GreenSoft develops online compliance information service
5 February, 2017
The new Hosted GDM service will give electronics manufacturers online access to environmental compliance databases of electronics components
The provider of environmental compliance data management software and data services for the electronics industry, GreenSoft Technology, Inc. from Pasadena, CA, expands its online services for the industry. “I am excited to announce that we are launching a new GreenData Manager software platform very soon that will enable companies to access a shared database of compliance information over the internet from anywhere in the world,” said GreenSoft Founder and President, Larry Yen, in an interview with Techtime.
The new product will be called Hosted GDM. Yen: “With Hosted GDM, multiple users are able to access the same secure environmental compliance databases through the Internet from anywhere they are located. GreenSoft hosts the data on a secure cloud-based server, so there are no technical hassles like installation or administration to deal with.
“There are no data collection hassles to deal with either. Our Data Team will collect compliance data from your supply chain for you. We will validate that information and then import it into Hosted GDM for you.
“Hosted GDM enables companies to share environmental compliance data for parts and components in real-time across multiple locations. Each user will have access to search for the compliance information for all their company’s parts and BOM list.”
56 million components
“We plan to release Hosted GDM early next year as a new tool for the industry. We also have plans to offer a new service, iGDM, which will allow design engineers to search within GreenSoft’s extensive commodity compliance database for compliance data on the parts that they plan to design with. With such, the designers can consider the compliance data as part of the design-in requirements.”
What are GreenSoft Technology major products and services?
“GreenSoft Technology, Inc. is a major provider of environmental compliance data management software and data services. Headquartered in Pasadena, CA, we maintain offices in the EU such as Spain, Italy and Serbia, and also in Israel, Taiwan, Japan and in other states in the U.S.
“Our content factory is located in Heibei, China. This is where our data team operates to collect and validate information from suppliers on the behalf of our customers. The development of our award-winning GreenData Manager software is based in the United States. Project management, sales and executive operations are also based in the United States. We have a total of 120 employees worldwide.
“Our business model is to streamline the process of collecting the green compliance information from suppliers so that our customers don’t have to spend the efforts in doing so and they can focus on creating value from their core competency. The way we streamline the process includes a component compliance database that we have built by surveying the green compliance data of 56 million components from 24,000 manufacturers worldwide.”
What are the most important environmental standards that the Electronics Industry should watch closely?
“EU RoHS and EU REACH are the two most important environmental standards that the electronics industry should pay attention to, as well as Conflict Minerals legislation in both the US and the EU.”
How do you help the industry?
“GreenSoft provides three types of services: Data Services, GreenData Manager software, and Turnkey Reporting. There are multiple options within these three sectors: Data Services packages are based on the number of parts you need to collect from your suppliers. Our Data Services team will contact your supply chain as many times as it takes to gather compliance data and/or FMD (Full Material Declaration) data on all your affected products and components.
“The Data Services team will then validate that data for accuracy and completeness, following up with suppliers if necessary for corrections or clarification. Our award-winning GreenData Manager (GDM) software is a content management tool that allows users to store and organize compliance and FMD data, and generate compliance reports based on different regulations.
“GDM is available in four different configurations: GDM Desktop Edition for single-user, GDM Workgroup Edition for multiple-users from the same local area network, GDM Browser Edition for multiple-users across multiple locations accessing through the Internet with the software and data hosted on your company’s own server, and Hosted GDM for multiple-users across multiple-locations accessing through the Internet with the software and data hosted on GreenSoft’s own secure cloud server.
“Turnkey Reporting works well for users with only one or a few BOMs for compliance reporting. Users simply send us their BOM(s) and let us know which regulations they need to comply with, and we will collect and validate your affected products and components data, and generate the necessary compliance reports for you.”
What are the most important updates for environmental compliance that you expect in the coming year?
“EU RoHS and EU REACH are the two most important environmental standards that the electronics industry should pay attention to and these regulations have the two most important updates coming in the new year.
“EU RoHS has a group of exemptions under review for extension that will be decided in 2017. And the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) will soon be clarifying the definition of an ‘article’ under the EU REACH SVHC legislation, which will affect the details of declaration and due diligence obligations for affected companies.”
Do you feel the industry demands for shorter response time?
“The issue we are seeing is that the industry is not just demanding a shorter response for common regulations like RoHS and REACH, but also on some specific regulations like Ozone Depletion Substances (ODS), Halogen Free (HF) or Low Halogen (LH), California Prop 65, and REACH Annex XVII. Because the suppliers are not as familiar with these additional regulations, the time of response will be slow and sometimes may take months of following up with the suppliers for such info.”
Why the industry needs your services?
“Companies that are sourcing the compliance data by themselves internally have found that they will need a dedicated team to manage such activities, which would cost a lot and the outcome would not provide the gain for their core competency.
“I strongly suggest that the electronics industry starts looking at outsourcing such activities to 3rd party solution providers, and make sure to examine the solution provider’s data quality and check their references before signing a contract with them. The gain will be huge as companies could then focus their resources for their core competency and save money when satisfying the green compliance requirements.”
Posted in: Electronic Components , News
