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News and New Products
RoHS with a PLM Twist
By Rob Spiegel -- Electronic News, 6/22/2006
In a twist at the end of the run-up to the July 1 deadline for the European Union’s (EU) Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive, a number of companies that provide product lifecycle management (PLM) tools have introduced new products to help companies manage the data necessary to prove compliance with RoHS. This apparently indicates that many manufacturers are simply not ready to stand up and show their compliance data if questioned by EU regulators. It also suggests that proving compliance will be an ongoing part of doing business for manufacturers in the electronics industry.
The most recent offering in PLM for compliance comes from Arena Solutions, a PLM vendor from Foster City, Calif., which has partnered with components distributor Avnet Inc. of Phoenix, to provide PLM tools that integrate with Avnet’s Promiere component-data offering. Avnet’s Promiere tool gives customers access to the i2 Technologies massive parts database that was sold recently to IHS Parts Management Inc. of Englewood, Colo.
Representatives from Arena say they developed tools that work with the IHS database in response their customers’ needs to manage RoHS data as the deadline nears. “About 70 percent of our customers need RoHS info,” said Michael Topolovac, Arena’s CEO. “They need data on their components for RoHS compliance, and that data is difficult to obtain and manage.”
Topolovac noted that customers realize their need to manage data will be an ongoing business need. “Our customers realize that environmental compliance is part of how they do business now.”
The partnership serves customers in the second and third tier of the manufacturing market. “Arena makes a good partner because they are aimed at the same customers we are, which are middle-size customers,” Glenn Bassett, VP of strategic business development at Avnet, remarked.
The partnership also fills needs to help each company flesh out its services. For Avnet, Arena offers a PLM tool to go along with the companies Promiere services. For Arena, the partnership allows the company to give its customers access to the IHS database.
Because both companies serve mid-market manufacturers, they’re created a set of tools that are affordable for companies that are not accustomed to purchasing pricy IT tools. “A lot of our customers were hoping to add PLM tools,” said Bassett. “They were introduced to Promiere and the price point was low enough for them to think about it.”
Even though the pressure to adopt PLM tools may come from the need to manage compliance data, the PLM tools offered by Arena and Avnet provide a number of additional tools to help mid-size manufacturers cope with managing component data. “I wouldn’t underestimate the value of the other services besides managing compliance data,” said Topolovac. “These customers want to be able to look at their BOM [bill of materials] and see all of the data associated with each component.”
