Circular economy and environmental protection
In times like these, no company should avoid a commitment to protect the environment and its resources. The finite nature of natural resources requires joint action to enable more sustainable economic activity. Increased recycling of materials can reduce resource use and waste production. In this context, the Waste Framework Directive was passed, which is an essential component for the establishment of a circular economy.
The use of such substances is gradually being restricted by regulations in order to achieve their substitution. Parallel to this, manufacturers or importers of substances, as well as manufacturers of complex products, are obliged to identify substances in their products for the purposes of material compliance. The SCIP database will be the lynchpin for the authorities to enforce the declaration obligation. The proper declaration from January 5, 2021 in this database is not only a responsibility but also an obligation for manufacturers and suppliers.
Material Compliance at a glance
Increasing motivation for substitution
The increasing legal requirements force all parties to a continueing and systematic management of the used materials
Growing Awareness
Clients, customers and public demand environmental and responsible action for safety. Responsible EH&S-management is a more and more relevant factor for economic success.
Complex supply chains
Both the in-house vertical manufacturing depth and the supply chain are becoming advancingly complex. The exchange of information with suppliers is crucial for the traceability and declarability of any substances contained in the products.
The Consequences of product variance
With smaller batch sizes, a qualified substance declaration becomes an organizational challenge. The capability to declare individual product variants requires high process discipline and examined methods to ensure the required quality of data.
Cross-functional Collaboration
Material compliance is an end-to-end challenge. Efficient results rely on seamless interfaces between different business functions. Not just the development departments are in charge, the procurement and quality management are as well.
The SCIP Database
With the SCIP database (SCIP = Substances of Concern in Products), the ECHA (European Chemicals Agency) aimes on a transparent platform for suppliers, manufacturers and clients to declare SVHC in their articles and access declarations. By doing so, the ECHA plans to support EH&S at any recycling process. The SCIP database is the solution to collect all SVHC-related declarations (on the basis of REACH and RoHS), defined by the legislator.
Obligations of manufacturers and suppliers
As of January 5th, manufacturers and suppliers are obliged to declare their products in the SCIP database.
Non-Compliance results to the risk of fines, loss of market access and, in the worst case, a damaged reputation. A diligent examination of the supply chain, data quality and processes relevant to material compliance is essential.
How is your company prepared?
Manufacturers are now required to prepare their organization for the upcoming change. Our evaluation can help you to assess which organizational and process-related aspects need to be considered, and we can optionally send you an aggregated overview of the results, which will allow you to compare your company within the industry. Are you ready tot he SCIP-Database? To the survey > (The survey is available in german only)
How do you approach material compliance?
Targeted action to make sustainability efficient
For many companies, the new requirements are accompanied by far-reaching changes in the way they work and think. In order to avoid time-consuming manual declaration channels and cost-intensive chemical analyses of products on the sunset-date of 05.01.2021, companies should take measures as soon as possible.
What we do - and how:
Gain Awareness
Management Information / Awareness Sessions to create a company-wide mindset for systematic material compliance management
Process Analysis
Analysis of ongoing material compliance processes, challenges in the existing process organization, identification of non-compliance risks.
Process Design
Developing of an end-to-end target architecture for sustainable, systematic material compliance, identification of the affected domains, description of the requirements for the future Management of Material Compliance
System Architecture
Harmonization of the information flow from PLM and ERP environments for the declaration into the SCIP database. Analysis and requirements specification for interfaces and data mapping. Analysis of the data stock and development of the necessary steps for data cleansing.
Operationalization
Establishment of new methodologies into the daily way of work of the company by training of the relevant users and proper documentation for action.