Tips for managing IMDS compliance across a global supply chain
In today’s interconnected world, the automotive industry operates globally, with manufacturers and suppliers spanning continents. To ensure compliance with various legal requirements and regulations, the International Material Data System (IMDS) has become an indispensable tool. In this blog, we will explore the significance of IMDS in the automotive industry. We will also outline strategies for improving IMDS compliance across a complex global supply chain. IMDS, short for International Material Data System, emerged as a collaborative solution in the late 1990s. This was when automotive manufacturers recognized the need for a common system to report on vehicle content, recyclability, and reuse. Developed and hosted by DXC Technology (formerly EDS), IMDS is an online database employed by the automotive industry to meet regulatory obligations. This system constantly evolves to adapt to the latest industry regulations and enhance reporting capabilities. Challenges in Managing IMDS Compliance Across a Global Supply Chain Managing IMDS compliance in a global supply chain presents several challenges due to the complexity and dispersion of automotive industry suppliers. To tackle these challenges effectively, consider these strategies: Get Buy-In from All Stakeholders : IMDS compliance is a team effort. Engage all stakeholders, including suppliers, customers, and internal departments, to ensure everyone understands their responsibilities and is committed to compliance. Establish Clear Procedures and Guidelines : Define precise procedures and guidelines for IMDS compliance, covering data entry, classification, reporting, and recordkeeping. Clarity is key to avoiding errors. Use a Centralized Database : Implement a centralized database system to maintain accurate and up-to-date data accessible to all stakeholders, regardless of their geographical location. Automate as Much as Possible : Explore automation solutions to streamline IMDS compliance tasks, saving time and resources for other crucial business activities. Stay Up-to-Date on Regulations : Given the dynamic nature of IMDS regulations, stay informed about the latest changes to prevent compliance issues. Conduct Regular Audits : Regular audits help identify and rectify compliance issues early. Ensure that your procedures are consistently followed, and data is accurate. Plan for Non-Compliance : Despite best efforts, non-compliance can occur. Develop a clear plan to address non-compliance situations, including corrective actions, supplier relationship management, or product recalls. Addressing Unique Challenges in Global IMDS Compliance When managing IMDS compliance across a global supply chain, it’s essential to consider: Language Barrier :Use translators or provide translated documentation when dealing with suppliers and customers in different countries. Time Differences :Adjust your communication schedule to align with suppliers and customers’ business hours in various time zones. Real-time communication tools are invaluable. Cultural Differences: Adapt your procedures and documentation to accommodate different cultural norms and compliance approaches. Conclusion IMDS compliance is a complex but vital aspect of the automotive industry’s global supply chain. Staying compliant with regulations is legally required and crucial to business success and reputation. ComplianceXL offers comprehensive solutions to simplify the IMDS compliance process. It provides real-time insights, regulatory updates, and expert guidance to ensure your organization remains compliant in a rapidly evolving industry. With our support, you can navigate IMDS compliance challenges confidently and efficiently, no matter where your supply chain reaches. Get in touch with one of our IMDS specialists today! Contact Us
A guide to the ACEA Regulatory List in IMDS
The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, widely used and recognized by its acronym ACEA was formerly identified under the French name L’Association des Constructeurs Européens d’Automobile. As a result of the 1991 merger of BMW, DAF, Daimler-Benz, FIAT, Ford, General Motors Europe, MAN, Porsche, Renault, Rolls Royce, Rover, Saab-Scania, Volkswagen, Volvo car, and AB Volvo, the company was founded. There is a lot of regulation in the automotive industry in the EU region, making it one of the most complicated and heavily regulated sectors. The automotive industry is governed by more than 150 regulations and 30 directives. It is of vital importance to the EU automotive industry that the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) streamlines and harmonizes regulations with national and international regulations. A list of regulatory substances has been compiled by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) to improve the IMDS reporting process and support the supply chain. ACEA owned and maintained this regulatory list. As regulations in the automotive industry are frequently updated, the list will be updated accordingly. A new list has been added to the IMDS called the ACEA regulatory list by the IMDS steering committee. The ACEA regulatory list differs from the GADSL list, a substance that is included in the GADSL list might not be included in the ACEA list. In order to comply with national and international regulations, ACEA provides a substance list to the automotive industry, but does not relieve companies of their legal obligations. To comply with the environmental standards imposed on automotive manufacturers in the EU region, they make their best effort to achieve all of them. By adding this regulatory list to a centralized portal like IMDS, OEMs and their suppliers will have an easier time achieving compliance. As a compliance service provider, ComplianceXL strives to provide the best information on regulation changes and their environmental impact to their customers. We are committed to staying up to date on the latest developments in the industry and providing our customers with timely and accurate information. Our team of experts is dedicated to ensuring that our customers are kept up to date and compliant with regulations. Get in touch with us today for more information!
Different types of IMDS (International Material Data System) System
IMDS (International Material Data System) is a collaboration of Audi, BMW, Daimler, EDS (now part of DXC Technology, the system administrator), Ford, Opel, Porsche, VW, and Volvo. It helps the OEM and their suppliers to meet the regulation, standards and laws imposed on hazardous substance. All materials present in finished automobile manufacturing are collected, maintained, analysed, and archived on the IMDS platform. Since from the inception, the usage of IMDS was drastically improved and it is used by all the automobile makers nowadays. DXC Technology is the company who takes care of the IMDS platform and its maintenance activities. IMDS system is an internet-based system, anyone can access the data from anywhere. DXC technology supplies support for different types of IMDS systems based on user needs, product complexity and connection to their internal system. The different types of IMDS systems are explained below. Basic web version The basic version of IMDS tool is the web-based system and it is available for free of cost. It was supported by the OEM sponsor’s group for the suppliers who supplies the product to the automotive industries. Anyone can register their organization in IMDS portal to avail login for basic IMDS version. Features Create, transfer, validate and analyse MDS reports. No costs involved. Drawback Not compatible with the upload and download option. Cannot integrate with external or in-house system. Not suitable for complex structures. IMDS-AI System IMDS Advanced Interface system provides flexibility to connect IMDS (International Material Data System) system to your in-house/other external system. It enables the automated data exchange between IMDS and to your internal system. IMDS AI (Artificial Intelligence) is a paid version developed by DXC technology and the cost will be based on volume uploads. Features Supports automated data transfer. Compatible with complex MDS structures. Flexibility to connect with in-house/external system. Supports upload and download options. Transfer of all MDS status update to local or connected system. Advantages Improve data quality and administration. Improves productivity. Maintain IMDS status update with local system. IMDS-A2 System IMDS Advanced Accelerator is a specialized tool used to optimize the IMDS process in an efficient and fast manner. It simplifies the data management process by improving the productivity and quality of the incoming datasheets. This system provides enormous features to the users and make the IMDS reporting quite simple and effective. It also provides extended window for other regulation reporting inside the IMDS. It is a paid system, the cost will be vary based on the provided features. Features Data examination using a configured set of rules & standards. Provide automation feasibility for Inbox MDS. Dashboard option for clear data view. MDS comparison. Separate modules for analysis & reporting. Extended Where-Used analysis. Allows access to bulk SCIP submissions. Advantages Simplified, powerful user interface and multiple-window capability. Less time & effort. More productivity. Configurable checks based on your needs. Drag & Drop capability option. It is especially important to choose a tool that makes our work easier and more effective. Again, these options are purely based on the workload and complexity of the product they are supplying. Choose wisely, WorkSmart!!
All you need to know about Compliance Data Exchange
The Compliance Data Exchange (CDX) is an online product data management system developed and supported by DXC Technology. It is a cloud-based Software as a Service system (SaaS), centrally operated by CDX platform. CDX system helps you to collect, analyse and manage materials data throughout the entire supply chain and successfully supports the material management system across multiple industries. It also has an advantage of supporting the conflict minerals with the same CDX system. Why CDX The CDX is created with the vision to provide complete solution to the compliance management across all the industry. CDX system provides a globally accessible cloud-computing platform to create, visualize and exchange data across the entire supply chain. It facilitates various import and export feasibility over multiple recognized industry formats like, IPC-1752A IPC-1754 IPC-1755 IEC-62474,   CMRT and IMDS-AI CDX provides the single database solution for different standards and data exchange over different industry without data exposure or transmission. CDX contains standardized material declarations for thousands of materials produced to an industry standard and help us to achieve the compliance objectives as per our requirements. By using WSI (Web Service Interface) technology, CDX allows the user to connect with external client system for various data management process. Because of having various regulations and regulatory directives support integrated, the usage of CDX extends to various regulation like: REACH (including SCIP), RoHS, POP, China RoHS, California Proposition 65, Batteries, Packaging, TSCA, ELV/GADSL, HKC, Conflict Minerals, Extended Materials reporting, and many others. CDX Advantages CDX provides an extensive support to their user by bringing expertise in basic substance maintenance, process integration and data services, chemical analysis and sustainability management, as well as training and consulting for all aspect of regulatory compliance. They made the compliance management easier with their well-prepared partners for achieving regulatory complaints with their product regionally as well as globally. It is a cross-industry compliance management platform for supporting extensive number of material report across numerous industries, Electronics Automotive Aerospace Aerospace & Defence Heavy Equipment Medical Devices Functionalities of CDX CDX system is embedded with CMD (Conflict Mineral Declaration) module to provide support on CMRT collection. It allows the clients to manage One Level Declaration, Partial Declaration, and Full Material Declaration using CMD manager. Beyond 3TG, it supports due diligence with the extended material reporting template like RMI EMRT (Cobalt and Mica Reporting template) as Extended Material Declaration (EMD). It has inbox and outbox functionalities to support customer for supplier engagement. Analysis and reporting features in CDX help the user to have insight view of compliance deliveries and improvement plan. CDX database contains more information on standard materials and substance level information of various industry standards that can be communicated to all participating supply chains. Above all, CDX is the platform provided by DXC Technology, who are the world’s leading independent, end-to-end IT services company, helping customers harness the power of innovation to thrive on change.  For furthermore information on CDX and its application usage, feel free to contact ComplianceXL for assistance.
What you should know about IMDS Release 13.1
The International Material Data System (IMDS) is the automobile industry’s material data system, it is a very essential tool used for compliance by almost all of the global OEMs. IMDS Steering committee regularly updates the Reporting techniques based on enhancement proposal provided by OEM’S and suppliers. These updates make the IMDS users to do their compliance activities in an efficient way to meet their needs. As per the IMDS newsletter 57 issued on 25th November 2021, there is an upcoming release of IMDS version 13.1 and the production rollout is planned for 26th January 2022. IMDS release 13.1 improvements Visibility of warning about recyclate exceeding the maximum range of 20% With the IMDS release 13.1, there is a check in place to verify the recyclate information that exceeds the maximum range of 20%. It will generate a warning on both the sender and recipient side of the MDS. Allow multiple S2S Keys per Org-Unit With this IMDS release, Multiple S2S keys per Legal Entity is allowed. For SCIP Submission, manual S2S key upload is no longer allowed instead user can select appropriate S2S Keys from the list for different Org-Unit or root company. For single S2S Key Org-Unit, the same will be set as default for the submission. Exclude classification 9.x in SCIP Submissions The upcoming release has the option of include or exclude the 9.x classifications in the completed report for the SCIP submission. In the submitted dossier, regardless of material containing SVHC substance in 9.x classification you can make a selection. Add SCIP Attributes to Component Search Results The following fields will be added to the Component Search in IMDS: Latest Submission Date SCIP No. Submission No. Production in the EU* SVHC safe use instruction required Changes to editing Application Codes and Norms Editing option for the application code and norms is provided in the upcoming IMDS release. The edit button in the respective table of the MDS will help users to understand how to add and change Application Codes. IMDS 13.1 introduces a number of updated features that you will have to understand in order to report compliance for the first time. In addition to increasing the accuracy of your reports, it will be easier for your team to report substances in your products, ultimately saving you time. Contact us for IMDS support if you would like to learn more about taking advantage of the power of IMDS for your reporting needs.
IMDS Compliance in Automotive Supply Chain & Recommendation 019
The International Material Data System (IMDS) is an online platform used by the automotive companies in order to manage their data on materials and substances of automobile parts.The IMDS Steering Committee has published several recommendations to define materials for creating Material Data Sheets (MDS) whereas in each recommendation, the guidelines for MDSs in different material categories have been defined. IMDS Recommendations give instructions on how to report the presence of declarable substances in parts and materials. In that IMDS Recommendation 019 is for Electric/Electronic components. This recommendation was first approved and released on October 30th, 2003. The current Rec 019 process was developed in 2013 in order to address the expanding requirements of the End of Life Vehicle Directive (2000/53/EC) and the communication requirements of REACH. Rec 019 describes the general requirements for the creation of Material Data Sheets (MDSs) applicable for Electric/Electronic components, materials at all levels of the supply chain, assembled printed circuit boards (PCB/PWB, including flexible circuit boards (FCP)) and hybrid electronics used in automotive applications. REC 019 provides supplier a modular approach to report materials in electronics components, including components containing lead, rather than reporting a fully exploded BOM. To facilitate the material data reporting process, several standard modules have been developed by IMDS Steering Committee. It not only involves the creation of standardized datasheets but also made a process that suppliers must go through to ensure that the information provided by them is in full compliance with legal requirements in the IMDS database. Recent decision of IMDS Recommendation 019 (REC 019) deactivation, removes the use of standard datasheet for electronic component and the reporting in IMDS. The decision made by the Steering Committee to deactivate this recommendation is concerted and it is mainly taken with the unacceptable risk because of the lack of supplier’s due diligence during the reporting process. As per the latest news from IMDS, the deactivation of REC 019 was postponed until the release 13 of IMDS, which is planned on Q1, 2021. Changes of Rec 019 in IMDS Reporting: As a result of REC 019 deactivation, it creates a big challenge to the supplier of automotive and electronic sector. It will also result in additional and differing customer-specific requests that companies must meet.Deactivation of REC 019 causes the electronics suppliers to collect Full Material Declarations (FMDs), real & accurate data from their supply chains to support the reporting and compliance needs of the automotive sector and manually enter this data into the IMDS. Based on the recent update of IMDS, all legally required substances contained in the supplied parts must be reported and the application code for the end of list vehicle must be declared. The REC 019 advises companies to ensure electronics suppliers begin performing internal reviews of material data and to ensure that the ELV heavy metal applications and REACH SVHCs, were accurately communicated in the IMDS database. If you are an automotive parts supplier IMDS compliance is an unavoidable. Our experts at ComplianceXL will help you by providing IMDS training to all supply chain stakeholders, and offload the tedious and time-consuming reporting task in IMDS management. If you are facing an IMDS deadline, our IMDS Data team will be able to bail you out. Talk to our IMDS specialists today!