IECQ stresses importance of "green" products
Electronics are everywhere
Many consumer goods rely heavily on electronics. The list is long: from household appliances to office and entertainment equipment, not forgetting toys and electronic devices and components. Electronics are everywhere. They are part of everyday life, and people want them to be 100 % safe and reliable.
Consumers are well aware of the risks associated with electrical hazards, such as faulty cords or switches, overheating, bad insulation and abnormal use of products. After all, electrical products have been on the market for about 100 years.
Are consumers aware of the risks posed by defective or low-quality electronic parts? Perhaps not. These parts are tiny, usually well-hidden inside the piece of equipment and therefore not seen as an obvious danger. They include:
- active components, including integrated circuits
- electromagnetic components
- electromechanical components
- electro-optic components
- hybrid integrated circuits
- passive components
- printed boards
Defective parts can cause a product to malfunction, reduce the performance of a product or produce overheating, which in turn may cause fires or explosions.
Hazardous substances
Many electronic components contain
hazardous substances such as lead,
cadmium or mercury
Another issue associated with electronic components is that many of them contain hazardous substances such as lead, cadmium or mercury, for example. Such substances may be dangerous for the workers manufacturing the components as well as for the end-users.
An additional problem comes at the end of the product life cycle: how to deal with waste. Manufacturers are under great pressure to produce "clean" products in order to comply with legislation restricting the use of hazardous substances in electronic products and components. The pressure is even greater as the life cycle of electronic components becomes shorter and shorter.
Australia, China, Norway, South Korea, Switzerland, Thailand and the American state of California are among those that have passed, or are considering, legislation limiting the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic products. The European Union’s RoHS (Restrictions of Hazardous Substances) in electrical and electronic equipment and WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) took effect in July 2006, and a revision of those directives is currently under consideration.
IECQ solutions: several types of approvals
IECQ, the IEC Quality Assessment System for Electronic Components, is a worldwide approval and certification system covering the supply of electronic components and associated materials and processes. It uses quality assessment specifications based on International Standards prepared by the IEC.
There are several different types of approvals, including:
- Supplier approval
The first and obligatory level of approval, it applies to manufacturers, distributors and specialist contractors and exceeds the relevant requirements of ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 9001
- Qualification approval
It applies to a component or range of components that meet the requirements of the accepted specifications
It defines a manufacturer’s ability in respect of manufacturing processes and quality control methods. It may include design, covering a specific component technology within a generic specification.
It covers a nominated process, providing a means of verification of compliance with a defined specification or standard, for example, IEC 61340-5-1, Electrostatics - Part 5-1: Protection of electronic devices from electrostatic phenomena - General requirements
Certification of an ECMP (Electronic Component Management Plan) for compliance with IEC TS (Technical Specification) 62239, Process management for avionics – Preparation of an electronic components management plan, it was initially applied to the aviation industry as a means to provide aircraft manufacturers with a global assessment and certification covering their suppliers
All approvals are an important assurance that, throughout the chain of supply of components, customer requirements will be met in full compliance with IECQ procedures. Every approval granted under IECQ references a standard or specification that has been accepted for use in the System. Each approval is accompanied by a certificate.
IECQ HSPM
The IECQ HSPM (Hazardous Substances Process Management) is a technically-based management systems approach to implementing and maintaining hazardous-substance-free products and production processes. IECQ HSPM was developed in response to the component manufacturer’s need to give suppliers the means to demonstrate, through third-party assessment, that its electrical and electronic components and assemblies meet hazardous-substance-free specific local, national and international requirements.
The IECQ HSPM Scheme, introduced in 2005, has proved to be extremely successful, with more than 2 000 certificates issued to date.
IECQ emphasizes "green" products
IECQ was present at the 35th TAITRONICS (Taipei International Electronics Show) on 8-11 October 2009. The event was jointly hosted by TAITRA (the Taiwan External Trade Development Council) and TEEMA (Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association).
As an exhibitor, IECQ enjoyed a large presence on the exhibition floor, as it has done for some years, through the efforts of ECCB (the US Electronic Components Certification Board); its Chinese Taipei representative, CTECCB; and a number of ECCB-sponsored CBs (Certification Bodies).
In conjunction with the exhibition, CTECCB held a seminar on 9 October, which focused primarily on energy-using products, carbon footprints, greenhouse gas emissions and lithium batteries. The presentations by experts from the IECQ community and the discussions that followed were extremely well-received. The seminar showed that IECQ, and especially IECQ HSPM, are making significant progress.
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