The sponsorship application for the “Electronics Industry EuP Integration Service Platform Construction Plan” by Ares International Corporation as a part of The “Innovative Service R&D Program in Taiwan” has been approved by the Department of Industrial Technology, Ministry of Economic Affairs (MoEA) in November 2007 , with the first mid-term inspection passed in February 2008.
The “Electronics Industry EuP Integration Service Platform Construction Plan” is aimed at setting up ecological profiles (Eco-profiles) that are designated by the Energy-using Products (EuP) directive for the electronics industry, instruction procedures for the lifecycle inspection of the electronics industry, Product Category Rule (PCR) examples for local PC, TV, power supply, refrigerating equipment and wash machine, as well as the PCR cooperation agreements of Japan and Korea.
The European Union (EU) always leads the rest of the world in the pace of environmental protection and is a key region for the Taiwan electronics industry export. After launching the WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronics Equipment) and RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) directives in 2005 and 2006, the EU again rules that all electronics products sold to the EU need to conform to the requirements of high recycle rate and nonhazardous substance, causing the Taiwan electronics industry to launch a new wave of green industry innovation movement. After that, a more influential move is the EuP policy that was launched in August 2007, pushing the product design concept forward to an all-encompassing “from cradle to tomb” environmental protection thinking.
With the new EuP directive, companies need to compile technical documents that adhere to the EuP rules through ecological design or system procedure management, while offering claims that follow the EuP rules. As a result, the electronics makers will face various issues such as the following: insufficient knowledge about the EuP directive, difficulty in proving the correctness and of representative of the Eco-profile, lack of a fixed format for inspection forms and huge budget for the complex supply chain system. The impact on the cost pressure for Taiwan’s electronics industry will be much greater than that from WEEE and RoHS.
The objective of the plan is to compile the same need of various units via the same mechanism and establish the same PCR, making the product Eco-profile internationally representative. In the meantime, with validation for the correctness, barriers can be effectively lifted when entering EU countries in the future. Also, this can help avoiding costs of labor and materials at OEMs or suppliers due to differences in format and method. Establishing the green supply chain that caters to the EuP directive according to the various material needs of the client will significantly assist the electronics industry.
In an industry perspective, using the EuP platform can congregate the needs and power of every maker while the infrastructure work from the codeveloped platform of the government can largely lower the costs for the companies and improve their competitiveness.
According to Ares, the “Electronics Industry EuP Integration Service Platform Construction Plan” started from November 1, 2007 and will terminate in October 31, 2009. Technically, the schedule of the plan can stay on track with the required schedule as announced by the EU. The schedule for 19 products to follow the EuP directive will be launched no later than September 2009. Starting from the period of April-December 2009, related industries will be affected. Ares said it has finished planning on establishing a EuP alliance. After the alliance assembly in January 24, 2008, the alliance has formally started and is now recruiting members.
Ares has passed the CMMI Level 3 evaluation. The company uses its outstanding project integration management ability, quality assurance ability, development and maintenance ability and the most complete professional consulting assistant team, coupled with the platform service ability and stable financial performance to offer the EuP integration service platform for electronics makers in Taiwan exporting goods to the EU. The project aims at first serving the Taiwanese members of the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturer’s Association (TEEMA) and will eventually expand the scope to any companies in need of the service. With the platform, Ares aims to help Taiwanese makers in lowering the costs of exported goods to the EU.
Ares noted that the plan is based on a shared information platform, combining professional institutions from various areas to help solving the influence and impact of EuP on the electronics industry. Therefore, the plan can help to significantly lower the costs of related makers, improving their competitiveness, increasing the orders from the EU and assisting the industry in staying competitive.
Note: Ares International Corp. is a famous Taiwan-based information service provider that focuses on developing international banking and enterprise software, with banking software fitting n the requirements of international financial rules. As well, Ares develops ERP, MES, HRMS, PLM, CRM, SCM, BPM and PKI-related products. Meanwhile, Ares combines BI and KM to establish a complete e-system platform for enterprise, assisting them in effectively controlling costs and improving competitiveness. By now, hundreds of cross-country companies already see operation efficiency improvements thanks to Ares products. Ares has become the most professional software company in system integration and enterprise software product developments.
