AIAG Recognized as N.A. Automotive Suppliers' Representative to Streamline Global Reporting System for Substances of Concern
European IMDS Steering Committee recognizes AIAG as the Voice of North American Suppliers
DETROIT, March 10 -- The International Material Data System (IMDS) steering committee has named the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) the official voice of North American automotive suppliers in making recommendations for improvements to the reporting system that houses the database for the first common global automotive declarable substance list. This list is used by the industry to comply with environmental and health regulations worldwide.
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AIAG also was involved in the development of this common list, which pares down multiple lists containing hundreds to thousands of substances to just one list with 85 reportable substances.
The Global Automotive Declarable Substance List (GADSL) was launched by the Global Automotive Stakeholders Group (GASG) on Feb. 1 and is available at http://www.gadsl.org/ .
GASG is composed of global automotive, chemical and plastic, and automotive part manufacturers, and global trade associations (including AIAG).
Advantages achieved with GADSL reporting into IMDS include improved regulatory compliance; reduced reporting cost for the global automotive supply chain; improved supplier reporting through a standardized method and format; and worldwide accessibility.
"AIAG has been vitally involved in the development of this common list for more than four years and, simultaneously, has contributed many technical suggestions for improvements to the global reporting process for substances of concern, which is why IMDS has recognized them as the voice for North American automotive suppliers," said James Lundstrom, vice chair of the IMDS steering committee.
Since 2000, vehicle makers have been charged with complying with a growing list of substance and chemical element/compound regulations globally, as a result of the End-of-Life Vehicle Directive (ELV) of the European Parliament. Under this mandate, automakers selling vehicles in Europe must report their declarable substance list using the International Material Data System (IMDS). Automakers began to require all of their suppliers, and their suppliers' suppliers, to report on myriad chemical elements and compounds. Since each automaker required reporting based on its own individual list of substances, this resulted in multiple lists with hundreds to thousands of substances that suppliers had to report against.
AIAG, known in the industry for its successful role of working collaboratively with OEMs and suppliers to reduce cost and complexity in the global supply chain, hosted a sold-out IMDS/ELV Summit in late 2004, which brought together 450 industry representatives to educate and familiarize them with this new list and how to efficiently report substances of concern through IMDS. Because of the popularity of this summit, AIAG will hold another one at its AIAG AutoTech conference in Detroit in late August.
IMDS is a standardized, Web-based database managed by EDS on behalf of numerous automotive manufacturers.
Founded in 1982, AIAG is a globally recognized organization where OEMs and suppliers unite to address and resolve issues affecting the worldwide automotive supply chain. AIAG's goals are to reduce cost and complexity through collaboration; improve product quality, health, safety and the environment; and optimize speed to market throughout the supply chain. Headquartered in the metro Detroit area, its more than 1,500 member companies include North American, European and Asia-Pacific OEMs and suppliers to the automotive industry. Additional information is available on the Internet at http://www.aiag.org/ .
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