GreenSoft Technology, Inc. 155 S. El Molino, Suite 100 Pasadena, CA 91101 Ph: 323.254.5961 www.greensofttech.com White Paper Processing Hardware and Consumables in GreenData Manager Software Summary One of the challenges of managing RoHS/REACH compliance for electronic products is validating the compliance of hardware or consumables, including: Customized parts Machined parts Sheet metals covered with paints and inks Injection of rubber/plastics Consumables such as solder paste, adhesives, etc. This document describes how GreenSoft will help you complete the collection of the material composition data on these items. The paper will also demonstrate how GreenData Manager (GDM) software can be used to model these items so that they can be managed and included in compliance reports and, most important, make the items reusable for other products. Data Collection for Consumables and Hardware Suppliers of consumables or hardware are often not prepared for compliance validation either they have very limited compliance information, or they don t have any compliance data at all. Data collection for these items typically results in escalation. ( Escalation is a GreenSoft term describing a component for which data collection proves difficult, often requiring multiple emails/calls to the supplier and sometimes the cooperation and support of our customer.) An escalated part becomes a last-mile issue for completing the BOM-level compliance validation since all BOMs will use some of the consumables and all BOMs will use some of the hardware items. For example, below is a description of a commonly used item in most BOMs, a pan head screw: Processing Hardware and Consumables in GDM_2015v1 Page 1
Pan Head Screw The item is a pan head screw from McMaster-Carr, a large distributor with many thousands of unique hardware items. McMaster-Carr typically does not issue a compliance certificate or material composition data. However, GreenSoft will help identify the material used in this item by reading through the datasheet, as shown below. The datasheet discloses that the screw is made of Stainless Steel, specifically 18-8 Stainless Steel. GreenSoft has been working on these issues for more than 10 years and has established a standard material database that covers varieties of commonly used metals such as copper, aluminum and stainless steel. A screenshot of GreenSoft s material database for some stainless steels is shown below. 2015 GreenSoft Technology, Inc. Page 2 of 8 Proprietary and Confidential
Based on the material name 18-8 Stainless Steel, GreenSoft will identify the standard material composition data for this material, as shown below. This screenshot of GreenData Manager software shows that the material of 18-8 Stainless Steel is comprised of 8 different kinds of chemicals with a majority of Iron and Chromium. The screenshot shows that the concentration of Iron in 18-8 Stainless Steel is 70% or 700,000 ppm. GreenSoft will inform the customer that the supplier will not/cannot provide any compliance information on the item but GreenSoft has the standard material data for the item, and with the customer s approval, GreenSoft will calculate the compliance status based on the standard materials. Using material composition data is very useful to deal with constantly changing regulations, like REACH SVHC, where the Candidate List changes twice per year. Customized Item with Consumables Another common case in BOMs is a custom item with processing on the surface. For example, several Aluminum sheet metals have a special plating and coating, as described below. With GreenSoft s standard material database and the customer s approval, we will establish the material composition data for both the Aluminum 6151-T6 and Aluminum 6201-T6. The extra plating and coating will need to be handled separately. Because plating and coating is commonly used for both items, GreenSoft will model these two items differently by establishing a BOM for each item, as shown below. 2015 GreenSoft Technology, Inc. Page 3 of 8 Proprietary and Confidential
First, both items are converted to BOMs. Then GreenSoft will divide the metal and plating into 2 items inside the BOM, as shown below for both BOMs: With the customer s approval, GreenSoft will then establish material composition data for both AL-6151 and AL-6201 by using the data from GreenSoft s standard material database, as shown below: Please note that we will need to collect the Part Mass data for both sheet metals. GreenSoft will collect this information from the supplier if it is available. In most cases, suppliers of custom items will not maintain inventory and part mass information is usually not available. In most cases, a customer will still have the item in inventory so 2015 GreenSoft Technology, Inc. Page 4 of 8 Proprietary and Confidential
the item could be weighed to provide part mass. Or if the item is too big to place on a scale, GreenSoft could conduct an intelligent estimate of the weight of the item. GreenSoft will also establish the material composition data for a piece that has been plated using the steps below. In this case, the plating material is 100% zinc. The weight of the plating will come from the customer s plating specifications: the calculated weight for such plating is 54.621 g/m2. The customer would then specify the area of the plating as the QTY in the BOM. For example, if the size of the Aluminum sheet metal is 0.5mx0.2m, then the BOM should appear as below, where the QTY for the standard plating ( Std-Plating ) is 0.5x0.2=0.1 2015 GreenSoft Technology, Inc. Page 5 of 8 Proprietary and Confidential
Once the weights for both items are given, the Customer could then perform the Publish BOM as Item in GDM software to convert the declaration of the BOM into an item. You can then check on the Item Master inside GDM software and find the specific item of S201-110 in full material composition data as aggregated from both items of AL-6151 and Std-Plating. With such modeling, a customer can reuse the Std-Plating on other sheet metals. For example, in the 2 nd BOM of S201-112, with the size of the metal sheet of 0.1mx0.2m, the Customer could reuse the Std-Plating in the BOM as shown below: Hardware with Different Finishes Sometimes hardware is plated or finished differently than the zinc plating described above. The plating method may be just a standard surface finish but the full material declaration data on the finish is not available. In the example below, a hardware piece is based on the standard material of Aluminum 6061-T6 and the standard finish is Clear Anodize, MIL-A-8625, Type 2, Class 1. With many years of experience in processing and collecting component compliance data, GreenSoft has established a standard processing database with different types of metal finishes such as anodize, passivation, nickel plating, zinc plating, chemical films (alodine), gold finish, blackening and others. The database also includes organic materials from many different suppliers such as Altuglas, Bayers, Dupont, Evonik, NEOPREG, Sabic Innovative Plastics, Sumitomo, etc. 2015 GreenSoft Technology, Inc. Page 6 of 8 Proprietary and Confidential
When the supplier fails to provide any compliance data, with your approval, GreenSoft will assess the compliance status of these finishes. In the drawing above, for example, we can see that the part is based on the standard material of Aluminum 6061-T6 and the standard finish processing of Clear Anodize, MIL-A-8625, Type 2, Class 1. We can identify the material composition of the standard material of Aluminum 6061-T6, and determine whether or not it is RoHS-2 or REACH SVHC complaint. The finish is Clear Anodize, MIL-A-8625, Type 2, Class 1. Based on GreenSoft s standard processing database, we can determine that the metal finish of anodize per the standard processing of MIL-A-8625, Type 2, Class 1 is EU RoHS-2 compliant. As long as the manufacturer of the hardware component follows the standard processing, the EU RoHS-2 compliance status for the part is based upon the compliance status of the standard material of Aluminum 6061-T6 and the standard processing of MIL-A-8625, Type 2, Class 1. With your approval, GreenSoft will aggregate the compliance status from both entities and arrive at the final compliance status for the component. Please note that the final compliance status may not include the full material declaration data from the component, but the aggregated compliance status should help the Customer evaluate the BOM-level compliance status based on individual compliance status from the component. 2015 GreenSoft Technology, Inc. Page 7 of 8 Proprietary and Confidential
Conclusion The key to managing compliance for hardware and consumables is in data collection. If data is not available from suppliers, GreenSoft can provide suggested material composition data or assessed compliance status based on GreenSoft s standard material database and standard processing database. This provides the customer required compliance information and the opportunity to complete the compliance validation for the last mile issues. In dealing with the hardware with plating, coatings, paints or inks, GreenSoft suggests breaking down the hardware and the plating/coating into BOMs, as illustrated above. In this way, commonly used plating or coating materials can be reused for other items, also helping compliance validation for last mile issues. GDM software provides you flexibility in modeling hardware or consumables so that you can quickly identify the compliance status of your BOMs and navigate to trouble areas for further analysis. 2015 GreenSoft Technology, Inc. Page 8 of 8 Proprietary and Confidential