Parts Master unless we could prove compliance. In most cases it was a matter of receiving C of C or Material Declarations from manufacturers we trust - TI, Analog Devices, Linear Tech, etc. For manufacturers we know little about we've taken their certificates and then tested their products using either XRF or sending them out for testing at an independent lab. So far we haven't had to blackball any of our suppliers. We will do occasional random checks just to see if parts we've ordered are truly compliant. From what some of our CMs have said, we're one of the few clients they have that have done what they would consider due diligence. Ain't that a scary thought?

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