UGS, Synapsis Launch Integrated Solutions for Environmental Compliance

Joint offering aims to help companies comply with new regulations in the automotive, high-tech and electronics industries

Joint offering aims to help companies comply with new regulations in the automotive, high-tech and electronics industries

Plano, TX — November 30, 2005 — Product lifecycle management specialist UGS Corp. has formed a software development and marketing relationship with Synapsis Technology Inc. through which the companies will offer a set of solutions to assist companies in the automotive and high-tech electronics industries to comply with increased environmental regulations.

The new joint solutions integrate Synapsis' Environmental Materials Aggregation and Reporting System (EMARS) software for environmental material and hazardous substance reporting with Teamcenter software, UGS' digital lifecycle management solution.

"The relatively recent enactment of several environmental regulations regarding the material content for automotive, electronic and electrical products has created a daunting information management and reporting project for thousands of manufacturers worldwide," said Lonnie Gillihan, president of Synapsis. "UGS' Teamcenter products enriched with the accurate and timely compliance data generated in Synapsis' EMARS, provides the necessary view to design and supply chain engineering for realizing true design for the environment."

Meeting the Regulatory Challenge

The two solution providers said that the integrated Teamcenter and EMARS offering will help organizations manage and report on their compliance with several recently enacted and impending environmental regulations primarily affecting the automotive and high tech electronics industries.

For example, the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive imposes on producers of electrical and electronic equipment legal responsibility for financing the treatment, recycling and recovery of consumer electronic goods. End of Life Vehicle (ELV) is a directive adopted by the European Commission that aims at making vehicle dismantling and recycling more environmentally friendly. ELV sets clear quantified targets for reuse, recycling and recovery of vehicles and their components.

In addition, the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive dictates certain consumer electronic goods marketed within the EU may not contain more than the permitted levels of lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, PBBs or PBDEs.

Avoiding Cost and Complexity

The joint solution includes several features designed to address the specific requirements of these regulations, including data collection, verification and management; component qualification and exemption management; product qualification and reporting; product bill-of-materials (BOM) aggregation across multiple sourced components; compliance validation — the ability to compare a BOM with a particular industry standard; and data exchange and reporting design for compliance — the ability to select product components based on material content and their ability to comply with regional standards.

"Without the right tools, compliance with new and existing regulatory requirements can drive significant complexity and cost into the product innovation process," said Chuck Grindstaff, executive vice president of products at UGS. "Companies need the ability to implement new, lean and efficient techniques that take environmental issues into account early and throughout a product's lifecycle. The UGS and Synapsis offerings combine production proven tools into solutions to do just that — enable 'Design for Compliance.' The result is that qualification, exemption, validation and reporting are integrated into the process of innovation, enabling another dimension for competitive advantage while producing environmentally friendly and compliant products."

The integrated Teamcenter and EMARS solutions are available today.


Additional Articles of Interest

— For more information on the supply chain impact of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) regulations, see these SDCExec.com articles.

— For insights into how the top procurement organizations align with their company's broader business to make themselves invaluable, read "Getting to World-class by Getting a Seat at the Table," the Executive Memo column the October/November 2005 issue of Supply and Demand Chain Executive.

— Is it possible to preemptively address the business risks associated with product quality? One industry executive thinks so. Read more in "The Quality Risk," the Executive Memo column in the August/September 2005 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.


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