REACHtracker - REACH Compliance Solution

Mead Westvaco, Rust-Oleum and Stanley Works are among the growing list of global manufacturers relying on Actio’s REACHtracker solution to maintain REACH compliance. REACH regulation (the Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals) has added significant obstacles and complexity when doing business in the European Union with serious ramifications for companies not in compliance. If a manufacturer does not manage supply chain and REACH compliance properly, delayed product shipment and lost market share in the EU can easily result.

Actio’s secure, online REACHtracker solution automates supply chain communication and information collection processes. Now global manufacturers can efficiently collaborate with hundreds of upstream suppliers and downstream customers when gathering and analyzing substance data and product use information for compliance with Europe’s complex REACH.

REACHtracker simplifies environmental regulatory compliance by automating the supply chain communications, data-gathering, roll-up, and analysis necessary under the stringent environmental regulation. The latest version of Actio REACHtracker provides enhanced substance-level materials information management for environmental regulatory compliance under REACH in today's complex, global, multi-tiered supply chain networks.

A key REACHtracker differentiator is that it securely handles multi-level (BOM to chemical) data management and roll-up— throughout a multi-tiered supply chain.

Challenge

The European Union’s new REACH regulation is both comprehensive and far-reaching in terms of setting out new requirements for the control of certain substances — and REACH-like regulation is already being pursued in the United States. The regulation aims to make sure proper health and safety testing on products that are used in manufacturing, made in, or sold into the EU. More than 30,000 substances are expected to fall under the scope of REACH. This requires manufacturers, importers and distributors to identify and assess every substance used in the manufacture or preparation of a product. Amounts used or purchased greater than one ton per year must be registered with the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). Manufacturers, importers and distributors are also required to identify how their product is ultimately used in order to develop the appropriate exposure scenarios needed for an Extended SDS.

REACH legislation poses significant supply chain risk for companies selling products and raw materials into and within the EU, also for companies who would like to. For a product to be REACH compliant, its constituent components must be REACH compliant. If a manufacturer is not aware that a substance, regulated by REACH, is used in its product, and if the supplier has not registered that substance, they could face manufacturing disruption, or worse, a product ban in the EU along with the attendant PR and branding disaster.

The key to complying with REACH is knowing every substance that makes up every one of your products and the respective registration status of each substance under the REACH directive. Manual tracking methods and inefficient tools like email and spreadsheets that are typically used to collect this very detailed information from hundreds to thousands of material suppliers is resource intensive, time-consuming, error-prone, and can lead to product launch delays and loss of revenue. Corporate reorganizations can require this information to be re-sourced and recalculated as legal entities change.

Without effective communication and information sharing between upstream suppliers and downstream customers, manufacturers cannot quickly adapt and respond to dynamic global market conditions fueled by legislation such as REACH. Furthermore, documenting these communication exchanges in one central location is essential in keeping track of compliance.

Solution

Actio’s REACHtracker is a web-based software solution that automates and tracks the otherwise costly and time-consuming process of collecting and managing information required from suppliers and customers to comply with REACH directives. By creating a secure, collaborative environment that automates communication to suppliers and customers and facilitates the collection of information online, manufacturers and distributors can significantly improve time to market – while ensuring REACH compliance.

Raw material and supplier information can be easily uploaded from ERP systems, like SAP, Oracle, PeopleSoft or Microsoft Dynamics AX, or be imported from applications such as Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Access. Once the supplier information is in the secure, permission-based system, a user can begin defining the email communication to suppliers. Driven by an integrated questionnaire and email campaign wizard, users can select the email template they want to use, the questions to be included in the online form, and list of suppliers to receive the email.

When suppliers receive the email, they are directed to click on a URL and enter their log-in credentials to complete the online questionnaire. The supplier then validates its company and product information and answers a series of questions. Data entered by suppliers is automatically updated in the centralized database and is immediately available to the manufacturer. The system tracks the progress of each supplier request and, if necessary, a follow-up e-mail can be generated for non-responsive suppliers. Once substance information is collected, it can be analyzed using REACHtracker’s sophisticated parametric reporting tools that enable data to be rolled up into an unlimited number of custom reports. REACHtracker provides a BOM (bill of materials) view that immediately pinpoints products or ingredients that contain Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) or other substances being tracked.

Usage data can also be collected from downstream users similarly via REACHtracker e-mail campaign capabilities. Once downstream users are validated and usage information is updated, the REACHtracker user is automatically updated and notified.

REACHtracker is fully integrated with Actio’s Enterprise Materials Information Management Solutions enabling automatic substance volume tracking (SVT), prescreening against regulatory lists such as the Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC), analysis of substances for new material purchases, and SDS management, creation and distribution.

Benefits

Automates and tracks the progress of collecting data from suppliers and customers – saving you countless hours over manual methods
Product and supplier information can be easily uploaded from ERP systems or imported from Microsoft Excel or Access applications
Provides instantaneous structured communication through its integrated questionnaire and email campaign wizard - automatically driving data collection from suppliers and customers in a timely manner
Provides multi-axis location hierarchies enabling the roll-up of substance information by legal entity, geographic location, and business unit; this is a critical capability in determining how your enterprise may be affected by REACH.
Online questionnaire links directly to Actio’s centralized database, providing your company immediate access to supplier information entered or changed
REACHtracker supports VeriSign’s Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology ensuring secure flow of data throughout the supply chain
Database-driven platform provides unparalleled flexibility to quickly adapt to changes in global market conditions caused by the REACH
Full integration with Actio’s Enterprise Materials Information Management modules for substance volume tracking, authorization of new materials and storage, and dissemination of substance-level information
Delivered as Software as a Service (SaaS) with no hardware or software to purchase, install or maintain; providing easy implementation and a rapid return on investment

Read article on how Stanley Works uses REACHtracker to communicate with their supply chain network and manage materials information for REACH. Article appeared in Manufacturing Business Technology (IT for Manufacturing Executives), September 2009.