The FBDi Environment and Compliance Compass in both English and German is now available, offering tailored European-regulation support for companies throughout the supply chain. The FBDi Compass offers all manufacturers and suppliers along the supply chain across all industries a clear aid with which to navigate EU-level directives and legislation pertaining to electronic components, reducing risk, time, and manpower for international companies. Version 2.0 of the FBDi Compass includes regulations concerning WEEE2 and RoHS2. Also new are revised, clearly-designed flow charts and a complete English version. With the new version, the FBDi offers valuable procedural guidelines for risk reduction. Wolfram Ziehfuss, executive director of the FBDi, said: "Product bans of electronic devices need not be a result of increased market surveillance in EU member states". The FBDi Environment and Compliance Compass provides clarity in dealing with issues of conformity with relevant EU laws, currently more than 33 in number. The Compass summarizes over 180,000 pages of often difficult-to-understand directives in fewer than 150 pages and explains their use by flow charts and notes. Those not conversant in EU regulations can now understand and meet requirements, including, for the first time, English-speaking companies. To keep the requirements understandable and executable for manufacturers and suppliers outside the EU, the FBDi Compass includes the necessary minimum of data. Since it applies to all products, not only can penalties be avoided, but also investment in specifically employed environmental specialists. "In particular in small and mid-sized companies, there is often no separate environmental department to handle EU directives. Even if, in some cases, regulations are unclearly written or overlap in parts, [not only could] misinterpretation lead to penalties, but [so could] ignoring the regulations or pleading ignorance," noted Ziehfuss. Multiple search modes possible: The FBDi Compass can be used in various ways. Fundamentally all the sections are logically sequenced with links to one another. Part 1 Impact Analysis delivers information specific to the stakeholder and leads the user directly to the relevant regulations for their product. It is presented in flow chart format. Each step ends with a reference to the next appropriate section. Part 2 Classification Album indicates in which product category a product belongs. Sample images help the user verify they have assigned a product to the correct category. Once the appropriate category for a product is known, Part 3 Mandatory Data summarizes all the necessary data, so that the steps required for the specific regulations can be determined. "The principle is equally applicable for every product", said Ziehfuss. "This makes the FBDi Compass a valuable navigation aid for dealing with EU directives for device manufacturers, suppliers, and customers across all industries". Pricing The price for FBDi members is €450 plus VAT, for non-members €850 plus VAT. Included are all updates until January 1, 2013. Purchasers of version 1.0 of the FBDi Compass can receive the new version free of charge. FBDi
PDF
