Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1166358
64 PCB007 MAGAZINE I SEPTEMBER 2019 • Standards better cover the request/reply management process and not only the decla- ration itself; standards are capable of manag- ing a request state in the requester/supplier workflow (requested, reminded, escalated, submitted, rejected, approved, superseded) • Standards should also be capableof man- aging a "completion state"—for instance, "prepopulated," "preliminary" (like in IMDS or chemSHERPA), or "complete." This would allow automatic system-to-sys- tem communication not only to collect the declaration but also to send material dec- laration requests for a set of products Here are some recommendations to achieve these goals: • Standards could include rules for the qual- ity criteria of their data on top of the sche- ma (XSD) that should stay as simple as possible; those rules could be implement- ed by the solution providers in their tools • Standards could include features for a manufacturer to ease their supplier's prod- uct material declarations roll-up along their product bill of materials (BOM); this is typically a function offered by the enter- prise resource planning (ERP) and product lifecycle management (PLM) tools, but not all companies—including SME in a low ti- er of the supplier chain—could afford such expensive tools • Standards should include the capability to send a reminder request to a supplier for their declaration or to send an escalation request to a manager when declarations are not delivered by their due date • Standards should support a pre-populated version of the declaration a requesting company could send to their suppliers to avoid error in key data used to sync their information system (IS), supplier ID, re- quester and supplier products ID, and request ID; this would ease data reconcili- ation when receiving the declaration and ensure better data quality • Standards should support preliminary dec- laration (not 100% ready to be sent) like in IMDS or in chemSHERPA to allow early communication of declaration in the prod- uct development process; for instance, this could be useful with IPC-1752 class B declaration to establish the product weight balance as soon as possible in automotive or in aerospace sectors based on materials weight (even if substance composition is not well known); also, avoid latency in the reporting process Achieving effective reporting is not only a matter of the standard capabilities; enabling the supply chains on the regulations and the standards and their supporting tools could be a win-win action by the large companies to their suppliers. The regulatory duties are often perceived as additional costs and no-value ac- tivities by the suppliers who do not have the required skills for them. Large companies and trade associations should turn that to a benefit for all the supply chain in terms of safety for workers and end users and good environmen- tal brand image for a positive value. Efficient Reporting Systems The third and last stage of the proposal is about the reporting system efficiency against the hazardous substances and materials regu- lations, or how to perform such reporting with maximum quality and minimum resources (time and costs). This requires considering how the reporting stakeholders, at a systemic level, all interact with each other. Efficiency prerequisites include two stag- es—data accuracy and effective reporting— and deals with performance to achieve the reporting activities. Overall, efficiency relies on 1) all participants in the data exchange flow to use tools to report their declara - tions; 2) tools to communicate together with system-to-system interfaces, and 3) tools to be configured and updated in automatic or semi-automatic ways with system-to-system interface with legal authorities and any other authority issuing a substances list as well as data providers. Large companies may prefer their sup- ply chain to have access to tools supporting