supply-chain materials data management

US States' Product Disposal and Stewardship Laws: A List of Lists

2012-01-24T11:36:00.003-05:00

Looking for a List-of-Lists for product stewardship, as in disposal or recycling or end of life, initiatives in each state in the United States? Look here. Each US state has it's own rules and regulations. This should help.

The following states have the following product end-of-life policies:

Arkansas
    Automobile Switches: Mercury Switch Removal Act (March 2005)

California*
    Carpet: Carpet Stewardship Bill (September 2010)
    Paint: Architectural Paint Recovery Program (September 2010)
    Thermostats: Mercury-Added Thermostats: Collection Program (September 2008)
    Pesticide Containers: Pesticide Recycling Program (September 2008)
    Batteries: Rechargeable Battery Recycling Act (June 2006)
        This law does not require manufacturers to operate a collection system. The collection system is to be operated by retailers, while the manufacturer is responsible for incorporating the cost of recycling into the product price.
    Cell Phones: Cell Phone Recycling Act (2004)
        This law does not require manufacturers to operate a collection system. The collection system is to be operated by retailers, while the manufacturer is responsible for incorporating the cost of recycling into the product price.
    Green Chemistry: Green Chemistry Law (September 2008)
        The CA Department of Toxic Substances Control is authorized to evaluate and impose regulations on chemicals used in consumer products. In the case that a product contains a hazardous substance for which there does not exist a viable commercial alternative, the Department may require a manufacturer to provide free collection of that product.
    *The CA Electronic Waste Recycling Act is not on this list, but it did establish a funding mechanism to improve and provide for the proper end-of-life management of certain hazardous electronic products funded through a fee paid by consumers of covered electronic devices (CED) at the time of retail purchase.

Connecticut
    Electronics: Covered Electronic Devices (July 2007)
    Paint: Paint Stewardship Program (June 2011)

Florida
    Rechargeable Batteries: Relating to Rechargeable Batteries (1993; most recently amended in 2004)

Hawaii
    Electronics: Relating to Electronic Devices Recycling (July 2008)

Illinois
    Electronics: Electronic Products Recycling and Reuse Act (September 2008)
    Electronics: The Electronic Products Recycling and Reuse Act (August 2011)
    Automobile Switches: Mercury Switch Removal Act (May 2006)
    Thermostats: Mercury Thermostat Collection Act (July 2010)

Indiana
    Automobile Switches: Mercury Switches in End-Of-Life Vehicles (2006)
    Electronics: E-Waste Recycling (2009)

Iowa
    Thermostats: Relating to the collection and recycling of mercury added thermostats (March 2008)
    Automobile Switches: Mercury-Free Recycling Act (2006)
    Batteries: Household Batteries Recycling (1996)

Louisiana
    Automobile Switches: Mercury Risk Reduction Act (August 2006)

Maine
    [Read important product stewardship law breaking news for Maine]
Electronics: Electronic Waste (March 2004)
    Electronics: An Act Concerning Recycling Electronics (June 2011)
    Electronics: An Act to Enhance Maine's Electronic Recycling Law (June 2009)
    Thermostats: Maine Thermostat Law (March 2006)
    Automobile Switches: An Act to Prevent Mercury Emissions when Recycling and Disposing of Motor Vehicles (2006)
    Batteries: Regulation of Certain Dry-Cell Batteries (1995)
    Fluorescent Lamps: An Act to Provide for the Safe Collection and Recycling of Mercury-Containing Light Bulbs (June 2009)
    Framework: An Act to Provide Leadership Regarding the Responsible Recycling of Consumer Products (March 2010)

Maryland
    Electronics: Statewide Computer Recycling Pilot Program (March 2005)
    Primary Batteries: Mercuric Oxide Batteries (1994)
    Rechargeable Batteries: Rechargeable Batteries (1993)
    Automobile Switches: Mercury Switch Removal from Vehicles (May 2009)

Massachusetts
    Automobile Switches: An Act Relative to Mercury Management (2006)*
        This law requires automobile manufacturers to finance and operate collection efforts for mercury-added automobile switches. For other mercury-added products, manufacturers may choose between operating a collection service or operating a public education campaign in an effort to reach the product-specific capture rate. Failure to achieve the minimum capture rate will result in financial penalties to the manufacturer.

Michigan
    Electronics: Electronics Recycling (December 2008)

Minnesota
    Electronics: Electronics Recycling (March 2007)
    Rechargeable Batteries: Rechargeable Batteries and Products (1991)

Missouri
    Electronics: Computer Equipment Recovery (June 2008)

Montana
    Thermostats: Controlled Disposal of Mercury Thermostats (2009)

New Hampshire
    Thermostats: Mercury-added Thermostat Collection Program (August 2008)

New Jersey
    Electronics: Electronic Waste Recycling Act (January 2009)
    Batteries: Battery Management Plan (1991)
    Automobile Switches: Mercury Switch Removal Act (2004)

New York
    Electronics: Electronic Equipment Reuse and Recycling Act (May 2010)
    Rechargeable Batteries: Rechargeable Batteries and Products (December 2010)

North Carolina
    Electronics: Discarded Computer Equipment Management (August 2007)
    Automobile Switches: Mercury Switch Removal Act (April 2005)

Oklahoma
    Electronics: Computer Equipment Recovery Act (May 2008)

Oregon
    Electronics: Electronic Devices (June 2007)
    Electronics: Relating to Recycling of Electronic Devices (March 2010)
    Paint: An Act Relating to Paint Stewardship (June 2009)

Pennsylvania
    Thermostats: Prohibiting the Sale, Installation and Disposal of Mercury Thermostats (October 2008)
    Electronics: Covered Device Recycling Act (November 2010)

Rhode Island
    Electronics: Electronic Waste Prevention, Reuse and Recycling Act (June 2008)
    Automobile Switches: Mercury Reduction and Education Act (January 2005)
    Thermostats: Mercury Reduction and Education Act (June 2010)

South Carolina
    Automobile Switches: Mercury Switch Removal Act (May 2006)
    Electronics: Manufacturer Responsibility for Electronics (May 2010)

Texas
    Electronics: Computer Equipment Recycling Program (June 2007)
    Electronics: Recovery and Recycling of Televisions (June 2011)

Utah
    Automobile Switches: Mercury Switch Removal Act (February 2006)

Vermont
    Fluorescent Lamps: An act relating to the collection and disposal of mercury-containing lamps (May 2011)
    Thermostats: An Act Relating to the Collection and Disposal of Mercury-Added Thermostats (July 2008)
    Batteries: Regulation of Certain Dry-Cell Batteries (1991)
        This law is limited in scope to batteries purchased for use or used by a government agency, or an industrial, communications, or medical facility.
    Automobile Switches: An Act Relating to Management of Exposure to Mercury (2006)
    Electronics: An Act Relating to the Recycling and Disposal of Electronic Waste (April 2010)

Virginia
    Electronics: Computer Recovery and Recycling Act (March 2008)
    Auto Switches: Mercury Switches in Motor Vehicles (June 2006)

Washington
    Electronics: Electronic Product Recycling (March 2006)
    Fluorescent Lighting: Product Stewardship Recycling Act for Mercury-Containing Lights (March 2010)

West Virginia
    Electronics: Takeback Program for Electronic Devices (April 2008)

Wisconsin
    Electronics: Electronic Waste Recycling (October 2009)

See this page, with live links to each regulation as listed: http://www.productstewardship.us/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=280 Awesome.

WEEE Recast Gets Electric

2012-01-20T14:02:00.000-05:00

In Brussels, on 19 January 2012, Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik said he was pleased with the overwhelming support given by the European Parliament to an updated Directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). A majority of MEPs voted in favour of a deal.

Lots of excitement for this measure; you could say the atmosphere is electric.

WEEE -- when executed -- sets preconditions for professional recycling of valuable raw materials like:

gold
silver
copper
other rare metals contained in used TVs, laptops and mobile phones

Currently only one third of electrical and electronic waste in the European Union is reported by EU Member States to be separately collected and appropriately treated.

Citing "challenging times" and "rising prices for raw materials," Potočnik emphasized that resource efficiency is where environmental benefits and innovative growth opportunities for European industry come together.

"The waste stream with the greatest relevance in this respect is electrical and electronic waste," he said. "Today, the European Parliament has given a great boost to this policy, raising the binding collection levels to 85% by 2019."

WEEE work The new Directive will force exporters to test and provide documents on the nature of their shipments when the shipments run the risk of being waste. Illegal shipments of WEEE disguised as legal shipments of used equipment, in order to circumvent EU waste treatment rules, are a serious problem in the EU. The new WEEE Directive will also give EU Member States the tools to fight illegal export of waste more effectively.

The so-called WEEE recast also calls for harmonisation of national registration and reporting requirements under the Directive. In collaboration with Member States, the Commission will endeavor to adopt a harmonised format to be used for the supply of information in registers for producers of electrical and electronic equipment.

Administrative burdens are consequently expected to decrease by around EUR 66 million per year. For Americans and WEEE, not much has been said yet. There's a wait-and-see air about it, but respectfully so.

WEEE all the way home? The vote means that co-legislators agree on a common text. This will need to be formally adopted by the Council of Ministers in coming weeks. Here's what's being asked:

Member States will be required to collect 45% of electrical and electronic equipment put on their markets by 2016, and then achieve 65% by 2019, or may opt alternatively for a target of 85% of waste generated. Some Member States will be able to derogate from these targets where justified by lack of necessary infrastructure or low levels of EEE consumption.

The existing binding EU collection target is 4 kg of WEEE per capita, representing about 2 million tons per year, out of around 10 million tonnes of WEEE generated per year in the EU. By 2020, it is estimated that the volume of WEEE will increase to 12 million tons. The new target, endorsed by Parliament, an ambitious 85% of WEEE generated would ensure that around 10 million tons, or roughly 20kg per capita, would be separately collected in 2020.

Chemicals in the Orange Juice

2012-01-12T11:31:00.003-05:00

Bloomberg says one of every six glasses of orange juice comes from Brazil. Right now, that is bad news.

A potentially harmful chemical that's banned by the Food and Drug Administration is showing up in orange juice from Brazil. Authorities say there's no reason to panic. (Authorities always say that.) In this case they are right: there is no reason to panic but there is reason to get a little upset.

We need better supply chain visibility when it comes to chemicals in our products, food in particular. Chemicals in food is different from toxic chemicals in cosmetics, or hormone-disrupting chemicals in men's leather pants.* Orange juice affects everyone. Carbendazim in orange juice is an unlawful pesticide chemical residue under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and is therefore illegal.

U.S. food grown in a global supply chain Last October, FDA announced intentions to sharpen its ability to see into a food supply chain. The thinking was that if FDA had better visibility into, say, what is being used at the supply source, in this case Brazilian orange groves, then US consumers would not be caught off guard by a dangerous chemical turning up in a product -- such as orange juice.

This food product tracing would happen under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. Supply chain visibility down to the chemical level is a challenge in every industry -- from children's toys to electronics to textiles.

OJ in the USA

But orange juice is on everyone's table. Even mine, although I don't drink it. But I did have an Orangina yesterday, which I typically drink daily with lunch.

So when harmful chemicals turn up in a ubiquitous, cross-demographic product like orange juice -- we can all agree it's time to highlight chemicals in the supply chain and prepare to take some action. How do you take action? To get started, review this list of free and not-free tools for supplier chemical information management.

Another suggestion is to attend webinars on managing supplier data, best practices. There are articles (NAEM.org web site) on this and other articles (download) on this and let's face it -- the blog you are reading is 100% dedicated to this!

Subscribing to this blog might be your first step in a better handle on chemicals in the product supply chain.

More about carbendazim The chemical of concern in the orange juice is called carbendazim. It's a fungicide not allowed in the United States because it has been shown to cause birth defects and reproductive problems. Fungicides are chemical compounds or biological organisms used to kill or inhibit fungi or fungal spores that can cause serious damage in agriculture. Carbendazim is approved for use in a variety of crops, including citrus, in many countries. In the United States, however, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not approved carbendazim for use as a fungicide on oranges, nor has it established a tolerance or an exemption from the need for a tolerance for carbendazim in orange juice in the United States. Thus, carbendazim in orange juice is an unlawful pesticide chemical residue under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

Carbendazim is of the chemical class Benzimidazole. It has been highlighted by Friends of the Earth as one of their ‘filthy four’ pesticides as it could be harmful to human health and the environment.

Carbendazim was included in a biocide ban proposed by the Swedish Chemicals Agency and approved by the European Parliament on January 13, 2009

More about FDA's supply chain efforts Dated January 9, 2012 online, the Food and Drug Administration is issued a letter to alert the orange juice processing industry to the Agency’s position with respect to recent reports of the finding of the fungicide carbendazim in orange juice.

"The FDA received a report from an orange juice manufacturer that carbendazim, which is a particular fungicide used in several other countries, was found in their orange juice and the orange juice of one of their competitors," said ABC's Dr. Richard Besser.

FDA says it learned from a juice company on Dec. 28, 2011 that low levels of carbendazim (in the low parts per billion range) in currently marketed finished products had been detected, and in certain orange juice concentrate not on the market. Industry reports indicated the presence of carbendazim in orange juice products from the 2011 crop from Brazil, where the fungicide is used legally under Brazilian law to combat black spot, a type of mold that grows on orange trees.

The Environmental Protection Agency has conducted a preliminary risk assessment based on the recent reports of carbendazim in orange juice. Based on that risk assessment, EPA has concluded that consumption of orange juice with carbendazim at the low levels that have been reported does not raise safety concerns. FDA does not intend to take action to remove from domestic commerce orange juice containing the reported low levels of carbendazim. FDA is, however, conducting its own testing of orange juice for carbendazim, and, if the agency identifies orange juice with carbendazim at levels that present a public health risk, it will alert the public and take the necessary action to ensure that the product is removed from the market.

FDA is also sampling import shipments of orange juice and will deny entry to shipments that test positive for carbendazim.

Not just for breakfast anymore: products for men also leach hormone-disrupting chemicals.

*Hormone-disruptor chemicals in male oriented products are a serious issue. Sometimes these things have to hit home before we get a perspective, which is why chemicals in orange juice might have a bright side, a sunny side, as it were: orange juice is so ubiquitous that chemicals there might make us look closer.

boots image: morguefile

Informational Matrix of Tools for Green Chemistry

2012-01-05T11:37:00.001-05:00

Green Chemistry tools are listed in the matrix from GC3

Looking for tools to evaluate chemical ingredients in products -- for greener chemistry, safer products, a healthier workplace and a more viable supply chain? Recently GC3 designed and published a matrix of tools for green chemistry and an attendant summary document.

Use the matrix here: portal database

Some tools listed are free, some are not. In these matters you typically get what you pay for, but what you want to pay for depends on how big your supply network is and what your sustainability goals are from a product risk management and brand management point of view.

The Green Chemistry and Commerce Council (GC3) is out of the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. It bills itself as a business-to-business forum that advances the application of green chemistry and design for environment across supply chains.

GC3 has realized, rightly, that many businesses lack the resources to educate themselves about the tools and systems available for managing greener chemistry. The matrix at the link above will help businesses educate themselves about the choices in tools for evaluating chemical ingredients. Use it, the matrix is free.

Data safer in the cloud? Increasing regulatory requirements and consumer and media pressure to sell safer or “green” products are driving retailers to understand more about the chemical ingredients in the products they sell and to find safer alternatives to chemicals of concern. Some retailers are developing their own tools or systems to evaluate the chemical content of the products they buy and sell, which is an arguably short-sighted approach because it lends significant problems with lack of standardization of data, ergo inability or extreme difficulty with reporting and for suppliers who have to add resources to distribute the data. The alternative is to work with developers of 3rd party evaluation systems to develop customized tools, and others are working collaboratively to develop tools useful to a whole industry sector.

Some think that keeping data "in-house" is safer, but company "proprietary" data is just as easy to hack as is data in the cloud, or data hosted elsewhere. Viruses and malware occur more often in in-house systems. And data losses are more common (and expensive) in on-premises systems. So the data-is-safer-in-house point is mute.

In fact, an Aberdeen study recently revealed that data is actually safer in the cloud. Which means you have more choices, is all; you are no longer tied to your IT team, their capabilities, legacies, politics and budget. Be free!

Chemical ingredient tool matrix GC3 says that the tools included in the matrix are either free or commercially available and enable retailers to evaluate chemicals or chemical-containing products for their potential human health and environmental impacts and identify chemicals or materials that are regulated or are of concern and not yet regulated.

Most of the evaluative systems go beyond ensuring compliance with existing environmental regulations and provide additional information to retailers and manufacturers whose goal is to “green” their product lines by selling chemicals and chemical-containing products that are safer throughout the supply chain.

Market Forecast: US Good, EU Not-Good

2011-12-27T15:59:00.002-05:00

Good news and bad news: good news from the US commodities market and sketchy news from Europe -- making for a somewhat schizophrenic late-December market outlook.

It's fun to stay in the: U. S. of A. Bloomberg reported today that hedge funds reduced bets on higher commodity prices -- to the lowest level since 2009 -- just as raw materials headed for their biggest weekly rally in months. This indicates strength in numbers, that is, in commodities market numbers.

"Commodities are in the process of bottoming," James Paulsen told Elizabeth Campbell at Bloomberg. (Paulsen is a chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management, which oversees assets worth about $340 billion.) "You're going to find out that the U.S. economy is going to continue to grow much faster than people thought. You're going to see people coming back to commodities."

The Standard & Poor's GSCI (formerly the Goldman Sachs Commodity Index) is a, if not the, benchmark for investment in the commodity markets -- it's also a reasonable indicator of commodity performance over time. S&P GSCI gauge of 24 commodities climbed 4.5 percent last week -- dissipating this year's declines-- and pushing the index toward its 3rd consecutive annual advance.

Europe on $538.4 billion a day Just before Christmas, the European Central Bank placed 500 billion euros into the financial markets. The idea was that the money would stabilize banks. And the banks would be so stable they'd pass that money on in loans to businesses -- which would help infuse the economy.

Question -- does the cunning plan to infuse a capitalistic economy with cash ever unfold as planned?

Hot potato European banks did not invest the given 500 billion euros into businesses in the form of loans. To a startling degree, European banks redeposited the money with the European Central Bank, as if passing back a hot potato. Why would they do this? While it's true that the banks get very low interest rates from a yield point of view at the European Central Bank, they also get the most security from a hold-your-hoard point of view.

Some say the sum of overnight deposits at the European Central Bank is an indicator of how much fear is brewing in the financial sector. When banks trust each other not to fail, they will lend to each other first, because the interest rates are higher. But the greater the degree of distrust between banks, the more money banks tend to deposit on a daily basis with the European Central Bank.

This past week saw deposits at the European Central Bank's overnight facility rise to almost €412 billion ($538.4 billion) -- that's the highest amount since the euro's introduction. It includes a single overnight increase on Monday of €65 billion.

Does this directly affect the European (et puis, global) Commodities market? It does if investors get very cold feet, colder, that is, than they already are.

Sun in the states, rain in Spain. And London. Probably Berlin. Etc. Reactions from US money managers seem to be versions of the following:

"People are focusing too much on the day to day in Europe.There's an overall environment that remains favorably biased towards an increase in commodity prices heading into 2012." --Michael Cuggino, to Bloomberg [Cuggino's team manages $15 billion of assets at Permanent Portfolio Funds in San Francisco.]

So yes, things in the EU look a little cloudier today, just when we thought that days couldn't get any shorter, they kind of did.

In a practical sense, buying commodity stocks this week could be a good idea, because it well might be true that we're hitting bottom here. But -- simultaneously -- pressing the Pause button at coordinates where your supply chain passes through Europe might also be a good idea.

EPA's First Standards for Mercury Pollution from Power Plants

2011-12-22T10:42:00.003-05:00

Arsenic and old gas...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced yesterday it has issued the anticipated "Mercury and Air Toxics Standards."

Apparently, power plants are the largest remaining source of several toxic air pollutants in the US -- including half of the mercury and over 75% of the acid gas emissions. Action was inevitable and is probably a good idea. These are the first national standards for power plant emissions containing known toxic substances such as:

mercury
arsenic
acid gas
nickel
selenium
cyanide

Software companies are offering technology to track, organize and therefore manage plant emissions and other waste streams containing quantities of Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs) such as those listed above. For instance, Actio Regulator (see Wikipedia profile here) is a module used to track, analyze, manage, report and reduce toxic substances in emissions. From January 2010 in the words of Control Engineering:

The latest version of Actio Regulator [is] an on-demand software product which can be used by manufacturers to calculate chemical inventory, usage, emissions, chemical mixtures, scrap and waste, as well as incoming and outgoing distribution volumes.

Technology like this might just change the world -- or at least make the significant changes, like those involved in yesterday's EPA announcement, manageable.

Proponents say the new standards will cut emissions of pollutants by relying on pollution controls already in use at over half of the nation’s coal-fired power plants.

Hoot: power plants pollute Interestingly, reports say that power plants are the largest remaining source of several toxic air pollutants, including mercury, arsenic, cyanide, and a range of other dangerous pollutants, and that power plants are responsible for half of the mercury and over 75% of the acid gas emissions in the United States.

On the sunny side, EPA estimates that manufacturing, engineering, installing and maintaining the pollution controls to meet these standards will provide employment for thousands, potentially including 46,000 short-term construction jobs and 8,000 long-term utility jobs; and saving on health care costs of related illnesses. To wit: EPA estimates that the new safeguards will prevent as many as 11,000 premature deaths and 4,700 heart attacks a year. More information: http://www.epa.gov/mats/

Policy trail More than 20 years ago, a bipartisan Congress passed the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments and mandated that EPA require control of toxic air pollutants including mercury. To meet this requirement, EPA worked extensively with stakeholders, including industry, to minimize cost and maximize flexibilities in these final standards.

There were more than 900,000 public comments that helped inform the final standards.

ECHA's New Website Is Good But Not Perfect

2011-12-15T10:39:00.002-05:00

ECHA data: the next generation

European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has finally updated its website for a more user-friendly, intuitive and let's call it what it is: functional user experience.

The new site is easier to use, for sure. The site still errs on the side of delivering editorials about REACh and related topics rather than providing the tools we need to execute tasks (it's very European to want to talk more about it, while Americans want to get right to the action).

So if you're looking for the Substance of Very High Concern (SVHC) candidate list -- you'll find a lot of pages talking about the list but you'll pull your hair out trying to get to the list itself. The list is here: http://echa.europa.eu/web/guest/candidate-list-table

Tip: Google is a quicker way to find tables, tools and lists on the site rather than using the ECHA search box. Search for "ECHA Candidate List" on both Google and ECHA -- and you'll agree.

12 new SVHCs ECHA says committees have unanimously agreed to add 12 new chemicals of very high concern to that candidate list, so you'll want to know where to find it. Today, the list stands at 53 SVHCs today, also kept up to date at websites besides ECHA's.

Overall, people will appreciate the improvements. It's getting better all the time, as the Beatles said.

Manufacturing Orders Up 80% Over Last Year

2011-12-14T10:33:00.005-05:00

Machine tool manufacturers show year-to-date (YTD) sales total of $4.520 billion. That's up 80.5% compared with 2010.

"Manufacturing technology orders through October have already surpassed the total value accumulated in 2007," said Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT) President Douglas Woods. "The beginning of 2012 will be a little slow as tax incentive pulled some orders back into 2011, which will likely make 2012 growth softer."

Machine tools go through the roof

The United States Manufacturing Technology Orders (USMTO) report shows the results by region:

Northeast Region - YTD total up 44.5% (meaning: more than the comparable figure for 2010)

Southern Region - YTD total up 60.7%

Midwest Region - YTD total up 105.4%

Central Region - YTD total up 85.3%

Western Region - YTD total up 88.8%

Notably, orders in October 2011 were not as robust as in September, but overall the YTD totals are much stronger than last year.

The data comes from the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT) and the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association (AMTDA). There's a good write up in Plastics Today and in Manufacturing Business Technology.

For $1 Billion The US Military Is All Tired Out

2011-12-08T16:02:00.001-05:00

SAIC announced this week it received a contract from the U.S. military to manage the supply of tires for land and aircraft for U.S. forces and Foreign Military Sales customers. SAIC says the single-award from the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency is an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. It's base period is five years with a two-year option.

Tired & true: SAIC is just getting started

All those tires -- it's fun to think about.

It's a niche aspect of the supply chain that gets young people interested in business, because it's subtle and it includes supply, demand, logistics and manufacture: Tires! All those tires -- and the dollars that love them.

Going a little deeper: the young, would-be chemists wonders about raw materials used to manufacture those tires, and about how to and who will make them.

(And young environmentalists, one supposes, wonder about the toxicity, or not, of those raw materials.)

About SAIC The value of the award could be more than $1 billion.

SAIC (Science Applications International Corporation) is a FORTUNE 500 scientific, engineering and technology applications company headquartered in the United States with numerous federal, state, and private sector clients. SAIC works extensively with the United States Department of Defense, the United States Department of Homeland Security, and the United States Intelligence Community, including the National Security Agency, as well as other U.S. Government civil agencies and selected commercial markets.

"We look forward to continuing to provide DLA with high-performance supply chain management solutions that result in outstanding fill rates and logistics response times, highly satisfied customers, and a low cost of ownership," said Glenn San Giacomo, SAIC senior vice president and business unit general manager.

The contract is a result of a DLA's initiative that allows the government to benefit from the latest commercial supply chain management technologies and business practices.

EPA Publishes More Confidential Business Info

2011-11-29T10:23:00.001-05:00

Last June, EPA removed confidentiality protection for more than 150 chemicals. EPA's declassification trend towards substance-level material disclosure is similar to the culture around chemical information in Europe under REACH and RoHS.

On Monday, November 28, the agency announced the public availability of hundreds of studies on chemicals that had previously been treated as confidential business information (CBI). EPA says that over the next year the agency expects to review several thousand additional studies on industrial chemicals and make many reviews accessible to the public.

Releasing the data, says EPA, will expand the public’s access to critical health and safety information on chemicals that are manufactured and processed in the U.S. Newly available information can be found using EPA’s Chemical Data Access Tool.

Since 2009, "What's in your product?" is a question with over 500 answers available now that were previously unavailable. 577 formerly confidential chemical identities are no longer confidential and more than 1,000 health and safety studies are now accessible to the public that were previously unavailable or only available in limited circumstances. In 2010 EPA issued new guidance outlining the agency’s plans to deny confidentiality claims for chemical identities in health and safety studies under the federal Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that are determined to not be entitled to CBI status. EPA has been reviewing CBI claims in new and existing TSCA filings containing health and safety studies.

“EPA is increasing the availability of critical health and safety studies on chemicals that children and families are exposed to every day. We are making important progress in making this information public and giving the American public easy access to it,” said Steve Owens, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.

For additional information, please visit: http://www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/pubs/transparency.html

REACH Downstream Users Obligations

2011-11-22T16:24:00.001-05:00

Every so often we find it good to review general information about obligations of downstream users under REACH regulation. Under REACH, downstream users have the following obligations:

The downstream user should follow his supplier’s advice on measures to control risks as provided in the extended safety data sheets (SDSs), including attached exposure scenarios (in case of registered substances).
If certain use has not been covered in the exposure scenario, the downstream user may need to develop his own chemical safety report (CSR) for the excluded use.
A downstream user is obliged to inform his supplier if he has new information on the hazard of the substance or preparation, or if he believes that the risk management advice provided is not appropriate.
Formulators must supply their customers with information on hazards and safe conditions of use for their substance (including risk management measures). Formulators are required to forward exposure scenario information received from their suppliers to their own customers.

It is the second obligation where the downstream user(s) can face inconvenience, especially if the user has to prepare his own CSR for the exposure scenarios of the use(s) not covered by the lead registrant (LR).
Exemption to the above is applicable only in two situations:

substance is used in less than 1 ton per year or
substance is used for product and process oriented research

For more on downstream users, go to REACHspot, the blog for all things REACH.

TCE Linked To Parkinson's

2011-11-15T16:08:00.001-05:00

As a follow up to the October 13th post about EPA's negative review of the chemical trichloroethylene or TCE, the story has exploded this week with the publication of a new study from the Annals of Neurology that shows direct correlation between TCE exposure and Parkinson's Disease.

The media frenzy alert has been raised to orange for manufacturers of degreasers, adhesives, paint removers and so on. Most manufacturers already know whether TCE lurks in the supply chain, as rigors of REACH demand disclosure of this type of thing. However, for businesses whose operations have skipped (or skimmed) over Europe's regulation -- it's time to get serious about TCE. Especially as the media seems to be jumping all over it.

The following links will be useful to anyone researching the subject:

Actio Blog: Study Links Chemicals to Parkinson's Disease
CNN Blog: Common Chemical Linked to Parkinson's
New York Times: Hazards: Solvent Linked To Higher Parkinson's Risk
European Chemicals Agency: Support Document for trichloroethylene or TCE inclusion on the SVHC list
EPA's IRIS assessment for trichloroethylene

Aerospace manufacturing plants are often mentioned as typical conditions for exposure to -- well, almost everything unfortunately, but -- TCE in particular, especially for workers there in the 1950's.

EPA Announces Winners of 'Apps for Environment'

2011-11-08T11:11:00.000-05:00

Apps for a greener environment WIN

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced the winners of its Apps for the Environment challenge, which encouraged new and innovative uses of EPA’s data to create apps that address environmental and public health issues. Developers from across the country created apps with information about everything from energy efficient light bulbs to local air quality -- a few even developed games to help people learn environmental facts.

The five winners are:

Winner, Best Overall App: Light Bulb Finder by Adam Borut and Andrea Nylund of EcoHatchery, Milwaukee, Wis.
Runner Up, Best Overall App: Hootroot by Matthew Kling of Brighter Planet, Shelburne, Vt.
Winner, Best Student App: EarthFriend by Ali Hasan and Will Fry of Differential Apps and Fry Development Company, Mount Pleasant High School in Mount Pleasant, N.C. and J.H. Rose High School in Greenville, N.C. (link not available)
Runner Up, Best Student App: Environmental Justice Participatory Mapping by Robert Sabie, Jr. of Western Washington University, Bellingham, Wash.
Popular Choice Award: CG Search by Suresh Ganesan of Cognizant Technology Solutions, South Plainfield, N.J. (link not available)

“Innovators from across the country have used information to help people protect our health and the environment,” said Malcolm Jackson, EPA’s Chief Information Officer. “The winners of the Apps for the Environment challenge demonstrate that it’s possible to transform data from EPA and elsewhere into applications that people can use.”

Applications for business to business, e.g., software for greener industry, such as solutions from Actio Corporation and SAP / Technidata for REACH (etc.) compliance were not included in the competition.

>>>
Winners' will Winners will demonstrate their submissions at the Apps for the Environment forum today in Arlington, Va. The forum will include panels on business, technology, and government initiatives, breakout sessions by EPA’s program offices, upcoming developer challenges and future directions about environmental applications.

All contestants will retain intellectual property rights over their submissions, though winners agree that their submissions will be available on the EPA website for free use and download by the public for a period of one year following the announcement of the winners.

More information about the winners and other submissions: http://appsfortheenvironment.challenge.gov/submissions

The Genius of Apple's Supply Chain

2011-11-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

Secret to success: managing a global supply chain?

A massive competitive advantage for Apple is its operations function. Specifically, its supply chain operations. Apple has a regimented core business vision -- built around their supply chain.

"They have a very unified strategy, and every part of their business is aligned around that strategy," said Matthew Davis, a supply-chain analyst with Gartner (IT) who has ranked Apple as the world’s best supply chain for the last four years, as quoted by Bloomberg/Businessweek in a recent story on same.

It's well known that recently Google paid $12 billion for Motorola's cultivated, global supply chain.

That fact, combined with observations about the genius of Apple's supply chain -- genius which is apparently 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration, by the way -- make it clearer why a supply line could be worth so much money.

This is the world of manufacturing, procurement, and logistics in which the new chief executive officer, Tim Cook, excelled, earning him the trust of Steve Jobs. According to more than a dozen interviews with former employees, executives at suppliers, and management experts familiar with the company’s operations, Apple has built a closed ecosystem where it exerts control over nearly every piece of the supply chain, from design to retail store. Because of its volume—and its occasional ruthlessness—Apple gets big discounts on parts, manufacturing capacity, and air freight. -- Adam Satariano and Peter Burrows, reporters for Bloomberg

The bottom line, according to Satariano and Burrows, is that Apple plans to double spending on its supply chain, to $7.1 billion -- continuing its focus on streamlining and controlling manufacturing.

Relative to Google's $12 billion to procure part of a new one, once again it seems to make financial sense to invest in current accounts rather than invest in new.

Excellent article on Apple's supply chain can be found at: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/apples-supplychain-secret-hoard-lasers-11032011.html

Star Wars: CSP vs. PV in Solar Power Industry

2011-11-01T17:16:00.003-04:00

Solar power comes from the conversion of sunlight into electricity, either directly or indirectly. Currently there is a power struggle, as it were, between the two. Last week, the US government may have gotten involved when it announced a $60 million infusion into "direct sunlight conversion," a.k.a. concentrated solar power, or CSP.

Power struggles: concentrated vs. photovoltaic

But some insiders say $60 million is not enough money to be meaningful.

CSP vs. PV Converting sunlight into electricity directly involves the use of photovoltaics (PV). Photovoltaics convert light into electric current using the photoelectric effect. Here, electrons are emitted -- from perhaps metals or non-metallic solids, liquids or gases -- as a consequence of those electrons absorbing energy from electromagnetic radiation of very short wavelength, such as visible or ultraviolet light, i.e., sunlight.

Converting sunlight into electricity indirectly involves using concentrated solar power (CSP). Concentrated solar power systems use lenses, or mirrors and tracking systems, to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam.

Money pocket-changes everything? Last week, the US Department of Energy announced a $60 million investment over 3 years for applied scientific research to advance what it called cutting-edge CSP technologies.

Funded through DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, this research will support DOE’s SunShot Initiative, a collaborative national effort that aspires to:

reduce the cost of solar energy 75%
make CSP cost competitive with other forms of energy production
create significant clean tech / green collar jobs by 2020

Internationally, CSP has felt the heat of price declines caused by overcapacity and recession. This has increased the competitiveness of CSP's main rival, solar photovoltaic (PV) energy, where, again, in a more direct-result way electrons are emitted from matter due to stimulation by light.

In PV, the electron emission is, of course, a form of energy.

Why PV has the advantage Mariàngels Pérez Latorre, the secretary general of the European Solar Thermal Electricity Association, said the US government's move, announced on October 25, 2011, would not dramatically change the US situation.

“This is nothing,” Latorre told news outlet EurActiv, speaking candidly about the $60 million dollars. “It is one-fifth of the cost of a small 100MW plant, which would typically cost about half a million dollars.”

Decisions on whether to fund the building of such plants in the US have not yet been made, she added.

Why CSP has the advantage “Commercially PV has won the race,” said Christopher Burghardt, vice president of the First Solar PV company, a company that would say that. But, he says, CSP still has a foothold because of the World Bank's clean tech fund.

“The problem," says Burghardt, "is that the World Bank’s clean technology fund is only available to CSP in North Africa – and there is a big push by some European governments to try and support their industries there.”

Many CSP projects in the North Africa region are currently being harnessed by the Desertec Industrial Initiative, which ultimately aims to provide Europe with 15% of its electricity needs, reports Euractiv.

One under the sun Greenpeace is quick to point out the advantages of CSP. “CSP has the advantage that its storage technology is relatively well developed, so CSP power stations can deliver dispatchable electricity that you can store and use at night as well,” said Sven Teske, Greenpeace international's renewables director. Some environmental groups fear that if the two technologies are played off against each other, the only winners will be the fossil fuel and nuclear industries.

“We need the whole range of technologies in the renewable sector to move to 100% renewables as quickly as possible,” said Teske.

For more on this story, go to: http://www.euractiv.com/specialreport-solarpower/concentrated-solar-gets-boost-us-news-508619

Sun/cloud image credit: mzacha

Managing Methanol

2011-10-25T17:17:00.002-04:00

Methanol: it's clear, but it smells funny

Shell Oil has a decent web site if you're looking for attempts to document stewardship efforts around various chemicals -- or documents such as the MSDS and other chemical management type information. Recently, Shell published information about managing methanol, some of which is worth passing along.

About methanol Methanol is also called methyl alcohol. It's a clear, colourless liquid that smells like alcohol. It is completely soluble in and non-reactive in water. Methanol is primarily used in the production of other chemical products.

For example, large quantities of methanol are used in the production of formaldehyde, acetic acid and other chemical intermediates, which in turn are used in the manufacture of a wide range of products including:

plywood
particleboard
foams
resins
plastics

Methanol can also be used in

fuel
windshield washer fluid
antifreeze
waste water treatment
biodiesel production

Handling risk and safety with methanol Environmental, Health and Safety considerations include attending to the fact that methanol is toxic in three ways:

by inhalation
in contact with skin
if swallowed

Without treatment, methanol intoxication by any avenue can lead to blindness and death. Additionally, methanol has distinct narcotic properties. Inhalation of high vapour concentrations can produce drunkenness, drowsiness, lightheadedness, blurred vision, unconsciousness and subsequently death. Furthermore, it is irritating to the eyes and repeated contact with methanol will cause defatting of the skin. In some cases, the
effects may be delayed by 18-24 hours and, in some cases by up to 72 hours.

Occupational exposure limits (OELs) for methanol have been set by most regulatory authorities at
around 260 mg/m3 (200 ppm) TWA.

Methanol is highly flammable and may form a flammable/explosive vapour-air mixture. Vapours are heavier than air. Vapours may travel across the ground and reach remote ignitions sources causing a flashback fire. Electrostatic charges may be generated during pumping, which may ignite and cause a fire.

If spilled in water, methanol will dissolve quickly or evaporate rapidly as it is very volatile. Methanol
biodegrades rapidly. It is practically (practically!) non-toxic to fish or algae and will be naturally eliminated from air through rapid degradation by sunlight.

Storing and transporting methanol Methanol should be stored in mild steel or stainless steel. Methanol is regulated for transportation as flammable liquid, with a subsidiary risk as a poison inhalation hazard. It can be transported by road, rail, or water.

Methanol risk characterization summary Risks associated with exposure to this product have been evaluated by Shell for “chain commerce” activities such as:

manufacture
storage
product transfer
transportation
customers/markets

Methanol is often manufactured, stored and transported to customers in closed systems.

Depending on the customer, end uses may vary from use as an intermediate for the manufacture of other chemicals, commercial products, or even formulated consumer products. Proper equipment design and handling procedures maintain low risk from exposure to product is used as a chemical intermediate. Exposures may be higher in consumer applications. To minimize risk, additional controls such as protective packaging and certain handling procedures must be implemented.

Here is an EPA fact sheet on methanol, which hasn't changed since 1994: http://www.epa.gov/chemfact/f_methan.txt

The very latest from EPA, as of March 2011, is that EPA is holding off on the external peer review of the draft IRIS Methanol Toxicological Review. This follows a related National Toxicology Program (NTP) report.

The NTP report (referred to in EPA's June 15, 2010 press release) recommended that pathology reviews be carried out to resolve differences of opinion in the diagnoses of certain tumors reported in a methanol research study completed by the Ramazzini Institute. Therefore, EPA and the National Institute of Environmental Heath Sciences plan to jointly sponsor an independent Pathology Working Group (PWG) review of select studies conducted at the Institute. More information regarding the PWG work will be made publicly available in the near future.

EPA says it is conducting a peer review and public comment of the scientific basis supporting the human health hazard and dose-response assessment of methanol that when finalized will appear on the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) database. Please refer to IRISTrack - methanol (cancer) and/or IRISTrack - methanol (non cancer) for the latest schedule updates.

Top 10 Technologies for 2012 and Beyond

2011-10-20T13:08:00.001-04:00

Seems that 2012 is the Year of the Embedded Sensor. Note that if the supply network passes through the EU, RoHS will apply in a regulatory sense to many items on the 2012 list.

We believe that in every business person's supply chain knowledge there should be a place for information on the next generation of products. In electronics technology, Gartner this week laid down the Top 10 technologies to watch, use, buy, order and manufacture for 2012 -- and what organizations need to do and know to prepare.

1. Media Tablets and Other Portables No single platform, form factor or technology will dominate and companies should expect to manage a diverse environment with two to four intelligent clients through 2015, says Gartner. Enterprises must figure out how to manage employees -- particularly consistent messaging and risk management -- around this technology, including smartphones. Companies must also implement strategies to manage the business to consumer (B2C) scenario considering the proliferation of these devices.

2. Sensors That Relay Information About An Object Don't be scared, well, maybe be a little scared. These sensors are also, so benignly, called "the Internet of Things," a word that sounds so inevitable, so valley-fresh and friendly. Beware. The "Internet of Things" includes:

Embedded sensors: Sensors that detect and communicate changes are being in an increasing number of places and objects.
Image Recognition: Image recognition technologies strive to identify objects, people, buildings, places logos, and anything else that has value to consumers and enterprises -- an presumably to governments.
Near Field Communication (NFC) payment: NFC allows users to make payments by waving their mobile phone in front of a compatible reader. Once NFC is embedded in a critical mass of phones for payment, industries such as public transportation, airlines, retail and healthcare can explore other areas in which NFC technology can improve efficiency and customer service, Gartner says.

3. Mobile-Centric Applications and Interfaces. The user interface (IU) paradigm in place for more than 20 years is changing. UIs with windows, icons, menus, and pointers will be replaced by mobile-centric interfaces emphasizing touch, gesture, search, voice and video; these changes will drive the need for new user interface design skills.

Looking ahead, closely

4. Contextual and Social User Experience. Through 2013, context aware applications will appear in targeted areas such as location-based services, augmented reality on mobile devices, and mobile commerce. As Intel Vice President, Director of Intel Labs and Intel Chief Technology Officer and Senior Fellow Justin Rattner told his keynote audience at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco last year, "Imagine your PC advising you leave the house 10 minutes early for your next appointment due to a traffic tie-up on your way to work. Consider a 'context aware' remote control that instantly determines who is holding it and automatically selects the Smart TV preferences for that person. All this may sound like science fiction, but this is the promise of 'context-aware' computing and we can already demonstrate much of it in the lab."

In terms of the "Social User," the interfaces for applications are taking on the characteristics of social networks. Social information is also becoming a key source of contextual information to enhance delivery of search results or the operation of applications.

5. App Stores and Marketplaces. Gartner forecasts that by 2014, there will be more than 70 billion mobile application downloads from app stores every year. This will grow from a consumer-only phenomena to an enterprise focus. With enterprise app stores, the role of IT shifts from that of a centralized planner to a market manager providing governance and brokerage services to users and potentially an ecosystem to support entrepreneurs. Enterprises should use a managed diversity approach to focus on app store efforts and segment apps by risk and value.

6. Next-Generation Analytics. Analytics is growing along three key dimensions:

From traditional offline analytics to in-line embedded analytics.
From analyzing historical data to explain what happened to futurecasts, simulations and forecasts
Over the next three years, Gartner says analytics will mature from structured and simple data analyzed by individuals to analysis of complex information of many types (text, video, etc…) from many systems supporting a collaborative decision process that brings multiple people together to analyze, brainstorm and make decisions.

7. Big Data. The size, complexity of formats and speed of delivery exceeds the capabilities of traditional data management technologies; it requires the use of new or exotic technologies simply to manage the volume alone. Many new technologies are emerging, with the potential to be disruptive (e.g., in-memory DBMS). Analytics has become a major driving application for data warehousing, with the use of MapReduce outside and inside the DBMS, and the use of self-service data marts. One major implication of big data is that in the future users will not be able to put all useful information into a single data warehouse. Logical data warehouses bringing together information from multiple sources as needed will replace the single data warehouse model.

8. In-Memory Computing. Gartner sees huge use of flash memory in consumer devices, entertainment equipment and other embedded IT systems. Running existing applications in-memory or refactoring applications to exploit in-memory approaches can result in improved transactional application performance and scalability, lower latency (less than one microsecond) application messaging, dramatically faster batch execution and faster response time in analytical applications. As cost and availability of memory intensive hardware platforms reach tipping points in 2012 and 2013, the in-memory approach will enter the mainstream.

9. Extreme Low-Energy Servers. The adoption of low-energy servers — the radical new systems being proposed, announced and marketed by mostly new entrants to the server business —will take the buyer on a trip backward in time. These systems are built on low-power processors typically used in mobile devices. The potential advantage is delivering 30 times or more processors in a particular server unit with lower power consumption vs. current server approaches. The new approach is well suited for certain non-compute intensive tasks such as map/reduce workloads or delivery of static objects to a website. However, most applications will require more processing power, and the low-energy server model potentially increases management costs, undercutting broader use of the approach.

10. Cloud Computing. Cloud is a disruptive force and has the potential for broad long-term impact in most industries. While the market remains in its early stages in 2011 and 2012, it will see the full range of large enterprise providers fully engaged in delivering a range of offerings to build cloud environments and deliver cloud services. SaaS providers will be called cloud providers. Oracle, IBM and SAP all have major initiatives to deliver a broader range of cloud services over the next two years. As Microsoft continues to expand its cloud offering, and these traditional enterprise players expand offerings, users will see competition heat up and enterprise-level cloud services increase.

Have your supply chains -- and corporate as well as personal policies -- ready.

EPA's Toxicological Review of TCE: Thumbs Down

2011-10-13T13:31:00.001-04:00

Chemicals in a material world...

EPA’s Office of Research and Development has developed a draft Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Toxicological Review for trichloroethylene or TCE.

EPA's studies find that exposure to TCE can lead to kidney and liver cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. To a lesser but still notable extent, TCE may also be linked to bladder, esophageal, prostate, cervical, and breast cancers, as well as leukemia. TCE easily evaporates from water into the air and contaminates groundwater and land. Any type of exposure can be carcinogenic to humans.

EPA has requested that the Science Advisory Board conduct a peer review of the assessment.

Trichloroethylene or TCE is a solvent that has been widely used for vapor degreasing of metal parts. It is also used as an ingredient in adhesives, paint removers, typewriter correction fluid, spot removers, as an extractant and as a chemical intermediate. Trichloroethylene has been identified at various levels in the environment, particularly in groundwater.

Widespread uses of TCE

EPA’s announcement came as a bittersweet victory for communities that have long suffered from TCE contamination, confirming long-held suspicions about the chemical, reported OMB Watch. Likely poisoning cases so far are most commonly reported in people who spent significant time on military bases active from 1950-1990, some construction sites, and aerospace manufacturing facilities.

However, the chemical TCE is also found in household products such as:

electronic equipment cleaners
paint removers
glues
rust removers
adhesives
gun-cleaning fluids
others, such as correction fluid

Until 1977, TCE was even used as a general anesthetic, and until the 1980s, it was used in pharmaceuticals and food.

Widespread panic?

Given TCE's widespread presence, it is not surprising that TCE is one of the most common synthetic chemicals found in the environment and is often among pollutants identified at Superfund sites, military bases, and industrial sites across the country.

TCE’s movement from contaminated ground water and soil, into the indoor air of overlying buildings, is of serious concern. EPA already has drinking water standards for TCE and standards for cleaning up TCE at Superfund sites throughout the country. To find out more about these standards, spend some time on EPA's IRIS page, try a search there for Trichloroethylene.

What's in your water?

In Brief: Plasma, LCD, Rear and Front Projection TVs

2011-10-11T11:31:00.000-04:00

TV Watch: What TV type are you?

There are four basic types of television sets dominating the market right now: plasma, LCD, rear projection and front projection. The typical consumer can be confused by the benefits and shortfalls of each.

In terms of product stewardship, each type of television has distinct advantages and disadvantages as a product, a recycling challenge.

EPA has a web site that addresses recycling electronics in the United States. For instance, cathode ray tube televisions have largely been replaces with modern LCD and Plasma televisions, a Samsung case study elaborates on why this was a good idea, if you haven't already heard.

The realistic approach to this issue is to consider and decide in advance what your own company or household product stewardship program will be -- before you decide to buy. Figure in costs and processes of TV recycling -- as well as power draw -- alongside other factors that help in the type selection. Below are some benefits and drawbacks of each type of TV.

Plasma Televisions These televisions often provide best picture quality. Their designs make them ideal for watching movies that are formatted for wide screen viewing and they have a much larger viewing area than traditional televisions. They also come in a wide variety of sizes.

The single largest problem with these types of televisions is the price, which is often prohibitive -- and becomes moreso with the larger sized units.

LCD Televisions Liquid crystals encompass a wide range of (typically) rod-shaped polymers that naturally form into thin layers, as opposed to the more random alignment of a normal liquid. It seems like most people still use the LCD models because the price is reasonable and the picture quality is darned good.

Unfortunately, LCD TVs are relatively inefficient in terms of power use per display size, because the vast majority of light that is being produced at the back of the screen is blocked before it reaches the viewer. To start with, the rear polarizer filters out over half of the original unpolarized light. A large part of the screen area is covered by the cell structure around the shutters, which removes another portion. After that, each sub-pixel's color filter removes the majority of what is left to leave only the desired color. Finally, to control the color and luminance of a pixel as a whole, the light has to be further absorbed in the shutters. On average, 3M says, that only 8 to 10% of the light being generated at the back of the set reaches the viewer.

Thus, the backlighting system has to be extremely powerful. In spite of using highly efficient CCFLs, most sets use several hundred watts of power, more than would be required to light an entire house with the same technology. As a result, LCD televisions end up with overall power usage similar to a CRT of the same size. Using the same examples, the KV-40XBR800 dissipates 245 W, while the LC-42D65 dissipates 235 W. (Plasma displays are worse; the best are on par with LCDs, but typical sets draw much more.)

LED TVs are technically same as the LCD TVs as they both use liquid crystal display, main difference between the two being the difference between their backlights: LEDs use Light Emitting Diode backlighting instead of the Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps used in LCDs.

Rear Projection Televisions Rear projection televisions offer high quality at a much lower price than plasma televisions. Here, the image is projected and reflected from the back of the television.

One of the major disadvantages for rear projections televisions is the fact that they are big. So how large is your home theater space, and could you use that space for something else (like a foosball table)? Another distinct disadvantage is the fact that there is a great deal of options by manufacturer -- the model types and functional processes vary in quality, so you really need to study the various televisions before settling on any one in particular.

Other notable drawbacks to rear projection televisions are the facts that the lighting in the room affects the quality of the picture onscreen and you have a narrow viewing range. Otherwise, the low cost involved is a huge bonus to many and makes the purchase of this type of television (particularly for a home theater) the best possible choice. It always comes down to a matter of preference.

Front Projectors The technology for front projection has also evolved in recent years. Gone are the days of big bulky boxes that sat on the floor of your living room and that no one could walk in front of without seriously distorting the television view. Today's front projectors are mounted on the ceiling and provide a nice quality of picture rather you are using a screen that is designed to maximize the quality of the picture or merely projecting onto a blank wall.

CNet calls them "light cannons."

These light cannons can fill 100-inch screens, but they're not for everybody since they require a light-controlled environment and plenty of room. Plus, for optimal picture quality, you'll want to buy a dedicated screen, although you can use a white wall in a pinch.

Because modern electronics stewardship mandates make disposal for all types of TVs in the post-CRT era more or less equal across the board, the green things to consider now include power consumption and lifespan. As for where the market is headed, some say plasma, but others say wristbands.

As for where the market is now, we'll keep watching; most likely on LCDs until the price of plasmas comes down.

Excellent image courtesy of alvimann.

Thinking It Through: Ecodesign in ISO 14006:2011

2011-10-03T14:08:00.000-04:00

ISO has published a new standard in the ISO 14000 family designed to help organizations reduce the adverse environmental impacts of their products and services.

Measuring for meaningful standards

Similar to principles of green chemistry and related to Design for Environment (DfE), ISO 14006 standards aim to improve product quality in an environmentally positive way. The basic idea is that every product or service has an impact on the environment during all stages of its lifecycle, from extraction of resources to end-of-life treatment.

Ecodesign, if done properly, should affect all of these stages with a positive result from an environmental management point of view. The goal of ecodesign is to integrate environmental aspects into the design and development of products and services so as to reduce their environmental impacts and continually improve their environmental performance throughout their lifecycle. The result: cleaner products and services and a greener planet.

The newly published ISO 14006:2011, Environmental management systems – Guidelines for incorporating ecodesign, gives “how to” guidance to product and service organizations on incorporating ecodesign into any environmental, quality or similar management system.

ISO 14006:2011 for environmental management systems
The standard aims to help organizations establish, document, implement, maintain and continually improve their management of ecodesign as part of an environmental management system (EMS). It applies to those environmental aspects of an organization’s products and/or services over which it has control or influence.

Integrating ecodesign into product development offers advantages such as:

Economic benefits, e.g. through increased competitiveness, cost reduction and attraction of financing and investments
Promotion of innovation and creativity, and identification of new business models
Reduction in liability through reduced environmental impacts and improved product knowledge
Improved public image
Enhancement of employee motivation

Martin Charter, Convenor of the working group responsible for ISO 14006, said, “The new standard has been developed to help organizations implement ecodesign in a flexible and practical manner. The goal is for organizations to use these principles in order to design and develop more advanced, profitable and sustainable goods and services.”

ISO 14006:2011 is said to be applicable to any organization, irrespective of their size, geographical location, culture, or complexity of their management systems, and no matter how simple or complex the product or service.

Design for the future..!

The new standard can be useful for organizations without a formalized EMS or Quality Management System but are interested in reducing the adverse environmental impacts of their products. The standard, however, is intended to be used primarily by organizations that have implemented an EMS according to ISO 14001, whether or not they have a quality management system according (QMS) to ISO 9001.

The ISO guidance an be purchased here: http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail?csnumber=43241

Crystal ball image courtesy Katie Dow Photography

HazMat: An App For That

2011-09-29T17:20:00.001-04:00


HazMat: there's an app for that

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today demonstrated a cell phone that can detect life-threatening chemical exposures.

The device works using sensor technology made very small -- but effective enough to detect, say, dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.

I was walking with my sister recently alongside her residence in Exeter, New Hampshire. Suddenly, we thought we smelled propane. We sniffed in widening circles for a while -- not long enough to be taken away, but long enough to look silly and realize we had imagined it.

Or had we? It's times like those where a device is nice, or an app for your cell phone, that could solve the problem and eliminate doubt. Such an instant detection device would curb danger to ones you care about -- or ones you are are tasked with rescuing, as with a Fire or Rescue team. In fact, Fire Chief magazine did a nice write-up about this new device.

And with that, we welcome this new device, the DHS "Cell-All," as it's called. "Cell-All" is a play on the words, "Tell-All," for those who didn't get it at first, like me.

A spokesperson for the device said, "Cell-All detects and alerts individuals and public-safety authorities to the release of specific toxic chemicals into the environment, putting environmental threat detection within reach of anyone who has a cell phone."

Stephen Dennis, Cell-All's program manager, envisions a chemical sensor in every cell phone in every pocket, purse, or belt holster.

With over 85,000 unique chemicals flying around the world now in various forms and interactions, this gadget stands to revolutionize HazMat safety, and offers another level of security for those of us with propane heat and active imaginations.

Read more: http://www.dhs.gov/files/programs/gc_1268073038372.shtm

Salaries in Food Manufacturing: Underpaid?

2011-09-26T13:35:00.001-04:00

Chemists creating food coloring see smaller salaries

Just as the food industry pushes for keener visibility into its ingredients and the chemicals that surround its distribution, a deadly listeria turns up in cantaloupe, killing 8 people in a matter of weeks.

Becoming more and more curious about food manufacturing and ingredient tracking systems, we looked into salaries in Food Manufacturing. One thing we noticed right away is that Chemists are underpaid in the Food supply chain. In an era of food and beverage consumption where chemistry is king, this low water mark in salaries was surprising.

Chemists should be, if anything, overpaid, in the food industry. After harvest or slaughter, food manufacturing and distribution is essentially a chemistry lab (and a packaging industry darling). But the chemicals here are different from chemicals used in, say, the manufacture of a plastic waste basket. The difference lies in the usage scenarios. Specifically, the chemicals in Food Manufacturing, including food colors, preservatives, emulsifiers, allergens -- and the supply chain that supplies them -- are ingested directly by humans. So perhaps these Chemists should be the best and brightest -- and paid like we mean it? It is, as they say, food for thought.

See how your salary compares with Food Manufacturing professionals in the table below. This data set is taken from estimates for the year 2010 for different functions or job titles/categories in the US Food Manufacturing sector.

Let's look at the salaries of Chemists in Food Manufacturing:

And compare these with say, Chemists in the Plastics Manufacturing industry:

You can see that a Chemist in Plastics makes a lot more than a Chemists in Food Manufacturing. Remember that these are averages. Averages are broad strokes.

But averages tell broad-stroke stories.

[This salary information applies to Food Manufacturing, NAICS 311000, throughout the US. Data set is courtesy of US DOL BLS. Top graphic is by graphic artist Adam Baer.]

How to Get the DfE Label from EPA's Design for Environment

2011-09-21T11:21:00.000-04:00

Full chemical disclosure along with an EPA review
can get you a DfE label

The US Environmental Protection Agency's program that reviews, recognizes and labels (effectively certifying) best-in-class wet chemical-based formulations and products is known as the Design for Environment or DfE Program. See bottom of this post for an overview of DfE*.

So how does a product qualify for a DfE label? By being made of the safest known ingredients.

If you'd like a DfE label for your product, EPA reviews your formula. They're looking at each ingredient in a formulation in its distinct functional class, whether surfactant, solvent, etc.

There are two qualified third-party profilers for DfE: NSF, International and ToxServices, LLC. Contact either entity directly to get started.

Reviewing your ingredients for DfE label The reviewers then compare toxicity and environmental fate profiles to identify safest known ingredients for man, beast and world. The safest ones get the DfE label. Sounds simple enough, right? Truth is, many get snagged on the chemical disclosure part of the process, either because of reluctance to disclose chemicals or -- surprisingly often -- due to lack of organized data on the ingredients in formulas.

As an industry example, EPA's DfE Program entered into a voluntary partnership with representatives of the electronics industry to evaluate the environmental impacts of tin-lead and lead-free solders. The idea was to address the information gap on the environmental impacts of leaded and lead-free solders. The list of EPA's lead-free solder partners includes Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel and Cookson Electronics.

This type of partnership can work across industries.

Know your DfE entity For background and context, review EPA documents on the subject such as "When you see the DfE label on a product, what does it mean?" If you’re a cleaning product manufacturer, read over "Standard for Safer Cleaning Products (SSCP)" (PDF) (31pp, 177K) and the Standards for Safer Ingredients to get a sense of program goals, framework, criteria, and to determine if your product may qualify to bear the DfE label. For manufacturers of other products, read DfE’s "Discriminating and Protective Approach to Product Review and Recognition" (PDF) (12pp, 160K) which includes the DfE criteria in matrix format.

(Note, with respect to Step 3, that DfE has not yet developed a component class screen for active ingredients in pesticide products)

Profile formulation ingredients for DfE Applications for partnership must include a full disclosure of all ingredients and ingredient profiles.

A profile is a compilation of all hazard information available on a chemical and includes:

detailed structure
physical-chemical properties
human health and environmental toxicology
regulatory/administrative status

To be able to work with all of the companies that request partnership, DfE retains third-party profilers. Qualified third-party profilers have the expertise and objectivity needed to ensure a quality review, with high confidence in the accuracy and reliability of the profile information. NSF, International and ToxServices, LLC are qualified third-party profilers for DfE.

Assessing ingredients and identifying safer alternatives After third-party profiling, DfE assesses potential health and environmental effects of each ingredient in your formulation and may identify areas for improvement, safer alternatives, or additional information needs.

In the context of its functional class, DfE evaluates each ingredient in a formulation based on critical health and environmental endpoints.

Functional-class criteria define and more fully explore the safer end of specific ingredient-class continuums. Using the Master Criteria as a guide, the functional-class criteria tailor the health and environmental endpoints in the Master Criteria in a way appropriate to the specific functional class, designate key distinguishing characteristics and adjust thresholds as necessary. Developing the Criteria improves the general understanding of the characteristics of safer ingredients in the class and helps identify green-chemistry opportunities and successes.

The DfE functional class context allows DfE to view ingredients as part of a continuum of improved ingredient choices. Functional Class standards define and more fully explore the green end of specific ingredient-class continuums. DfE has issued three functional-class standards:

the DfE Standard for Solvents
the DfE Standard for Surfactants
the DfE Standard for Fragrances (Human Health)

and is currently developing standards for fragrances (environmental toxicity and fate) and additional functional-use classes in partnership with broad stakeholder workgroups. Additionally, there are specific environmental toxicity and fate standards for ingredients used in direct release products (products that are used outside and do not go through sewage treatment).

Flowchart courtesy of EPA's Design for Environment program or DfE

DfE is along the lines of Green Chemistry -- focusing on full, positive material declaration for safer products throughout their lifecycle and beyond.

*The Design for the Environment (DfE) label is an EPA effort to enable consumers to quickly identify and choose products that can help protect the environment and are safer for families. The label indicates that the DfE scientific review team has screened each ingredient for potential human health and environmental effects and that—based on currently available information, EPA predictive models, and expert judgment—the product contains only those ingredients that pose the least concern among chemicals in their class.

EPA's Design for the Environment Program (DfE) has allowed use of the logo on over 2000 products. These products are formulated from the safest possible ingredients and EPA says they have collectively reduced the use of "chemicals of concern" by hundreds of millions of pounds.

The label has the look, look for the label, the label looks like this:

Hope this was informative. You may email me privately with your thoughts.

Danger Downstream: US Census Sees Flatlined Incomes

2011-09-15T14:55:00.000-04:00

New U.S. Census data suggests that inflation-adjusted incomes were lower in 2010 than they were a decade ago.

In fact, last year the typical American household earned an inflation-adjusted income of $49,445 -- which is about the same as in 1989, over 20 years ago.

This sort of information answers the question: why aren't Americans buying stuff? There is the obvious fact that after the 1980s Americans didn't need to buy more stuff. And then there's today's fact: that consumers don't have much money.

In the delta of the American supply chain, the water is low, stagnant and the forecast unclear.

Thanks to The Economist for posting this.

Whistle-Blower Takes $1 Million From The Bank (of America)

2011-09-15T14:36:00.000-04:00

As a follow up to our story about OSHA and whistle-blower protection, Bank of America has been ordered to reinstate an employee who was let go -- and the bank must pay the employee approximately $930,000 as a result of violating the whistle-blower act. (Or, properly, for violating the whistle-blower protection provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.)

The $930,000 includes back wages, interest, compensatory damages and attorney fees. The findings follow an investigation by OSHA's San Francisco Regional Office, which was initiated after receiving a complaint from the Los Angeles-area employee.

"It's clear from our investigation that Bank of America used illegal retaliatory tactics against this employee," said OSHA Assistant Secretary Dr. David Michaels. "This employee showed great courage reporting potential fraud and standing up for the rights of other employees to do the same.

"Whistleblowers play a vital role in ensuring the integrity of our financial system, as well as the safety of our food, air, water, workplaces and transportation systems," added Michaels. "This case highlights the importance of defending employees against retaliation when they try to protect the public from the consequences of an employer's illegal activities."

So those of us who may have thought that whistle-blower protection was essentially an airbag (if you will) may be taking another look in coming months. Meanwhile, OSHA wants you to know that employees who believe that they have been retaliated against for engaging in protected conduct may file a complaint with the secretary of labor to request an investigation by OSHA's Whistleblower Protection Program.

Detailed information on employee whistle-blower rights is available at http://www.whistleblowers.gov.

This penalty was imposed by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA).

More about OSHA: Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. Visit http://www.osha.gov.

EPA Finds More Time For Glymes

2011-09-09T09:23:00.001-04:00

There's now an extension of time allotted for comments on glymes:

In July, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed rule in the Federal Register concerning a proposed significant new use rule (SNUR) under section 5(a)(2) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for 14 glymes.

EPA's list of 14 glymes is here for view or download, in an article written by one of the preeminent Professional Chemical Engineers in the field, Kal Kawar. The article is called The Worst of Glymes (who says chemists can't be funny?). This list is easier to read than anything on the EPA site.

Since publication of the proposed rule, EPA has received a request for additional time to submit comments. Now, EPA will extend the comment period for 30 days, from September 12, 2011 to October 12, 2011.

Deadlines for comment: Comments, identified by docket identification (ID) number EPA–HQ–OPPT–2009–0767, must be received on or before October 12, 2011.

In the Federal Register of July 12, 2011 (76 FR 40850) (FRL–8877–8), EPA proposed a SNUR for 14 glymes, designated proposed significant new uses for the 14 glymes, and asked for public comment on several topics. EPA requested comment on whether any of the chemical substances included in the identified glyme category are sufficiently dissimilar from the rest such that they should be removed from the category, or whether any additional chemical substances are sufficiently similar such that they should be added to the category. Comments were also requested on whether any of the additional unconfirmed uses listed in the proposed rule are actual ongoing uses in a consumer product, and whether there are any other ongoing uses in a consumer product of the other chemicals listed in the SNUR.

For further information, see the contact names in the Federal Register here.

Tin Liability: Careless Whiskers and Toyota Acceleration

2011-09-05T06:30:00.000-04:00

A failure mode is reemerging that has been responsible for the loss of billions of dollars worth of satellites, missiles and other equipment -- the culprit is the electrically conductive entities known as 'tin whiskers'. Now one research group says that tin whiskers may be responsible for the sudden acceleration in Toyota Camry models from the year 2002 and possibly beyond.

Earlier this year we reported that the US Department of Transportation (DOT) said that Toyota's problem was not in electronics.

Now, University of Maryland’s Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering or CALCE researchers have found the potential for tin whiskers in the electronic control module or ECM. Circuits Assembly broke the story, quoting the CALCE report as follows:

“The ECM contains surface mount electronic devices connected with tin-lead solder to a multilayer PCB. … Interconnect terminals of the perimeter leaded devices were found to be plated with tin. In addition, tin plating was found on terminal pins of the edge connections. As previously discussed, tin-finished leads can grow tin whiskers which can lead to unintended electrical shorts.”

“We know whiskers can form on tin finished terminals,” said Michael Osterman, senior research scientist and director of the CALCE Electronic Products and System Consortium. said. “In this case, Toyota has tin plating in a rather sensitive area, where the system relies on changes in resistance to provide a signal for acceleration.”

The studied pedals furthermore have been shown to cause shorts known to spur sudden unintended acceleration.

The odds of tin whiskers: 140/million

Someone known to this blogger recently drove a 2010 Camry and noticed subtle but perceptible decelerations that were not led by the driver. Was it tin whiskering? Hard to say, even CALCE's study figures that the whiskers would only form in 140 cars per million, which is statistically very significant but als makes it statistically unlikely that my friend's only Camry experience would be on the wrong side of those odds.

It's also worth noting that the whisker syndrome is probably not limited to Toyotas. Nonetheless, the spotlight has fallen where it has fallen, and tin whiskers pose a serious problem in that warrants attention.

Tin whiskers

Tin whiskers develop -- or may develop -- on any product type that uses lead-free pure tin coatings. Thus, in greener, lead-free products, tin whiskers can pose a major safety, reliability and potential liability threats to all makers and users of high reliability electronics and associated hardware. The CALCE brain trust concluded that existing approaches are not sufficient to control tin whiskering in high-reliability systems such as automobile electrical systems.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation said Toyota is "all clear" in February

The official blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation on February 8, 2011 stated:

NASA engineers pored over more than 280,000 lines of software code looking for potential flaws that could initiate an unintended acceleration incident. Alongside NHTSA, they bombarded vehicles with electromagnetic radiation to see whether it could make electronics systems cause the cars they control to gain speed.

And today, their verdict is in. There is no electronic cause behind dangerous unintended acceleration incidents in Toyotas.

To read more about it: http://supply-chain-data-mgmt.blogspot.com/2011/02/us-dot-says-toyota-problem-was-not-in.html

We will continue to follow this story.

Humor: Labor Day in the Software Industry

2011-09-01T10:20:00.000-04:00

In honor of labor day and of our friends and colleagues in the software industry, we'd like to share this graphic.

Source: the inimitable failblog.org. Very funny.

Reference: http://work.failblog.org/2011/08/23/job-fails-workplace-subjectivity/workplace-subjectivity-chart-2/

Beyond ERP? What's next?

2011-08-30T12:27:00.000-04:00

ERP:
outdated?

Has modern industry out-grown ERP software? In a post-1990s world of multi-enterprise commerce and value chains that knot, gnarl and connect in ways that defy single instances of anything, how much longer can we rely on single-installation ERP instances to handle data needs?

Jim Shepherd at Gartner -- in his peerless First Thing Monday column -- recently referenced comments by Chris Jones at Descartes and Bruce Welty at Quiet Logistics. This is worth turning up a little, it's that good:

Both Jones and Welty pointed out, said Shepherd, that the transportation and logistics industry has been dealing with multienterprise commerce for years. In fact, it is the basis for their business. They must coordinate a constantly changing set of participants, assets, and information, and neither Jones nor Welty believes that ERP is the answer.

Jones commented, "Successful providers of multienterprise apps will need to have modular and flexible solutions that can allow companies to assemble, change, and disassemble their business process, and include the highly inevitable 'other' applications that will exist in each of the trading partners and regulatory agencies."

Quiet Logistics has built its own applications to support its fulfillment management and third-party logistics (3PL) business, and Welty's assessment of ERP was: "My contention is that no one that had to actually run one of these systems would write it like that."

A more modular approach to data management gives multi-enterprise commerce the flexibility it needs. Companies that address this include Sterling Commerce, Descartes, E2open and Crossgate, to name a few.

Zooming in a little, Actio Corporation, One Network, TraceLink, Vecco and Zyme offer flexible, modular solutions to particular multi-enterprise challenges, Actio for instance is known for streamlining cross-border multi-location regulatory compliance and documentation, and has been at it for 15 years. And there are others.

The idea is that companies can pick and choose from multiple platform/ERP/software agnostic SaaS and cloud providers to create a custom process for their needs -- rather than building a system from the ground up as Descartes and Quiet Logistics did (but apparently did well).

Great quote regarding ERP architecture for modern supply chain challenges: "My contention is that no one that had to actually run one of these systems would write it like that." (-Welty)

Will companies make the shift in thinking from "this stuff here" to "stuff in the big picture"? The required paradigm shift is really the question mark.

New Libyan Regime Could Make Oil Cheaper

2011-08-23T12:08:00.004-04:00

Back on March 17, 2011, the UN Security Council voted to impose a no-fly zone over Libya, also to provide help for Libyan rebels fighting to overthrow Gaddafi. Russia and China, permanent members of the Security Council, abstained from voting, so did Germany, India and Brazil.

Libyan oil in the pipeline?

Now, those countries who did not vote in favor of the rebels may not get Libyan oil contracts if the rebels do take control of the country. The new regime's oil distribution contracts would likely go elsewhere -- pretty much anywhere elsewhere. To Qatar, for example, but mostly to the EU and likely to America.

Analysts say the Libya could be producing over half a million barrels a day in a few months if the Libyan rebels are successful in attaining control of the nation and if stability follows in a reasonably short time.

Another wall in the BRIC

It may not seem to make sense for Libya to remove China, India and Brazil from the auction tent/bidding war for Libyan oil, but in fact the mere threat of their membership may be just as good as having them there to begin with, while eliminating, for Libya, the potentially cumbersome administration and logistical challenges faced doing business with BRIC nations.

Facts: Libya, the world's 17th-largest oil producer, had been producing 1.6 million barrels of oil per day before the conflict began. Around 85% of its production was exported to Europe anyway.

Gaddafi's fall would likely reopen other doors to Africa's largest oil reserves. Analysts say that Libya's production is likely to increase almost immediately with improved production efficiencies. New players, Qatar for one, would get a chance to compete for the precious export.

U.S. got gas in pocket?

Some rightly speculate that the "new" oil wellspring of Libyan oil could lead to lower prices for American consumers -- and it could.

But smart speculators have a Wait and See attitude about trickle down price advantages for consumers of petroleum products. Sure, events in Libya were indicated as the reason oil prices spiked earlier this year -- but every consumer knows that the reverse of price-spiking causes doesn't necessarily result in a price-dropping effect.

First: foundation

All who-gets-what possibilities aside, first and foremost the best medicine for an improved oil supply from Africa's largest oil exporter is the safe, sane and stable recovery of the people of Libya and the new regime.

Their journey would not be short. In fact, as of this posting, the tracks aren't really laid yet, the train isn't yet able to run, and the new vision may not yet even be sketched out on the back of a napkin.

That said, there is so much motion , commotion, locomotion it's hard not to believe some kind of significant change is inevitable.

Wait and see...

Halliburton Executive Drinks To Your Health

2011-08-23T11:48:00.002-04:00

In Denver Colorado, Halliburton's CEO Dave Lesar smiled encouragingly as his employee took a sip of a new, cleaner fracking fluid called CleanStim -- a keen publicity stunt aimed to show the liquid is as safe for humans and the environment.

Merry oil men

Cheers?

Immediately, everyone wanted to know why CEO Dave Lesar didn't drink fracking fluid himself -- wouldn't the statement have more impact if the CEO of one of the world's most powerful companies said, "Cheers!" and tipped back a glass of frack? Or, as a colleague suggested, you could have a band of merry oil men propose a toast and imbibe as a group. One wry commentator suggested a game of quarters.

We'll stick with the facts: one unnamed executive took a small sip from a cup of fracking fluid called CleanStim.

Missing facts: who is that executive and how is his health after the act?

A Halliburton spokeswoman didn't respond to a question asking how that executive is doing now, or who he is. Instead, she referred a reporter to a web page on CleanStim. -- Associated Press

That CleanStim web page has an asterisk noting the product shouldn't be considered edible.

Gas men

Whatever your thoughts on the publicity stunt, it's to Halliburton's credit that they are attempting to develop and promote the cleaner fracking alternative. And it was, as PR points go, a solid initiative, that is, as long as the unnamed executive stays healthy and/or anonymous.

Natural gas may need a drink if the price of oil comes down, which it may. For more on that, see our blog post on how stability in Libya is expected, however cautiously, to bring down oil prices.

Carbon Disclosure, Meet Plastics Disclosure

2011-08-18T15:33:00.007-04:00

Environmental Leader and the New York Times are reporting that hundreds of companies and institutions should expect to receive a questionnaire in early October about their use of plastic. The Plastic Disclosure Project, right ahead.

Why?

Industry estimates state that 300 million tons of virgin plastic are made every year. If just one percent can be saved through efficiencies, better design, or increased recycling, then 3 million tons could be saved, which is roughly what some conservative estimates say are floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. -Plastics Disclosure Project (PDP)

Some companies have already made progress in better managing plastics. Electrolux, the Swedish appliance maker, for example, introduced a range of vacuum cleaners in February that are made from recycled plastic. Coca-Cola has devised a plastic bottle that contains some plant-based materials, a small step for which the soda company seems to be wringing significant PR traction.

Plastics disclosure: right ahead!

Most interestingly perhaps, as the New York Times points out, Procter & Gamble has the long-term aim of using 100% recycled or renewable material in its products and packaging.

Better managed plastics appeals to some of us as a resource-saver if nothing else -- for too long we've treated plastic as an almost-infinite supply of cheap material, both raw and article.

Remember the Carbon Disclosure Project -- which is not gone but currently forgotten? Well, this plastics program seeks to inspire organizations to approach plastic consumption in much the same way as we've begun to approach carbon consumption: more awareness, some conservation. Fair enough.

Targeted big users of plastic include:

companies
universities
hospitals
sports groups

This October, the plastics questionnaire will ask organizations to report how much plastic they use and how they recycle. Further, organizations will be asked what policies they have to:

reduce consumption
increase recycling
increase the use of biodegradable plastic

Plastic Disclosure blog is here, if interested.

HP Says Quality Management is Both Green and Gold

2011-08-11T16:07:00.007-04:00

In an interesting document from 2010, Hewlett Packard (HP) touches on quality management in a larger discussion about chemical monitoring in a supply chain -- towards compliance with custom Restricted Substances Lists (meaning, specific to a single company) and broader lists such as those restricted under REACH, RoHS and WEEE. Quality management for this discussion is an initiative for manufacturing product management with four primary elements: quality planning, quality control, quality assurance and quality improvement.

HP addresses the quality piece by saying that quality management solutions are essential to compliance. "A manufacturer must ensure its suppliers have control processes in place that DO NOT allow non-compliant material to enter the manufacturing process," says the company.

Here's the company's restricted substance historical timeline:

Image courtesy of DTSC.gov

Designing for the environment is apparently a greener approach for the company in more ways than one. While everyone secretly hopes that someday environmentally-nurturing business will be the most economically sensible, HP seems to think they've got it.

"Environmental responsibility is good business," said former HP CEO Mark Hurd. "We've reached the tipping point where the price and performance of IT are no longer compromised by being green, but are now enhanced by it."

Interbrand is a leading global brand consultancy recently introduced a listing of the 50 Best Global Green Brands, and HP placed fifth overall after Toyota, 3M, Siemens and Johnson&amp;amp;amp;Johnson. Businesses were ranked based on consumer perceptions of environmentally sustainable activities in the ten largest global markets and actual environment performance secured through publicly available information and data, says the press release.

(An aside to our gentle readers: Interbrand is essentially a marketing agency; we haven't researched the relationship between Interbrand and HP; nor do we know how the marketing company conducted their research. Although it would not be a huge surprise to see HP in the top 50, say, of a "listing of best global green brands," it's important to mention that many consultancies will do anything to get the attention of the large brands with deep pockets. Top n lists are one of the easiest ways to get attention, right out of Marketing 101. Nothing wrong with it, in fact we've done a few Top 10 lists ourselves -- for example here and here and here -- however, in the case of buddying up with a Fortune 500 company, a Top 50 list should be seen for what it is: a marketing document, and not the strain of scientific research you'd want to launch a rocket on.)

(Frankly, when I think of HP I don't think of a green brand at all, as I might with Timberland and Whole Foods. With HP I think of a powerful laptop that I own, which is riddled with bells and whistles designed to upsell at every possible opportunity. In short, I think of good technology, excellent value, and annoying partnerships.)

Steps to green: Restricted Substance recovery program The short version of HP's notable supply chain steps &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; progress program are seven key points. The steps involve:

Risk-based country, site &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; partnership assessment
Partnership-oriented engagement &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; auditing
Hundreds of audits surface root causes
Supplier, worker &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; gov’t capability building
Coalitions &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; multi-stakeholder initiatives
Local solutions with NGOs
Transparency

Here's how the company articulates keys to minimizing environmental impact through materials innovation:

Reducing materials use (dematerialization)
Materials substitution
Eliminating materials of concern
Innovative and recycled materials

The quality management package for restricted substance management and green product development is what HP calls the "Hewlett-Packard Approach." It can be distilled to four keys:

Cross-functional team with senior sponsorship
Worldwide product transition
Engage with suppliers early
Drive industry standardization

As for success factors going forward, HP suggests that government should balance public policy goals with harmonization and clarity -- which would likely allow for effective global compliance programs. Following that, pragmatic and effective enforcement can likely follow, and is recommended.

TSCA right ahead? The benefits of certainty, consistency, quality and testing For manufacturers and their suppliers, HP suggests creating certainty around a long-term roadmap, consistent requirements, interpretations and testing -- and pushing compliance management upstream. The creating certainty around a long-term roadmap point is particularly interesting. Image how much more likely all companies would be -- including suppliers -- if we had some idea what would be expected of us 5 years from now?

For all its foibles, REACH regulation at least does that: provide a road map and some certainty around expectations. RoHS and WEEE also. We'll see about TSCA, so far the state-level Propositions, bills, laws, initiatives, proposals, standards and restrictions have not been altogether inspiring, clear, or effective. HP's vision, however, is getting closer to those things year by year. Kudos.

More, here and in color, from the California Department of Toxic Substances Control.

Marketing & Supply Chain: Chocolate and Peanut Butter?

2011-08-09T08:54:00.009-04:00


Supply Chains: looking for good taste

Profits in today's market are notgetting easier. There's a famine on and the herds are thin, so there needs to be a more unified approach to hunting down opportunity and spearing it. Whilethere used to be a luxurious chasm between Marketing and Supply Chain administrators,the two camps now need to build themselves a longhouse where they can eat,breath and cook up a manufacturing company's future -- together.

Mike Burkett at Gartner points out that today's supplychain must become market-driven to increase value. "Fueling growthstarts with driving demand, which is becoming more of a team effort," saysBurkett. The idea being that a supply chain is the protein (peanut butter) fueling growth while a marketing team attracts prospects (chocolate) and drives demand.

May seem and unlikely mix, but what about getting some of that chocolate in the peanut butter?

In terms of consumer products, recentGartner surveys have shown that innovative products are a top influencer ofdemand. Consumer electronics are an obvious example: everyone has to havean Android or an iPhone; my own Android, new, retailed for over $600 (somewhatironic, considering I chose Android over iPhone because of the free apps).

Marketing and Supply Chainexecs: you got chocolate in my peanut butter

Many organizations' business unitshave addressed and streamlined inventory complexity and reduced costs throughMarketing's "value engineering" and Supply Chain's "enhancedsupplier management" tricks and efficiencies, such as supply chaincollaboration around formula and B.O.M. management. Fair enough.

Having done so these organizationsare now trying to better understand the markets served, and ensure that valueis delivered to both the customer and the business. In plain terms: it'sone thing to get people to buy the innovation, a smartphone, say -- now make it sing.(Yes, there's an app for that....)

Often times, says Burkett,delivering real value to the customer is more about organizational change thanbusiness process. Here are two methods Gartner says can be used toovercome organizational barriers:

Metrics and governance — Measuring performance against strategic business goals and enforcing accountability is often a prerequisite to breaking down organizational barriers. P&amp;amp;amp;G holds the executives responsible for business results accountable for ensuring that value is derived from new product innovation
Talent management — New skills are required as supply chain seeks early involvement with customer-facing and product development partners. A formal program to regularly assess talent gaps in the march toward more advanced supply chain capabilities

Could chocolate and peanut butter work?

Supply chain organizations do seemto be collaborating more with the marketing team than withtheir procurement colleagues. Time will tell but it's a trend to watchand consider.

Marketing and Supply Chain intelligence really could be two great tastesthat taste great together.

Image: Evan Amos

What is Product Stewardship, Exactly?

2011-08-08T11:57:00.007-04:00

What does product stewardship mean in the business world, exactly? Sometimes it seems to indicate product end-of-life measures, specifically regarding electronics or e-waste policy. Sometimes it is defined as a person to make sure a product is RoHS compliant or otherwise is clean of toxic chemicals such as lead, cadmium and mercury. Other times it seems to mean a more Sustainability Manager type of role. The fact is that product stewardship can contain all these things and more.

We recently came upon this job description for a Product Stewardship position. We're running it here to show specific job requirements.

Product Stewardship Job Description
DuPont defines product stewardship as "a principle that directs all participants involved in the life cycle of a product to take shared responsibility for the impacts to human health and the natural environment that result from the production, use, and end-of-life management of the product."

DuPont, for instance, and this is not atypical, approaches product stewardship through the American Chemistry Council's Responsible Care® program. DuPont sees product stewardship as an "inclusive effort that considers the interests of all important stakeholders, including customers, regulators, academics and advocacy groups."

Product Stewardship Software
Product stewardship software is more or less a "steroid infused" chemical counter -- or substance audit platform -- with the added twist of:

automating chemical data collection from suppliers
screening materials and B.O.M.s against regulatory lists vis a vis REACH, RoHS, WEEE, Prop 65
functions such as MSDS distribution
other document and agency reporting management

Increasingly, product stewardship personnel is required to have expertise with related software, just as Finance Administrators are required to have familiarity with financial systems.

Product stewardship salaries
are respectable --
but will it last?

DuPont's Product Stewardship Job Description
DuPont says its vision is to be world class in Product Stewardship and Regulatory efforts and to be recognized as a key contributor to DuPont business success through the development and management of safe, sustainable products.

The average product stewardship annual salary is said to be around $85,000 by Glassdoor.com, but if the regulatory compliance piece is taken seriously it is often higher, into the low six figures. The salaries are respectable relative to other "fields of green", but there is still some insecurity around how long companies will nurture the stewardship side of manufacturing -- so the tenure of these positions, like the tenure of so many positions these days, is indeed a question mark.

Product Stewardship Focus Areas and Responsibilities

Provide a variety of consulting services to the businesses in areas such as the determination of product misuse, product safety, health hazards and potential environmental impacts. Other areas may include advising the businesses on appropriate labeling requirements; facilitating the auditing process at toller, manufacturer and other partner locations and the analysis of public perceptions and reactions to the businesses products
May oversee implementation of the Responsible Care Management System and Corporate Product Stewardship standards
May obtain, organize and assemble data and information from various internal personnel, databases, external sources, etc. to enable global regulatory submissions
Understanding regulatory requirements and the purpose of submissions to ensure compliance with national and state submission requirements
May Prepare forms, letters, labels and other documents necessary for regulatory submissions
May develop MSDSs that comply with local standards
Assisting in the preparation of responses to inquiries from regulatory agencies, customers, internal DuPont personnel, and others
Assisting in the management of products and/or regulatory projects, including the independent management of sub-projects
Monitors and analyzes regulatory trends and positions of industry and stakeholder groups

Job Requirements

Strong networking and leadership skills
Chemistry, Biology, Science, Public Health, Occupational Health, Toxicology, environmental Science degrees preferred
Outstanding problem solving, analytical and interpersonal skills
Excellent writing/verbal communication and presentation skills
Accomplished computer skills including Microsoft office and applications and database experience
Strong work ethic and the ability to work in cross-functional teams to deliver concrete project deliverables in a timely manner

DuPont says it is an e-verify employer (that's *not* the service that checks your Facebook history - for more on that click here: Facebook employment check.)

DuPont says it is an equal opportunity employer, and as of now this job is posted here but these posting come and go so don't be surprised if the link is broken. We're not in DuPont's HR department, we just want to illustrate what product stewardship looks like.

Should Whistleblowers Get Leave With Pay?

2011-08-02T10:38:00.009-04:00

Photo: Jack Dykinga

Nobody likes a tattletale, a gossip or a rat. You can lose the trust and respect of your co-workers pretty quickly by stepping out of line that way.

With that in mind, it's highly unlikely that the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) revision and overhaul of its "whistleblower" program will affect much. The effort did purge some backlog and, yes, it does aspire to make the process of reporting a safety fail quicker and easier going forward.

But there's still one elephant in the room.

Why workers don't report safety issues

What I've never heard anyone say about whistleblowing is something so basic that I wonder if rulemakers miss it.

The fact is that most workers today live paycheck-to-paycheck, or very close. And if their section of the manufacturing, construction or mining project is shut down while a reported safety issue is inspected or fixed, there is no paycheck coming in. A project suspension or furlough is a pay freeze. Not just for the person who reported the safety breach, but for co-workers. Who wants to be responsible for family, friends and neighbors losing their income?

For most of American workers, work is about making sure there's food on the table each week for the family. After food and water, there are clothes, medical bills, educational expenses, plus payments to banks a la my own well-documented pet peeve: the incomprehensible DEBT that a typical working family carries in this country (mortgage and auto), plus mandatory miscellaneous payments (insurance and alimony) that must be honored each month.

That's a lot to risk just to report a potential safety issue.

There are also well-documented issues on the importance of respect and community in the workplace; and whistleblowers typically aren't the most welcome folks on campus after the fact. But what do you stand to gain by reporting a safety fail? Maybe it gets fixed, maybe not. And what do you stand to lose? Everything.

A recent Food & Drug Administration law takes strides to protect whistleblowers, and now OSHA is doing same, but without a salary protection plan these measures won't inspire workers to feel more confident about reporting safety breaches.

Photo: Gary M. Stoltz/USFWS

Good effort. But missing the mark. There's still an elephant in the room, and his name is Money and Risk.

The Australian E-Waste Bill 2011

2011-07-27T11:55:00.008-04:00

Product Stewardship in Australia effects computers and TVs
(Irresistible NASA photo, 1964)

The Australian Product Stewardship Bill 2011 was passed in Australia by Parliament on June 22, 2011. The legislation provides a framework for managing the Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) impacts of products, particularly at the disposal of televisions and computers. The framework includes voluntary, co-regulatory and mandatory product stewardship.

Australian agencies went so far as to define "product stewardship," something all environmental agencies should learn to do -- not mentioning any names here. Aussie product stewardship is defined as:

A policy approach recognizing that manufacturers, importers, retailers, governments and consumers have a shared responsibility for the environmental impacts of a product throughout its full life cycle. Product stewardship schemes establish a means for relevant parties in the product chain to share responsibility for the products they produce, handle, purchase, use and discard. (See more here.)

What the e-waste bill means

This is essentially a consumer oriented bill. In Australia, from 2003 to 2007 the amount of waste grew by nearly a third to almost 50 million tonnes—the equivalent of over 4400 lbs. for each Australian each year. Under the new legislation, importers or manufacturers will be required to help fund a product stewardship organisation (PSO) to organize and manage the collection and recycling of televisions and computers. All consumers need to do is ensure that their old televisions and computers are left at a designated collection point.

Many major IT manufacturers already have their own e-waste or "product take-back" schemes in place in Australia, so the national program is expected to have minimal impact on costs for those companies, thus minimal impact on product prices. Some hope the scheme will provide incentive for manufacturers to make product recycling more efficient by employing:

more environmentally-friendly materials in product manufacture
better design for recycling
more efficient recycling processes to reclaim materials

Reactions from industry favorable

Product Stewardship Australia (PSA) says the bill is welcome.

"The TV and ICT industries welcome the Bill and congratulate the Government and Parliament on this significant reform," said PSA. "The first sectors to drive this new age of action on product take-back and recycling are the TV and ICT industries."

With funding and implementation to come from TV and computer manufacturers and suppliers, Australia is on a path to a national collection, recycling and community education initiative. A copy of the joint PSA-AIIA [Australian Information Industry Association] statement to media welcoming the legislation is available for those interested.

"The IT sector and AIIA member companies are committed to delivering a national recycling service to households and small business, and ensuring that practical corporate social responsibility remains an industry priority," said AIIA CEO Ian Birks.

This new Australian product stewardship legislation affects global businesses buying from Australia or whose supply chain passes through Australia (you'll want to make sure to gather appropriate certification from suppliers; there are some software options to assist with this).

65% of Young Executives Leave Companies Over Bad ERP Software

2011-07-19T10:43:00.005-04:00

Guess who's not coming to dinner? Young executives aren't, not if your company is serving up lumbering, frustrating Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or other enterprise level software.

In a recent supply chain software survey, more than 65% of respondents, executives age 35 and younger, said they would be at least somewhat likely to change jobs due to negative experience using their company’s enterprise software. That's right: they'd leave because the software stinks.

When you first read that, it's surprising. After a few seconds, it makes sense. Software is such a huge part of the working experience now. It's no longer enough that software "does the job." It has to be non-frustrating to use and make sense. The next generation of managers and executives insist on both; they will leave the company if the tools aren't up to par.

The Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and the Information Technology (IT) department itself should take heed. Things are changing fast -- the roles of both the Officer and the Gentlemen in IT are being re-evaluated as data management evolves and Generation Y moves into management.

Generation Y software

"Today, if you're providing software at the enterprise level, it's important that the software handles modern data challenges, demonstrates immediate benefits, and be almost so easy to use that users don't give the technology much thought," says Chris Nowak, a "GenX-Y" software industry veteran.

"Brand loyalty in enterprise software these days," Nowak says, "ironically comes from a tool being so effective that customers give you hardly any thought at all."

“Employers invest in attractive offices and other benefits designed to attract and retain young talent, but this study makes it clear that the enterprise software people use every day has a significant impact on the quality of life for today’s professionals,” IFS North America Chief Technology Officer Rick Veague said. IFS is the company that sponsored the survey.

The next generation of executives won't put up with stinky software.

Using spreadsheets instead of modules?

At first glance, there seems to be no harm in employees using a spreadsheet to track data, say, for materials in a supply chain, right?

Actually: the entire point of ERP and relational database-driven SaaS modules for any kind of data management, from HR to MSDS to chemical components, is that in a database there is a single instance of accurate data.

"The single instance of data is then nurtured (maintained and updated) by multiple qualified and permissioned users," explains Nowak. "This consolidates resource man-hours and eliminates waste in the form of duplicate and outdated versions of the data."

If ten employees are using their own spreadsheet and 15 others are using the ERP -- there can be no central, single instance of data; at best there will be 12 instances of data. Multiple instances of the same data undermines the point, and the efficiency, of data management systems such as the ERP.

An unexpected IT solution: dismantle the IT department

An esteemed senior analyst at Gartner, Jim Shepherd, recently wrote in First Thing Monday that the Information Technology (IT) department should be dismantled.

The IT department is a thing of the past, Shepherd argues (persuasively).

Instead of IT being its own department making choices for the company, Shepherd proposes that IT should be selected and paid for at the department level. That would put the power and the onus of choice on the heads of those who actually use it. This would increase engagement and decrease costs, in theory. It could result in fewer young executives skipping out of the company altogether due to poor fare.

If you can gain access to the FTM column, it's worth reading. (Gartner, Shepherd, Do You Really Need an IT Department Anymore? June 27, 2011) The follow up column on July 18, 2011 is also worth reading -- the follow up column suggests a slimmed down version of the IT department:

a CIO for steerage/vision
a single-digit headcount for scouting purposes/inter-departmental assistance
a budget of .5% annual revenues (as opposed to the 2% - 5% that IT Departments now get)
the excess revenue pool would be folded back into the business

Summary: Human Resources (HR) ought take an interest in what IT is up to. And IT should be aware that its ERP and other data management tool choices affect not just Ops and Finance, but also HR.

Implementing An Environmental Management System

2011-07-12T17:03:00.009-04:00

An environmental management system (EMS) keeps companies competitive and helps improve environmental performance by assuring regulatory compliance, reducing operating costs, and increasing awareness of the environmental impact of the company’s activities. Any company that handles chemicals or multiple MSDS-worthy products should have an EMS Plan in place. Manufacturers find an EMS most urgent, but almost every business can benefit.

Planning

Before you implement the EMS, decide where the EMS will apply within your organization. Choose your environmental management representative (EMR), who acts as the project manager for the EMS. Select a team of experts, consisting of facility and city representatives. Build an implementation team of personnel from the “shop floor”, ensuring adherence to the EMS at all levels of your organization.

During the planning phase of your company’s EMS, you must define the environmental aspects and impacts. An environmental aspect includes activities, products, or services that interact with the environment (i.e., air emissions, energy usage). An environmental impact includes any change to the environment resulting from activities, products, or services (i.e., air quality changes, natural resource usage).

It’s also important to identify legal requirements and issues related to your company with regard to regulations and compliance issues.

Once you’ve completed your planning, you can develop the environmental policy, consisting of regulatory compliance, pollution control, and a continual improvement program. Your EMS should also include an environmental objective (i.e., reduce energy usage) and environmental target (i.e., reduce energy usage by a specific date). You should figure out who’s responsible for each objective and target, what resources are available (i.e., personnel, financial), and when milestones will be achieved.

Documentation and Training

Determine which operational procedures require documentation, and locate documentation related to environmental aspects that may already exist. Work with personnel to develop new documentation, and don’t forget to include health and safety requirements.

Your environmental aspect list also helps you to identify your training needs. All employees should be trained in:

· Environmental policy

· EMS roles and responsibilities

· Procedures and work instructions

· Consequences of not following EMS requirements

Your company’s EMS must detail how to communicate internally, as well as how to request, obtain, document, and respond to external communication. Communication can include items such as your environmental policy, legal requirements, and objectives.

Preparing for Emergencies

Part of the EMS should focus on how to prepare for emergencies, such as spills, and should identify which procedures already exist to help you properly respond to the situation.

Evaluating Your Progress

It’s important to periodically assess your EMS to see how much progress it’s making toward your environmental objectives and targets. Based on the following, determine whether the EMS was carried out according to plan:

· Have you identified what to monitor?

· Have you chosen the indicators/metrics?

· Did you establish a schedule for monitoring?

· Did you document the process?

· Have you communicated the information?

Auditing Your EMS

Internal EMS audits review how well your company is meeting its objectives and targets by evaluating your procedures, documentation, programs, and implementation. The audit also determines whether your company is continually improving.

· Prepare for the audit with planning, resource allocation, and determining audit objectives

· Examine documents and records; identify conditions that require immediate action

· Prepare and submit the report to management

Management Action Items

Management personnel decide whether the EMS is working efficiently, and whether changes or improvements are needed. Management should review the EMS process, determine what to evaluate, document the process, and record the outcome of the review.

More Information

The Public Entity EMS Resource (PEER) Center (peercenter.net) offers tips on developing an EMS for your company - a good reference.

Guest blogger Laura Chidester has worked as a technical journalist for over ten years. By day she manages the documentation team at Actio Software Corporation while continuing to report on broader industry and environmental trends.

China Repeals Policy That Favors Chinese

2011-06-30T17:19:00.002-04:00

We've blogged about China before. See previous article, China Is More E Than E-Waste These Days.

In his article for Harvard Business Review called "What's Wrong With America's Innovation Policies," Bruce Nussbaum talks about China's "Fast Follower" innovation policy and how it's a combination of state-driven policies that:

require Western companies to partner with Chinese firms to do business
demand transfer of the latest technologies in exchange for access to markets
favoring "indigenous innovation" in government purchasing; fencing off green and other industries from foreign competition
offering low-interest state-bank loans to local champions

Well, China has now repealed the technology policy that favored Chinese producers in government purchases of computers and other tech goods. The policy was at odds with World Trade policies but was in place for a long time anyway. This announcement from the Chinese Finance Ministry is the second time in a month that Beijing repealed a technology policy after complaints by its trading partners.

The Associated Press is now reporting that a brief ministry statement late Wednesday June 29 said the Chinese government would no longer enforce procurement rules that are part of a decade-old "indigenous innovation" campaign to spur domestic technology development.

"This repeal represents a forward step toward leveling the playing field in the government procurement market in China," said Davide Cucino, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, in a written response to questions, as quoted in Product Design and Development.

Still, a great place to be in regards to profiting from China's economic surge is, interestingly, in Education. Parents sending their children to study in the U.S. is an insurance policy that many Chinese these days are purchasing. While the trade playing field appears to be leveling on one hand, some argue that China is edging closer to a police state type of nation -- leaving the educated, competent and savvy once again looking Westward for quality of life.

On a strangely-juxtaposed note, we'd like to announce that this blog will be on vacation next week for the July 4 holiday, U.S. Independence Day. Wish you all a safe and happy week.

Washington D.C. and E-Waste: the New E-Waste Export Bill

2011-06-29T12:13:00.005-04:00

80% of children in Guiyu, China have elevated lead levels
in bloodstream

Reps. Gene Green and Mike Thompson introduced a new e-waste export bill last week - the Responsible Electronics Recycling Act. We were invited to participate in the press call following the bill's introduction.

Here's the upshot:

The new e-waste bill is a follow up to last year's. The bill aims to:

promote responsible electronics recycling
stop global dumping of e-waste from the U.S.
boost green jobs

Children on the wrong side of the chemical tracks Eighty percent (that's 80%) of children in Guiyu, China have elevated levels of lead in their blood -- due to toxins in discarded electronics, much of which originates in the United States. Among other things, the plastics in discarded electronics are typically burned outdoors, which emits deadly dioxin or furans, which are inhaled by workers and nearby residents.

Confession: I keep expired cell phones. I have a cabinet full. My solution is not a good solution but having seen the pictures and given it some thought, it's wrong to toss the old phone in a recycling bin. Consumers need a better way to react to conditions around e-waste in Asia, Africa and South America than hoarding a cabinet full of a decade's worth of dead cell phones. But we keep doing it because:

80%!!

Overall, while some say this e-waste bill may not go far enough, it's filling a critical need in post-1990 America: an electronic waste bill for an electronic culture.

E-waste bill exemptions Export of electronics scrap to crude recycling operations in developing countries also prevents proper collection and recycling of precious and strategic metals. The new e-waste bill establishes a new category of “restricted electronic waste” which cannot be exported from the U.S. to developing nations.

There is potential for good here.

There are also exemptions:
- used equipment can still be exported for reuse as long as it’s been tested and is fully functional
- non-hazardous parts or materials are also not restricted
- crushed cathode ray tube (CRT) glass cullet that is cleaned and fully prepared as feedstock into CRT glass manufacturing facilities

Also exempted from the e-waste export ban would be products being returned under warranty for repair and products being recalled, reported Grant Cross of IDG ComputerWorld.

Support for the e-waste bill The bill is supported by environmental groups as well as electronic manufacturers (Dell, HP, Samsung, Apple, and Best Buy), all of which already have policies that prohibit the export of e-waste to developing nations.

Principals:
Representative Gene Green
Representative Mike Thompson

Maine Representative Melissa Walsh Innes summed up Washington support for the bill when she wrote on her Product Stewardship blog:

The bill also has bipartisan support, including sponsors Reps. Steven LaTourette (R-OH) and Lee Terry (R-NE). Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) filed the same bill in the Senate.

The bill addresses the toxic exposures caused by e-waste dumping and primitive recycling operations in countries like China, India, Nigeria, Ghana, which have the subject of recent media exposés, and a scathing report by the U.S. Governmental Accountability Office (GAO).

“This is the most important step our federal government can take to solve the e-waste problem – to close the door on e-waste dumping on developing countries,” said Barbara Kyle, National Coordinator of the Electronics TakeBack Coalition, a national environmental coalition which promotes responsible recycling of e-waste. “It will bring recycling jobs back to the U.S.”

Similar legislation was introduced in the House in September of 2010, but it was too late in the Congressional session for the bill to advance. This time around, the bill has added a provision for research into recycling and recovery of Rare Earth Metals from electronics.

Chemical Disclosure in Fracking

2011-06-27T10:52:00.004-04:00

Natural gas drillers show their hand

"We have seen the light," said Aubrey McClendon, chief executive of gas producer Chesapeake Energy Corp., speaking to investors when asked about chemical disclosure at the company's annual meeting earlier this month.

For awhile now environmental groups have called for more transparency in hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”. Drilling companies in the natural-gas industry have now heard the call and have agreed to disclose more information about the chemicals used in the fracking process.

How fracking works Fracking breaks up oil and gas-bearing rocks by blasting millions of gallons of a mixture (water, sand and chemicals) into the ground. Like over-filling a water-balloon, the pressure bursts the container, which in the case of natural gas is rocks and earth that forms a "pocket" where natural gas is stored in a natural reservoir deep underground. Both environmental groups and drilling area residents share concerns that chemicals used in fracking may affect drinking water supplies. They want drilling companies to disclose information about the chemicals they use for fracking, allowing homeowners to test their water for contamination.

In the interest of protecting trade secrets, the industry has opposed full chemical disclosure because, they say, chemicals make up less than 1% of the volume of most fracturing jobs. Companies also insist that if wells are constructed properly, contamination is impossible. However, it became increasingly difficult to defend that position without divulging which chemicals were actually being used. Although information on chemicals has been made available at drilling sites, environmental groups say that information was incomplete and inaccessible to the general public.

"I think the one thing hopefully that we all learned is you can't just say, 'Take our word for it,'" said Matt Pitzarella, a spokesman for gas producer Range Resources Corp.

Transparency in chemical ingredients

Chemical database In Texas, where oil and gas drilling is a key industry, Gov. Rick Perry recently signed into law a bill requiring companies to make public the chemicals they use on every hydraulic fracturing job in the state. The drilling industry appears to support the measure and other states such as Wyoming and Arkansas have also recently passed mandatory disclosure rules.

In Texas, starting next year, the new law requires companies to post substance and mixture ingredient information in a chemical database on FracFocus.org. Any chemicals not included on that site must be disclosed to agencies via separate process.

In these reporting scenarios, companies can, of course, request that information about certain chemicals be withheld from the public as trade secrets. But with EPA recently revealing information on chemicals that were previously held as “trade secrets”, that loophole is getting smaller and smaller (or as some say, "more and more reasonable.") For more about trade secret chemical identities revealed by EPA, see article: EPA Discloses 150 Trade Secret Chemicals.

Disclosure in fracking Environmental groups, who have called for a mandatory, national chemical database, say this is a good first step, although they believe the laws do not go far enough. In the words of Matt Watson, a senior energy policy manager for Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the bill "is not the national model we'd hoped for."

However, the fracking disclosure is certainly a significant step and one industry would be wise to embrace: transparency and disclosure of chemical ingredients is not going away.

U.S. Nuclear Plants Are Safe, Says NRC Chairman, But...

2011-06-21T15:19:00.001-04:00

A quick update from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) floated into my inbox just now and it's worth sharing.

Earlier today, June 21, 2011, chairman Gregory Jaczko spoke in Vienna.

Bear in mind that the NRC is a little more than two-thirds of the way through a review of the Fukushima accident. They're looking for short-term red flag issues. This review is slated to take 90 days and the recap report is expected three weeks later. Thus, the NRC plans to meet on July 19, 2011 to hear staff recommendations.

"While it is my opinion that U.S. nuclear plants are safe," said Jaczko earlier today, "the early work suggests there are a number of possible areas for improvement. To name a few, several of us on the commission have noted that our regulations for what is called a station blackout – essentially what happened in Fukushima – do not take into account an extended loss of AC power. Other areas that have drawn attention are spent fuel pools, emergency planning, of course seismic issues, contingency planning for situations beyond the design basis of a plant, and others."

In America in 2009, 104 nuclear reactors produced 799 billion kWh, which is over 20% of total electrical output. Worldwide there are now over 440 commercial nuclear power reactors operating in 30 countries. When one is compromised, there is a disruption worldwide.

Jaczko also commented about the global nature of any nuclear problem. He said, "On the global front – and this is a truly global issue – the real question is where to go from here?

"I believe there is a likelihood that the agency will need to make some changes," Jaczko said, "although it is too early to say right now precisely what those changes might be."

Interesting days indeed for power companies/brokers. And consumers.

A Single European Railway: On The Right Track

2011-06-20T12:13:00.004-04:00

A locomotive rolling down the track, photo by Migro

The Council of the European Union (the Council) announced last week that it has reached agreement towards a directive that would establish a single European railway area.

This would-be directive is a recast of the so-called "first railway package." The approach consists of three* directives:

the development of European railways
licensing of railway undertakings
management of railway infrastructure

"The purpose of this recast is to simplify, clarify and modernise the regulatory framework for Europe's railway sector so as to improve conditions for investments, increase competition and strengthen market supervision in that sector," said the Council in a statement.

Goals of the new EU railway directive Goals of the new directive include:

all companies having equal access to rails
greater cooperation between regulatory bodies on cross-border issues
improved financing as a result of long-term planning/stability
incentives to modernize railway infrastructure

In particular, the agreement reinforces the independence of railway infrastructure. This includes:

railway stations
freight terminals
maintenance facilities

The idea is to get to operational independence from the companies that use that infrastructure. The separation could be critical to allowing all companies to have non-discriminatory access to railway-related services.

The agreement last week means that the Council agreed on basic rules for European railway and railway infrastructure companies. The basic rules would enhance investment and improve market supervision and - in theory - increase competitiveness. The new legal act aims at improving competition between railway undertakings by making rail market access conditions more transparent.

Innovation vs. competitiveness To wit, last month the U.S. Federal Railroad Association and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced $2 billion in high-speed rail funds which would serve as an unprecedented high speed rail investment. The money is intended to:

speed up trains in the Northeast Corridor
expand service in the Midwest
provide new, state-of-the-art locomotives and rail cars

In Q1 2011 there was a lot of rustling in Europe about innovations and vision, especially regarding for the railway (see High Speed Rail from London to Beijing in 19 Hours).

Suddenly the buzz has shifted in Europe to the subject of competitiveness. In fact, on June 27, 2011 there will be an Extraordinary Council meeting on the subject of Competitiveness in the Internal Market, Industry and Research and Space. The meeting will be in Luxembourg (view agenda).

The new rail directive agreement: on the right track Under the new Railway agreement, the rails would be more competitive with other transport options and national regulatory authorities would have more power. Specifically, regulatory authorities would have the power to impose sanctions / penalties and to audit implementations of the railway directive. Cooperation between regulators on cross-border issues would be a goal, not an exception.

This type of longer-term planning is the cornerstone of improving financing of rail infrastructure, as it will offer more certainty to investors. The directive will provide incentives to modernize infrastructure, which is the best way to make sure it happens -- no one spends multiple-million euros unless provoked -- at least, I probably wouldn't.

The Recast is known in e'er-pleasant-but-airy EU-speak as the "general approach." Last week's agreement by the member states enables the Council to start negotiations with the European Parliament.

The European Parliament, whose approval is required for the adoption of the directive, has yet to establish its position. Parliament is expected to convene on this subject in July and September.

Again: in Q1 2011 there was a lot of rustling in Europe about innovations and vision, and there is now a lot of rustling on the subject of competitiveness in Europe. Are the two complimentary? We'll find out.

###

*For specifics on the three ingredient directives, see directives Nos. 12, 13 and 14 of 2001.
For more see http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/trans/122809.pdf

Europe Gets Serious About Standards

2011-06-14T17:08:00.005-04:00

Consumers should not be obliged to change several chargers for their electronic devices. And a mass diffusion of electric cars will not happen without common standards for their recharge. Mobile phone and software companies are publicly showcasing their battle for leadership of their respective standards.

In an era of increasing global competition, European competitiveness depends on the EU's ability to foster innovation in products, services and processes and fully exploit the potential of the Internal market. Standards are a decisive tool in international competition, a cornerstone of industrial policy and -- sometimes -- innovation.

We say "sometimes" because of the Great Operating System (OS) wars of the 1990's in Silicon Valley, where Unix, Apple's Mac OS, and IBM's OS2 battled it out. And those of us using the products would grumble constantly about a standardized platform (remember when your Windows Word doc wouldn't open on a Mac?).

We were right to grumble. But you can't say that innovation suffered for those lack of standards -- in fact, arguably innovation flourished there.

Standards in manufacturing

But when you try to sell me a $30,000 electronic automobile and tell me I can't use half the recharging stations on my route from here to Los Angeles because of lack of standards on the equipment, we may have a deal breaker. Truly, in a B2C market, standards become more compelling. (The race for market share for the Computer OS's was largely fought in terms of corporate contracts.)

Or more accurately, in the B2C market, standards become more compelling more quickly. One IT fix can solve a dual-platform problem for an entire company or 1000 employees, but 1000 individual consumers have no fix, and therefore, end up struggling to see the value.

In Europe, now, in a time of:

increasing global competition
an aging European population/workforce
fiscal restraint

European competitiveness may depend on their ability to foster innovation in products, services and processes and then to drive those innovations forward. A systematic approach to research, innovation and standardization adopted at European and national level would likely help best ideas to reach the market and achieve wider market audience quickly.

We call it globalization. And here are the steps the European Commission says it will take toward this end:

The Commission will establish an annual Work Programme, which will identify priorities for European standardization
The Commission will demand that European standards for innovative products and services will be quickly elaborated and adopted, for example in the field of eco-design, smart grids, energy efficiency of buildings, nanotechnologies, security and eMobility
The Commission will make funding of the independent European standardization bodies (ESOs) conditional on certain performance criteria. In particular European standards should be adopted more quickly
When European standards with a scientific component are to be incorporated into EU policy, impartial, sound and balanced scientific evidence will increasingly be taken into account
ESOs, Member States and other standardization bodies are expected to improve awareness and education about standardization

Standards (metric or imperial?) in the EU

The European Commission proposes a series of legislative and non-legislative measures to develop more and faster standards. Standards are sets of voluntary technical and quality criteria for products, services and production processes. Nobody is obliged to use or apply them but they help businesses work together and to save money for consumers.

The European Council of 4 February, in its conclusions on the "Innovation Union", invited the Commission "to make proposals to accelerate, simplify and modernize standardization procedures, notably to allow standards developed by industry to be turned into European standards".

European Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani, responsible for industry and entrepreneurship said: "...standards allow us all to have the best quality and sustainable products for a lower price. Standardization is also a key issue for the well functioning of our internal market."

Here are important steps that the Commission took recently to strengthen the system of standard-setting in Europe and to implement related commitments:

Europe will push for more international standards in those economic sectors where Europe is a global leader
High-tech products are often sold in combination with maintenance services. Although there are many European standards for products, there are hardly any for services. Therefore, more market-driven European standards for services could be developed giving companies commercial advantages
To propose a light and fast way to recognize the increasingly important ICT standards developed by global ICT standards development organizations, such as those underpinning the internet, to be used in public procurement, EU policies and legislation. This will stimulate innovation, cut administrative overheads and build a truly digital society by encouraging interoperability between devices, applications, data repositories, services and network
The Commission will enhance its cooperation with the leading standardization organizations in Europe (i.e. CEN, CENELEC and ETSI) so that their standards will be available more rapidly. Businesses using these standards can make their products more compatible with other products so that consumers will have a broader choice at a lower price
European standards will be drafted with the help of organizations representing those most affected, or most concerned – consumers, small businesses, environmental and social organizations
The new standard for a universal mobile-phone charger to fit all models is a perfect example of the tremendous value of European standards for our daily lives
Some of the proposed actions can be implemented immediately while the others require the approval of the European Parliament and the Council

Good thing to keep an eye on.

India's New Manufacturing Policy

2011-06-08T17:15:00.001-04:00

The Indian government said in April it will soon unveil a national manufacturing policy, which aims at attracting overseas investments and increase the share of the sector in the economy. “India will come out with a national manufacturing policy within this year, hopefully before June,” Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said recently. The country will also be taking other initiatives along with states to promote the manufacturing sector, Sharma also said.

"I hope, we will be able to do it soon," Sharma said at a CII function in New Delhi.

The Indian government aims at increasing the share of manufacturing sector from 16-17% to 25-26% of the GDP by 2020. It's said that over 80% of the country's overall industrial production is from manufacturing.

Sharma said that India's first National Manufacturing Policy is in the works. It will likely include integrated "green-field" mega-investment zones to attract global investment and cutting edge technologies.

India 2.0

Millions of skilled workers are expected to join India's manufacturing segment in the near future. A good new policy would help attract those individuals as well as increased foreign direct investment into the country.

India's exports this fiscal are likely to increase to $235 billion, from $178.6 billion in 2009-10. The new export strategy aims at doubling India's exports to $450 by 2014.

On the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which is a new international treaty being framed by a group of developed nations, the minister Sharma declined to pursue that line of thinking. He said India would not accept any such attempts to discuss intellectual property rights outside the multilateral WTO framework, as reported multiple journals in India. India is opposing ACTA, saying that it would have far-reaching implications for non-members of ACTA. The countries such as the US, EU, Japan, Australia, Canada and New Zealand are still evaluating the agreement.

"Few countries will group together and try to change what is and will always be a multilateral regime called the TRIPS agreement. If it has to revisited in any stage in future, it will be only in multilateral forum - the WTO, it cannot be done outside," he added.

For reference, make a note of these links:

Confederation of Indian Industry
www.cii.in

Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry
www.ficci.com

National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council
http://nmcc.nic.in

Cyber-Attack on Lockheed Martin Inspires Government Action

2011-06-02T09:44:00.009-04:00

The U.S. Defense Department has clarified its position on cyber-attacks. They're saying that state-sponsored hacking is a potential "act of war" that may warrant a conventional military response. No one is arguing with the policy shift.

"A cyber-attack is governed by basically the same rules as any other kind of attack if the effects of it are essentially the same," said retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Charles Dunlap in the WSJ. A formal cyber strategy is expected to become public next month.

It's not without irony that this new possible avenue for flexing weaponry-muscles comes on the heels of Lockheed Martin, a top military hardware supplier, experiencing a "significant and tenacious" cyber-attack against its networks.

Regardless, the policy update is fair and overdue. The heavy hand is largely raised for the type of attack which yields measurable compromise to either human life or societal infrastructure such as roads, buildings, power and so forth.

But there are other, arguably more insidious, types of cyber-attacks.

The Library of Alexandria
All types of cyber attacks are a big deal. Some seem just an effort to burn through data, which is a lot like espionage but is it really an "attack?"

We say yes. A compromise of precious data is a tough thing to quantify, but depending on severity it can cripple a culture. A cyber-robbery or hack can be likened to the legendary burning of the Library of Alexandria in 48 BC when information that took decades to gather, create, cull and make available on a permissioned basis is suddenly made redundant in a single afternoon. The culture resting on that information is weakened at its heart. This culture can be business (e.g. a company culture), or industry (e.g. the aerospace industry), or even broader business protocols in general. In extreme cases data destruction/distillation can extend to all corners of a society.

Area 51
Options? Data back-up is critical. (If only there had been a word-for-word copy of the Library of Alexandria!)

But it's worth considering that when government wants to control information, the public tends to see dis-information campaigns. Notice how confused we still are about Area 51. Most wouldn't even go there because there's too much - forgive the pun - grey area.

And that's certainly one way to approach cyber security: mix dummy data with the real stuff. Dis-information won't help if the data warehouse is burnt to the ground. But if data is stolen or mishandled, disinformation can render stolen data:

useless
unsalable
'more trouble than it's worth'

In the case of protecting the integrity of data, sometimes it's wise to plant lies.

Cyber-attack with intent to cripple a society: "no"
A cyber attack can result in a fallow power grid or other such major catastrophe to a civilized society. The Pentagon has a strong position on that.

"If you shut down our power grid, maybe we will put a missile down one of your smokestacks," a military official told the Journal. For state-sanctioned acts against another state's power grid, that seems fair enough.

Lockheed Martin afterwards
Last week a Canadian company announced the first sale of a commercial quantum computer, to none other than Lockheed Martin. Hard to say if the cyber-breach was related but it wouldn't be the strangest thing. The quantum computer uses the power of quantum bits — or qubits — which can be on and off simultaneously. Thus processors are able to "zip through a multitude of calculations in parallel, at astonishing speed," in the words of Nature Magazine.

Chip Cutter and Lolita C. Baldor of the Associated Press report that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security insist the Lockheed Martin attack was thwarted before any critical data was stolen. Let's hope that's the case.

And let's talk more about how to be prepared for the day when hope isn't enough.

Useful Web Page for REACH Compliance

2011-05-25T10:29:00.001-04:00

ECHA CHEM is a web page on the ECHA web site, itself notoriously difficult to navigate. However, it must be said that improvements are appearing. The ECHA CHEM page is nearly comprehensible! While intuitive may still be some ways off, at least extracting information about REACH on this page is not painful. For readers interested in REACH news and REACH compliance tools, we are running this breakdown.

ECHA CHEM in a nutshell

The REACH Regulation (or REACH pandemic?) provides that various types of information submitted to ECHA or documents that are produced as an outcome of different REACH processes are to be published on the ECHA website. Under the ECHA CHEM web section you will find public information and documents from REACH processes as they become available.

Registry of intentions

This Registry provides information on the Intentions of the Member States to submit proposals for harmonised Classification and Labelling of substances, proposals for identification of Substances of Very High Concern, and proposals for restrictions.

List of pre-registered substances

The REACH Regulation requires that ECHA will publish by 1 January 2009 a list of substances which have been pre-registered between 1 June and 1 December 2008.

Authorisation

The two first steps of the authorisation procedure are the identification and inclusion in the "Candidate List" of Substances of Very High Concern, and the prioritisation of substances to be included in Annex XIV of REACH (the "Authorisation List ").

Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern for Authorisation

In the framework of the authorisation process, Member States Competent Authorities or the ECHA, on a request by the Commission, may prepare Annex XV dossiers for the identification of substances of very high concern. The outcome of this identification procedure is a list of substances ("the Candidate List"), which are candidates for eventual inclusion in the List of Substances Subject to Authorisation (Annex XIV of REACH).

Annex XIV recommendations

The REACH Regulation requires that ECHA identifies from the "Candidate List" priority substances to be included in Annex XIV of REACH (the "Authorisation List") and then recommends Annex XIV entries for these substances to the European Commission. ECHA submitted its first recommendation to the European Commission on 1 June 2009.

Information from registration dossiers

ECHA is publishing information on substances and their properties from the registration dossiers submitted to ECHA.

Transitional measures regarding existing substances

The REACH Regulation provides transitional measures for certain existing substances under Regulation (EEC) No 793/93. These substances were prioritised due to being produced in large quantities or having possible persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic properties.

ECHA publishes the Annex XV transitional reports on priority substances submitted by the EU Member States. For some substances, manufacturers and importers need to submit additional information to the Member State Competent Authority in charge. Updated assessments and so-called "voluntary risk assessment reports" will also be published there.

See it all: http://echa.europa.eu/chem_data_en.asp

China Grants Pakistan 50 Fighter Jets JF-17

2011-05-20T12:48:00.001-04:00

Michael Crowley, Senior Correspondent at TIME Magazine based in Washington DC, said this morning via Twitter that China and Pakistan cozying up is a hugely important and potentially ominous story. He was referring to China giving Pakistan 50 fighter jets earlier this week.

For reference on the Middle East and aerospace manufacturing supply, please see the March 2011 post called Middle East Unrest Affects American Manufacturing. Fact is, large manufacturers in big countries supply into Middle Eastern countries. The tricky part is figuring out the extended terms of the relationship, both politically and how it affects (or doesn't) manufacturing in your own country.

Before we get hysterical, let's remember that an JF-17 is a light-weight, single engine, multi-utility combat aircraft developed jointly by the Chengdu Aircraft Industries Corporation (CAC) of China, the Pakistan Air Force, and the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC). The groups have been working together on these aircraft since 1999.

New York Times reports from Islamabad that China has agreed to immediately provide a quantity of 50 (fifty) JF-17 fighter jets to Pakistan. Pakistani officials said on Thursday, May 18, that the gift of 50 planes is a major outcome of a visit by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to Beijing during that same week.

50 fighter jets are not an insignificant supply. Pakistani officials did not say that the 50 planes were the major outcome of the Pakistan-China visit; one wonders what that could be.

Ominous seems an apt word.

TSCA Inventory Update Reporting Suspended

2011-05-17T17:24:00.002-04:00

Stating complaints from the chemical industry and House Republicans, the Environmental Protection Agency recently decided to suspend the next submission period for the Toxic Substances Controls Act's (TSCA) Inventory Update Reporting.

Complying with new reporting requirements proves difficult

Under the IUR rules, companies are required to file a report for each chemical found on the TSCA Inventory list that they process, import or manufacture.

Last year the EPA proposed changes to the IUR that would increase the information required to be reported, the frequency of the reports and the number of companies that would be required to file an IUR report.

The EPA had proposed that the reporting would return to the pre-2003 standards which meant the reporting cycle would be every four years, not five, and the reporting threshold would be at 10,000 pounds of material, down from the current total of 25,000.

The decision to suspend the 2011 reporting period was also made to finalize proposed changes to the IUR and to avoid the changes being finalized in the middle of the reporting period.

View the entire document here:
http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=EPA-HQ-OPPT-2009-0187-0385

Green Chemistry: Sleeper Hit in Supply Chain Compliance?

2011-05-09T16:08:00.006-04:00

Green Chemistry might be the sleeper key to compliance

These days, environmental regulations are changing the rules of the game in terms of how things are made, sourced and distributed in manufacturing and supply chains. The rules define the product and the process. More so than ever before.

Regulations Make the Brand?

Regulations such as REACH, RoHS, "China RoHS," "China REACH" and WEEE have huge impact on finished goods as they move through a supply network. The impact of regulation is felt in all stages:

design
procurement
storage
manufacturing processes
waste procedures and
product distribution

This is true in aerospace, automotive, packaging -- but especially true in electronics, ever more so as the electronics industry becomes increasingly plastic-oriented.

We're talking about products increasingly defined and designed by environmental interests.

Electronic Paper

Of course, late last week the electronics industry became paper-based, or paper-esque shall we say (origami telephones, anyone?) when BBC London announced the debut of the paper cell phone. Yes, you read that right. It's a cell phone made of electronic paper. You could make an airplane out of it and try to get your friend's attention -- rather than call.

Increasingly we see more regulations and faster creation to disposal cycles. So how can the electronics industry cope?

E is for Electronics, Environmental, and EHS

Regulations are usually either strictly Environmental regulations or Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS). Categories of regulations in electronics manufacturing and supply include:

fire safety
toxic substances
product end-of-life
air quality

The last one, air quality, is a hot topic right now but is no more important than toxic chemicals, end-of-life or fire safety in electronics manufacturing. Air quality typically comes down to Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs). HAPs as a class cause serious environmental fall out. HAPs include:

sulfur dioxide
nitrogen oxides
volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

Green Chemistry Might Be Key

Action to reduce emissions can be done either by converting the waste itself or by using cleaner ingredients to begin with. The latter is at the heart of green chemistry. Green chemistry in fact addresses most environmental regulatory concerns: the greener the chemistry, the fewer the environmental regulatory concerns.

To find out about Green Chemistry without the struggle of navigating the California.gov web site, try GC3 or Green Chemistry Council out of University of Mass, Lowell. Under the "Publications" section there are some helpful documents, including case studies by big companies like HP and Seagate who are seeking environmental regulatory compliance worldwide through greener chemistry. Read up, go green, and as always: track, track, track your data.

Because it's critical to be compliant, it becomes key to be green. And remember: there is no substitute for year-over-year tracking data for demonstrating to shareholders just how green you've been.

Green Chemistry image (top) courtesy of Actio Corporation Communications, used by permission

E-Waste: Track Me If You Can

2011-05-02T12:38:00.004-04:00

Last October, U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson visited Giuyu, China, arguably the world's most famous e-waste site. Following the visit, attention to the issue of global e-waste has been intensifying. So has talk of end-of-life product stewardship and regulations thereof. Such regulations would have huge impact on supply networks in the U.S. and elsewhere.

So far, end-of-life regulations in America have been on a state-by-state level. Increasingly, there are murmurings of federal, even global, restrictions on disposal. EPA's end-of-life regulations for electronics would be similar to WEEE but U.S.-based.

Tracking and managing all these moving parts -- literally in terms of components and figuratively in the form of data -- is poised to become the next great supply network data management challenge. Keep an eye on waste management facilities and services in the coming 4 quarters; likely to see new products and services there as well as M&A activity. This activity comes down to scrambling for product stewardship management and associated dollars.

EPA awards $2.5 million towards e-waste tracking

In March earlier this year, Chelsey Drysdale wrote in PDC&F that environmental groups have been urging the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to issue a policy requiring federal agencies not be permitted to export used electronics to developing nations.

Earlier this morning, May 2, 2011, EPA announced it had awarded a grant to the United Nations University (UNU) to help curb rising pollution and health problems associated with discarded electronics. The agency said the five-year, $2.5 million grant will help authorities track shipments of North American electronic waste and provide support to nations in both Africa and Asia coping with e-waste imports. Those imports would include end-of-life computers, TVs, and cell phones.

Again: tracking and managing all these moving parts -- literally in terms of components and figuratively in the form of data -- is poised to become the next great data management challenge. The good news is that end-of-life tracking is easier than our current challenge of supplier product ingredient visibility [see previous post, "Product Ingredients: say can you see?"].

“The electronics that improve our everyday lives often end up discarded in developing countries where improper disposal can threaten the health of local people and the environment,” said Michelle DePass, assistant administrator for EPA”s Office of International and Tribal Affairs. “EPA recognizes this urgent concern and is committed to working with domestic and international partners to address these issues.”

Is that a regulation? No. It is a preliminary call to action for U.S.-based electronics manufacturers and distributors? Absolutely.

It's 12:00, do you know where your e-waste is going?

Track it if you can.

Obama Administration's Water Policy Framework

2011-04-28T17:35:00.007-04:00

Clean water in America

Yesterday, April 27, 2011, the Obama Administration released a national Clean Water Framework. The point of the framework is to provide more clarity for businesses in permitting events such as discharging pollution into protected waters and filling in protected waters and wetlands.

One look at the situation in China with clean water and suddenly the US water policy -- on the surface at least -- looks better and better. But as we know, environmental policy is a tricky thing to implement in the U.S., and in fact in any large industrial nation.

In a recent article for Environmental Leader (EL), Chris Watts writes that effective U.S. environmental policy involves a lot of conditional if statements. Certain conditions combined with just the right circumstances - and political players - can lead to effective environmental policy. "Gridlock and too many layers of bureaucracy are common problems with the system," Watts says.

Water policy is still based in NEPA: In 1969, Congress passed the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA). Still in force today, NEPA is the basis for other U.S. environmental laws and is considered a major guiding tool for regulating federal actions that would have significant effects on environmental, such as air and water, quality. At the core, the main regulatory power in NEPA is the Environmental Impact Statement or EIS.

Obama Administration's Water Framework

Yesterday's framework came with a release that said it [the framework] recognizes the importance of clean water and healthy watersheds to the American economy, environment and communities; and the framework emphasizes the importance of partnerships and coordination with states, local communities, stakeholders, and the public to protect public health and water quality, and promote the nation’s energy and economic security.

The draft guidance aims to delineate which waterways, water bodies and wetlands are protected by the Clean Water Act. In March, EPA said it was going to regulate 30 chemicals in drinking water. The Obama Administration is saying that the point of this new Clean Water Framework is to provide more clarity for businesses, which need permits to discharge pollution into protected waters as well as fill protected waters and wetlands.

The Obama Administration is designing and deploying policies, programs and initiatives to directly address today's clean water challenges - forming a many-pronged plan to regulate clean water. When simple is usually better, this is far from simple. The Council on Environmental Quality spelled out the intent, and it's interesting to see it spelled out. Approaches include:

Promoting innovative partnerships: federal agencies are partnering with states, tribes, local governments and diverse stakeholders on innovative approaches to restore urban waters, promote sustainable water supplies, and develop new incentives for farmers to protect clean water
Enhancing communities and economies by restoring important water bodies
Innovating for more water-efficient communities
Ensuring clean water to protect public health
Enhancing use and enjoyment of US waters
Updating the nation's water policies
Supporting science to solve water problems [as opposed to using... what?]

“As our nation’s foremost conservationists, farmers, ranchers and forest owners have a values system rooted in rural America that recognizes we cannot continue to take from the land without giving something back,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “At USDA, we are working with farmers, ranchers and forest owners to conserve land, plant stream buffers for cleaner water, and install other conservation practices. We also will continue to invest in rural water and community facility projects that help small towns ensure their citizens have access to safe and reliable drinking water. The draft Clean Water Act guidance released today reflects USDA's work with our federal partners by maintaining existing exemptions for ongoing agricultural and forestry activities, thereby providing farmers, ranchers and forest landowners with certainty that current agricultural and forestry activities can continue.”

The draft Clean Water Act is a joint effort by EPA and the US Army Corps of Engineers. The draft Clean Water Act guidance will also be open for 60 days of public comment. Publication of final guidance will then be followed by a rule-making process, which will provide further opportunity for comment, EL reported.

Food & Beverage Industry Not Crying Over Spilt Milk

2011-04-18T11:26:00.003-04:00

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has permanently exempted milk and milk product containers from the Oil Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule. This is a good, sensible action for dairy farmers and product distributors alike.

Prior to this announcement, all kinds of fats, including such things as vegetable oil, animal fats and milk, were considered oil for the purposes of the SPCC rule, as reported by industry insiders at the esteemed B2B publication Environmental Leader. "The regulations require facilities storing more than 1,320 gallons of oil to create and implement plans to prepare, prevent and respond to oil spills," said the journal by way of explaining how spilt milk would be regulated under the SPCC.

The prevailing SPCC regulation might be "just plain dumb," to quote President Obama, as did the Wall Street Journal said in a related article. The current SPCC regulation is designed to prevent oil spill damage to inland waters and shorelines, has been in place since the 1970s.

This final exemption might be called "just plain common sense."

EPA's final exemption regarding spilt milk

The final exemption applies to milk, milk product containers, and milk production equipment -- potentially saving the milk and dairy industries more than $140 million per year.

Because some facilities may still have oil storage subject to the spill prevention regulations, EPA is also:
• amending the rule to exclude milk storage capacity from a facility’s total oil storage capacity calculation
• removing the compliance date requirements for the exempted containers

EPA had previously delayed SCC compliance requirements for milk and milk product containers in response to feedback from the agriculture community, which already meets milk production standards regarding certain construction and sanitary requirements that help prevent oil spills.

Good table manners

EPA brought some common sense to the table in this action. “After working closely with dairy farmers and other members of the agricultural community, we’re taking commonsense steps to exempt them from a provision in this rule that simply shouldn’t apply to them,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.

However, farms that store the regulatory threshold of fuel oils and other applicable oils are still subject to the SPCC rule. Which makes sense.

For more information on the milk and milk product containers exemption:
http://www.epa.gov/oem/oemweb/content/spcc/spcc_milk.htm

See also: FDA Guidance

In a document called "Guidance for Industry: Dairy Farms, Bulk Milk Transporters, Bulk Milk Transfer Stations and Fluid Milk Processors: Food Security Preventive Measures Guidance," the FDA says:

This guidance is designed as an aid to operators of dairy farms, bulk milk transportation operations, bulk milk transfer stations and fluid milk processing facilities. It identifies the kinds of preventive measures operators of these establishments may take to minimize the risk that fluid milk under their control will be subject to tampering or other malicious, criminal, or terrorist actions.

Read full FDA milk containment guidance.

New Chemical Notifications to EPA Must Now Be Electronic

2011-04-13T10:56:00.007-04:00

As a follow up to yesterday's post about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its "risk assessment redux" for health testing of four chemicals, there is related news about chemicals, regulations and supply chain.

The Actio web site can be a good source for product supply chain tricks and insight (see home page for news, scroll down) and chemical regulatory news (see blog for updates to law). The site reported breaking chemical law news for manufacturing last week.

EPA will accept electronic chemical reporting only when accepting notifications on new chemicals. That's the upshot. It means the EPA will now require electronic submissions for new chemical notices under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and paper submissions will be invalid.

Earlier this year, EPA notified five (5) companies that the identities of 14 chemicals associated with a number of health and safety studies submitted under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and claimed as confidential are not eligible for confidential treatment. The chemicals were unnamed.

This is significant because EPA seems to be taking action on data about new chemicals -- in a bid to catch the fox before it enters the hen house, as it were, rather than after.

Insiders comment on electronic chemical reporting
In late Q4 2010, EPA announced that it will share data with REACH or ECHA chemical databases. The two agencies are gearing up for a courtship and possible commitment with this plan to share chemical data.

Data sharing, among other things, won't and really can't happen with paper-based chemical records.

“This [paperless drive] is the latest in a series of actions that EPA is taking to improve the reporting of information on chemicals, and, importantly, increase the public’s access to that information,” said Steve Owens, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, as quoted by Environmental Protection, a consultancy.

“The agency used an out-dated process that depended on paper filings for far too long,” Owens said.

Chris Nowak, Director at Actio and longtime industry insider, rightly said, "Paper based systems always produce duplicates and deviant versions of data. For accurate substance data management and distribution, data about potentially hazardous substances must be electronic. It's that simple."

We couldn't agree more.

"There are far too many regulations, protocols and enforcements these days to proceed with chemical data gathering and distribution any way besides a database-driven electronic service," Nowak said in a statement. "Thankfully, the top supply chain [data] management software addresses these types of challenges."

For more on the paperless chemical reporting initiative, see EPA reference on this chemical and compliance matter.

Wishing everyone Merry Compliance and a Happy Q2.

EPA Re-ignites Four Chemical Risk Assessments

2011-04-12T17:41:00.000-04:00

Four chemical risk assessments will be moving forward after a 9 month stall.

EPA has announced it will address the four (4) draft Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assessments regarding the carcinogenic effects of the following substances:

methanol, which is used in paints, varnishes, wiper fluid and adhesives
methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) and ethyl tertiary-butyl ether (ETBE), which are used as gasoline additives
acrylonitrile, which is used in the manufacture of certain plastics and key ingredient in the acrylic fiber used to make clothing and carpeting

The IRIS assessments were put on hold in June 2010.

For more information, please visit www.epa.gov.

Siemens, IBM, BMW, Daimler and Nissan Do a Brand New Dance Now

2011-04-05T10:06:00.005-04:00

In Europe, everybody is doing a brand new dance now: the Green eMotion.

The European Commission (EC) announced yesterday, April 4, 2011, that it will make €24.2 million available to the development of electromobility in Europe via support of a cross-European electromobility initiative called Green eMotion.

The initiative is said to be worth €41.8 million and will operate in partnership with 42 partners from the industries, utilities, electric car manufacturers, municipalities, universities and technology and research institutions.*

Part of the goal of Green eMotion is to exchange and develop knowledge and experience, and to facilitate the market roll-out of electric vehicles in Europe.

Siemens is taking a leadership role in the the research consortium, working with other leading companies like BMW and Daimler. Siemens already contributes to the development of related technology -- see also U.S. emissions news and waste stream software -- and to charging infrastructure solutions.

"For example," says Ralph Griewing, who is responsible at Siemens Energy for the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, "we've already developed charging stations with fast-charge function to market readiness. These will make it possible to charge electric cars with a commercially available battery within the space of an hour.

"In the mid-term we want to cut charging time to less than 15 minutes so that only short charging stops are necessary en route when the battery is empty," said Griewing.

EU transport and electro-mobility

The key agenda item for Green eMotion is the development of European processes, standards and IT solutions. This is a good idea. Momentum for industrial pioneering depends on laying this type of paradigm foundation: lay the tracks and they will come.

Or in this case, build the charging stations and they will plug in.

The Green eMotion initiative will, among other things, allow customers of electric vehicles easy and seamless access to charging infrastructure and related services throughout the European Union.

For this phase of the initiative, establishing standard will be a primary focus. Standardization will play a key role a fast and cost-efficient roll-out of electromobility across Europe. Standards or bust!

Vice-President Siim Kallas, responsible for EC transport, said: "Transport 2050 calls for a reduction of CO² from transport of at least 60% by 2050. At the heart of this strategy is a major shift in cities to the electric vehicles away from cars with conventionally fuelled engines. The level of EU financial support for this e-motion project shows just how serious we are at EU level about achieving these goals. This is a project tackles some of the practical problems and real bottlenecks for cities and companies who want to bring electric vehicles to the market. It is exactly the kind of initiative where European co-operation adds huge value. This is a very promising initiative for the future."

Transport accounts for 25% of CO2 emissions and 73% of all oil consumed in Europe.

Oil is still the fuel for 96% of EU transport. "This is totally unsustainable," Kallas said, speaking to that data point.

EU aviation and emissions

Much of Europe's Greenhouse Gas emissions are from aviation. Recently, Sandro Santamato, head of the alternative fuel policy unit at the Commission's transport department, told EurActiv that "CO2 emissions from aviation will not decrease by 60% [as implied in a recent report] but by only 34% between 2005 and 2050". Aviation biofuels are dependent on subsidies.

The European Commission has determined that airlines will have 212,892,052 metric tons of carbon dioxide available to them in 2012 and 208,502,525 metric tons from 2013 as aviation is included in the European Union’s emissions trading system (ETS), as reported by Aviation Week.

We'll see how the Green eMotion drive goes for automobiles. Then what? Electric airplanes?

Come on, give it a chance now.

*The partners in the Green eMotion initiative are:

the industrial companies Alstom, Better Palce, Bosch, IBM, SAP and Siemens
the utilities Dansk Energi, EDF, Endesa, Enel, ESB, Eurelectric, Iberdrola, RWE and PPC
the automobile manufacturers BMW, Daimler, Micro-Vett, Renault and Nissan
the municipalities Dublin, Cork, Copenhagen, Bornholm, Malmö, Malaga, Rome, Barcelona and Berlin
the universities and research institutions Cartif Cidaut, DTU, ECN, ERSE, Imperial, IREC, LABEIN, and TCD
the technology institutions DTI, FKA and TÜV Nord

Capitalism Fosters Innovation, Personal Debt Doesn't

2011-03-31T09:56:00.008-04:00

Pop quiz: with a few obvious exceptions, why have the past ten years or so lacked significant innovation? Because of Baby Boomers (a.k.a. the debt generation). Let me explain.

The demands of personal debt are subtle, insidious, and anti-innovation.

Capitalism fosters innovation

What made the pre-Baby Boomer generations innovative?

Is the American C-suite innovative? No.

Bruce Nussbaum covered U.S. business at Business Week for decades. Nussbaum asserts that "with a number of significant exceptions, Boomer CEOs over the past decade have failed to deliver value to shareholders, failed to deliver additional income and mobility to their middle class employees, failed to compete with rising Asian companies, and failed to deliver the soft power essential to America's standing in the world.”

That’s a big statement. But it does seem that Baby Boomers and subsequent generations of business managers go for the sure buck rather than the next new thing. Why?

There are policy reasons for it, obligations to shareholders for instance. But there is another, more insidious impediment: significant personal debt of young American business personnel.

Young management-tracked industry initiates often begin their career with six-figure student loans to repay. Monstrous debt comes before going further under to live in a house (basic shelter) or acquire groceries (basic food) or transportation (to work). There is nothing about starting on the back-foot that serves as innovative impetus; it serves only the desire to get one's feet under the body.

The Baby Boomers are the Debt Generation. That's why they haven't really innovated: they can't even get to the line of scrimmage. They've spent their careers just trying to get even.

Debt kills innovation

Personal debt eats away at a person’s confidence. It’s subtle, but debt undermines one's feeling of stability and strength in the world.

All anyone - business managers and engineers alike - really cares about after investing heavily into college, post-grad, auto, food and shelter is: How can I be sure that what I now have won’t be taken away? When/if these young executives climb out of debt, they just want to keep what they worked for.

Plus: their business/paradigm habits has been formed and set with a debt mentality.

“A man in debt is so far a slave,” said Ralph Waldo Emerson. Debt's demands are subtle, insidious, and anti-innovation. Is education worth it?

Confidence + passion + stability = innovation

To wit, both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates dropped out of college. So did Steve Wozniak and Paul Allen. There are some notable others who didn't rely on education, listed here. Why is this a good thing? Because for most Americans, higher education = enormous debt.

We think of America as a place where citizens have a solid ground in terms of basic needs. We have our basic needs covered and then some, but the ground is shifty. Lack of education may not be the answer, but self-sufficiency is a key ingredient for contentment, security and innovation. Debt, as Emerson pointed out, shackles a person's life.

How America's founding fathers saw it

Personal debt seems inevitable in a consumer economy, where every time the market falls individuals are encouraged to go shopping.

However, America was founded on the concept of each family having its own plot of land and being self-sufficient. That American self-sufficiency fosters stability which is the foundation for autonomy, the pursuit of happiness, good ideas, and quite naturally from that, business and mechanical innovation.

It might be worth considering giving our children a plot of land, a log cabin that no one can take away, and access to free courses (see the Bill Gates-endorsed free Khan Academy) rather than a $60k education.

It worked for Abe Lincoln.

Imagine what you would've done without debt.

(flag photo credit: Jon Sullivan)

SIN List 2.0 Takes On Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals

2011-03-21T12:07:00.009-04:00

The SIN List names substances which are likely to be restricted or banned in Europe in upcoming years. As such, the production and use of these substances contains a financial risk.

The SIN List is a useful tool for manufacturers, stakeholders, and investors to avoid the supply chain risk and manage their relationship to all chemicals likely to require excessive management in the future. See post: What is the SIN list vs. SVHC list?

SIN List 2.0 May release

As of March 2, Europe was stalled on Endocrine Disruptors. There is no established definition of an endocrine disruptor, in fact, the EPA page dedicated to the question, "What is an endocrine disruptor?" doesn't at all answer the question. So far, no process for addressing their presence in consumer goods and the environment. Both are essential to effective regulation.

ChemSec typically holds the SIN list and is holding a "Public Hearing on Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals - from Ambition to Action" in Brussels on May 3, 2011. There, the SIN List version 2.0 will be launched, including a list of chemicals selected for endocrine-disrupting properties.

EPA named 134 chemicals to be screened as endocrine disruptors in late Q4.

The ChemSec gathering aims to address:

The most important developments in the science of endocrine disruption.
How companies are phasing out endocrine disrupting chemicals
The challenges faced by authorities in regulating them.

We are not promoting the conference per se, but would like to acknowledge the sense in these 3 angles of approach to endocrine disruptive chemicals - rather - potential endocrine disrupting chemicals.

EDC risk, regulation and revenue in the US

Risks and opportunities related to chemical management are an emerging issue within sustainable investments, which until now have remained primarily focused on energy and climate change.

When the financial sector includes criteria concerning the use of hazardous chemicals in their investment analysis, the pressure on companies to move away from these substances increases, building on the existing pressure from consumers and legislators.

Intensified chemical regulations, such as the implementation of REACH in Europe and the revised Toxic Substances Control Act in the US, will greatly affect a wide range of companies, from chemical manufacturers to downstream companies and retailers selling products containing chemicals.

Endocrine disruptor screening is currently proceeding on three fronts in the United States:
1) Developing and validating Tier 2 tests

2) Selecting chemicals for screening and testing
3) Implementing the policies and procedures the Agency will use to require screening

Last year, EPA budgeted nearly $20 million for endocrine disrutpor studies alone.

"We are proposing $17.4 million for research on endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC)," said Dr. Paul Anastas, the Assistant Administrator for Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in spring of last year.

At the same time, Anastas also proposed $21.9 million for computational toxicology research, which would an increase of $1.8 million to develop next-generation tools to accelerate the evaluation of chemicals in the Agency’s Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP).

Japan's Economy, Manufacturing and Supply Chain Aftershocks

2011-03-18T12:41:00.005-04:00

Bloomberg reported this morning that the yen weakened by the most since 2008 versus the dollar while European stocks and U.S. index futures rose. This is expected. Yesterday, central banks intervened to weaken Japan’s currency.

Japan began the currency intervention along with Europe’s central banks, the Bank of Canada and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York - all three of whom followed up.

While the yen intervention “may seem to be a one-day operation, the statement also suggests their readiness to act further if need be,” Jim Reid, a strategist at Deutsche Bank AG as quoted by Bloomberg. “In the absence of any deteriorating nuclear news flows out of Japan, the swings in oil prices will probably have a stronger influence over markets from now on.”

Manufacturing supply chain disrupted

Obviously, the manufacturing of autos, electronics and everything dependent thereupon will be in flux as the supply chain shakes out after the Japan earthquake and subsequent geological and commercial trauma. Our fellow Circuits Assembly bloggers will help identify chasms and adjustments in the chain.

Regarding bills of materials coming out of Japan following the earthquake, Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White said it well in a research note, “We continue to remain concerned with the implications for the tech supply chain.” That's rightly all that can be said at this point.

World Trade Org (WTO) got right to the real issue:

Director-General Pascal Lamy, in a letter to Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan dated 17 March 2011, extended "deepest condolences" of the WTO community to the families of the victims of the natural disaster. Lamy told Japan - via the Prime Minister - that he is convinced "your remarkable country will be able to face the current challenges and recover quickly." Read the full WTO letter to Japan.

Now that's where we need to be right now; that's good business.

Nuclear Power Status in the US as of March 17, 2011

2011-03-17T11:54:00.004-04:00

It's a strange coincidence that last week we posted -- for the first time ever -- an article mentioning nuclear power. In a sense, our article extols the virtues of nuclear, pointing out how relatively low toxic emissions are for areas that get their electric power significantly from nuclear. See post EPA revamps emissions data for electric power.

Now, just a week later we are having worried conversations about a potential nuclear meltdown in Japan.

We decided it would be helpful to the business community to post a snapshot of the nuclear power landscape in the US and beyond. The following information can provide solid ground for discussion as events unfold:

Nuclear global stats:

The first commercial nuclear power stations began operation in the 1950s
There are now over 440 commercial nuclear power reactors operating in 30 countries
They provide about 14% of the world's electricity as continuous, reliable base-load power, and their efficiency is increasing
56 countries operate a total of about 250 research reactors and a further 180 nuclear reactors power some 140 ships and submarines

(Primary source: World Nuclear Association)

Eyes open:

This nuclear event will effect everything, from policy to paradigm to electric power prices in all areas.

The USA is the world's largest producer of nuclear power, accounting for more than 30% of worldwide nuclear generation of electricity
USA's 104 nuclear reactors produced 799 billion kWh in 2009, over 20% of total electrical output
Following a 30-year period in which few new reactors were built, it is expected that 4-6 new units may come on line by 2018
There were 16 license applications to build 24 new nuclear reactors made since mid-2007
Government policy changes since the late 1990s have helped pave the way for significant growth in nuclear capacity

(Primary source: world-nuclear.org, current on March 17, 2011.)

Snapshot: how the world is reacting to the nuclear situation in Japan

Europe reacts: Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger called at a hastily-convened meeting of ministers on March 15, 2011 for the introduction of safety "stress tests" at nuclear power plants in Europe, as reported by Euractiv online. Oettinger commended the safety standards currently in place in EU countries. Then, he notably used the word "apocalypse" to describe the situation in Japan, and he advised German media that Europe must consider a "foreseeable future" without nuclear energy.

China reacts: A statement from the China State Council said that China has suspended work on at least 26 nuclear reactors currently under construction, and existing nuclear plants will now be checked for safety. The decision came from a meeting of China’s State Council today, March 17, 2011. The country currently has 13 reactors in operation and plans to increase that number to 110 in the next decade or so. See more see Nature blog.

United States reacts: The US NRC, on March 14, sent nine additional experts to Tokyo to provide assistance as requested by the Japanese government, acting as part of a U.S. Agency for International Development assistance team. The NRC says it "continues to monitor the Japanese reactor events via its Headquarters Operations Center in Rockville, Md., on a 24-hour-a-day basis," but hasn't released anything further or more detailed.

Frankly, the situation is still too raw to expect many major announcements - the focus must be on the people and habitat in Japan and how surrounding areas may be affected should a full scale melt down occur.

United States government authorities on nuclear power

The following handle nuclear power plant safety, testing and preparedness in the U.S.:

NRC - U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission - NRC issues licenses and policies governing safe operation of nuclear reactors and the commercial use of radioactive materials. NRC also performs inspections and oversees emergency response programs for licensees.

EPA - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - In 1989 under the Clean Air Act, EPA published standards limiting radionuclide emissions from all federal and industrial facilities. EPA also sets environmental standards for offsite radiation due to the disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.

DHS - Department of Homeland Security or DHS & Federal Emergency Management Agency - FEMA evaluates both the state and local off-site emergency response plans and the off-site radiological emergency preparedness exercises that are conducted at each commercial nuclear power station every two years.

DOE - U.S. Department of Energy - DOE is responsible for the development and implementation of the disposal system for spent nuclear fuel from the nation’s nuclear power plants. This activity is totally funded by a tax paid by the users of nuclear-generated electricity.

Already, what is happening in Japan is a major event. Nature News is a good source to follow: http://bit.ly/bundles/ananyo/2 -- if that link expires, we recommend a search of their home page.

We hope this reference is helpful. It is posted quite soberly -- even on this, St. Patrick's Day.

EPA Revamps Emissions Data for Electric Power: Searchable By Zip Code

2011-03-08T14:57:00.004-05:00

Emissions from electricity-generation for your area

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reinvigorating its database aptly named eGRID, a database that contains emissions data for almost all electric power generated in the United States. To see how it works for my area, Boston, skip down the page to section 3.

It's a powerful idea: a database of all emissions data for electricity plants. The idea is that any user anywhere can enter a zip code and see what costs, if any, to health and environment are a result of electricity generated from and for their area. This couldn't come at a better time as Americans are trying to understand the health, environmental and fuel sourcing impacts associated with electricity generation.

Emissions from power plants? Really?

I was speaking to someone the other day who was surprised to learn that power plants can be a source of toxic emissions and pollution.

She said she thought a power plant just converted one thing to another; because there is no visible product she assumed no byproduct. I explained that a power plant is a factory like any other.

I asked, "What did you think the smokestacks were for?"

"So the power plant could blow off steam, I guess," she replied.

There's a broad lack of understanding in America about where power comes from. This blog post is not the place to go into it - although I'd appreciate it if readers would post links in the comments section, links to good, solid overview/reference articles about where electric power comes from (in our country or others) and how it's manufactured.

Thanks in advance for sharing your link.

Chemical inventory and emissions

eGRID contains emissions information. It's not 100% comprehensive but it's a good start, tracking:

nitrogen oxides (NOx)
sulfur dioxide (SO2)
carbon dioxide (CO2)
methane (CH4)
nitrous oxide (N2O)

These contribute to either unhealthy air quality and acid rain in many parts of the country or are greenhouse gases that are believed to contribute to climate change.

There are chemical inventory reporting software tools on the market, for example from Actio Corporation, that help individual businesses and enterprise manufacturers manage emissions data from chemicals used in manufacturing. But that's more about private, in-house management, where the tools help manage the data then a final report is pushed out to agencies like EPA. The EPA app, called Power Profiler, interacts with raw data and produces reports in real time. It's for consumers, not for governing agencies.

Power Profiler is an online application -- similar to Gmail from Google or any web-based email that most people use. Power Profiler is for the public and for the average consumer. It mines the eGRID data to show air emissions information and the type of electricity generation, such as coal or nuclear, in various regions of the country.

EPA emissions database for electricity first-hand

It's a good idea. But does it work? I tried the Power Profiler, and here's what happened:

I used Boston area zip code from an old TV show called Zoom: 02134. It's close to my actual hometown. The zip code search led me to a page with three charts on it, the first addressing the fuel mix that generates electricity in our area:

What jumped out at me first of all is how much of the Boston area's power is nuclear. It's easy to forget. That might explain why emissions from power generation in our area are low, relative to the rest of the country. Our area emissions are about half the national average, as illustrated by the subsequent chart:

Then the program allows you to find out about the actual emissions attributable to the electricity used in your home, which you do by pursuing buttons in the third box:

Overall EPA has produced a good tool. It begins to bring together the concepts of power uses, power generation, power sourcing and fuel mixes. Hopefully this sort of tool will elevate the way Americans consumers start to think about power manufacturing and supply.

Electrical power is in fact a manufactured product. And we are, as it were, downstream and down-wind. Our dependence on electricity means that fuel mixes used to manufacture it should be considered: oil, nuclear, hydro, other. Of course, the emissions and their health and environmental impacts should be constantly assessed and reassessed, and it's probably a good idea to have the people whose back yards are affected do some of the assessing.

Overall: good effort by the U.S. EPA to engage American citizens in ongoing discussions about power, fuel sources, and the future.

More information about eGRID: http://www.epa.gov/egrid
To try the Power Profiler for your area takes about 30 seconds: http://www.epa.gov/powerprofiler

Middle East Unrest Affects American Manufacturing

2011-03-03T11:42:00.006-05:00

Aviation Week & Space Technology (AW&ST) reported in its February 28, 2011 issue that unrest in the Middle East and North Africa appears to be causing delays of decision-making on larger weapons acquisition deals in the area.

Aerospace industry pauses briefly in mid-air

Delays in large purchases are to be expected, of course, as countries in the Middle East watch to see what they'll actually need as new governments shake out. But wait-and-see is still troubling news for countries like the U.S. who sell into large contracts in the area.

U.S. manufacturing affected

U.S. manufacturers, with regional deals in the $ billions already on the books for 2011, are suddenly faced with a new uncertainty about sales and earnings. Many of these deals were set years ago and are simply still playing out. But whether contracts are new or legacy, the key to most of us is that broader U.S. manufacturing indexes would be affected by any significant skips in the record.

Idealists sometimes say that Western nations should withdraw from providing arms / military fortitude to the Middle East entirely. The point of the idea is understood by all, make no mistake. But it can't work, because there is intense international competition for weapons dollars in the Middle East, and the market in every industry these days is in fact global.

Therefore, as the U.K. minister of defense equipment recently pointed out, simply withdrawing form markets is not an option because others will just fill the vacuum (source: AW&ST, Feb. 28, 2011).

Who's buying and selling

The US and Russia are the top exporters of defense equipment to the Middle East market. Germany, France and the U.K. are in the second strata of providers.

On March 2, 2011, an article on msnbc.com noted that the outlook for U.S. arm sales to Mideast region was murky. Amid unrest in the region, U.S. seems unlikely to be pushing new arms deals, said the article.

Here are a few data points for perspective:

In recent years, Arab countries and Israel have been big buyers of U.S. warplanes, missile defense equipment and other equipment
In September 2010, the U.S. announced another arms deal with Saudi Arabia that could be worth up to $60 billion
From 2006-2009, the U.S. signed arms transfer agreements worth $47.3 billion with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Iraq and other countries in the region (Congressional Research Service via msnbc)
In 2011, Egypt alone is expected to receive $1.3 billion in foreign military aid from the U.S.

There's a lot of acquisition money coming from the region, specifically from the UAE followed by Saudi Arabia.

In one deal, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) bought 80 American-made F-16 fighter jets in late 2009, as recorded by the Washington Post. The UAE has long been negotiating the purchase of an estimated 60 French Rafale fighter jets, but Boeing and Lockheed haven't been entirely ruled out of the deal. If we could bring those jobs and that payroll to our country, wouldn't we?

But wait - there's more: nuclear

It's worth noting that the UAE, with U.S. support, recently signed deals to build its first nuclear power reactors. Among other countries taking or considering similar steps are Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Kuwait, Jordan and Yemen. This is another equipment-sale opportunity to some.

This sort of equipment trading is yet another issue for the United Nations.

The U.N. meets towards improved arms treaty

On Monday, February 28, 2011, the second round of negotiations to establish an international arms trade treaty (ATT) began at the United Nations headquarters in New York. These negotiations could not be timelier, according the the U.K. Guardian. Collective regulation would be good for national security, troops safety and the promotion of human rights, argue authors Jeremy Browne and Nick Harvey.

Some say that unrest in the Middle East is good for business in the long run, the thinking there is that if all were peaceful then there wouldn't be billion dollar checks for defense / offense equipment. That may be.

Bird's eye view on manufacturing

However, as long as nations are poised to write billion dollar checks, any manufacturing company in the world wants to produce into those accounts. Given the nature of manufacturing and supply, demand and all the loopholes that exist for military manufacturing, it seems unlikely that any trade suppression or significant regulation would happen now. The unrest in the Middle East, and any pause in spending as a result, may just be the Middle East market correcting itself for its relative extravagance of the past five years, suggested one analyst.

But more likely the pause is merely a short breath between notes of a long, familiar song.

Whatever happens in the Middle East over the next six months, these are key events on the global manufacturing and supply chain stage. To the best of our ability we'll alert you to critical turns here.

Only 9% of U.S. Companies Innovate, Survey Says

2011-02-23T15:54:00.008-05:00

Only 9% of all 1.5 million U.S. companies reported innovation in any product, service or process between 2006 and 2008. Data source is an extensive 2010 NSF, or National Science Foundation, Business R&D and Innovation Survey.


9% is a weak link

Only 9% of U.S. companies are innovating. Can we really call that an innovation economy?

China innovates at 0%

“China doesn’t innovate at all,” is what we tell ourselves.

For the sake of argument, let's say it's true, that China has no innovation prowess. Does that makes our 9% innovation rate acceptable?

9% innovation across industry in a country is not an innovation economy. It leaves 91% making the same old stuff and approaching things the same old way: the same way that didn't work the year before. It's a stunning statistic. It ought to rouse a fire under our hind-quarters -- maybe President Obama was the only one who took note of the study, hence his current Revolutionary Ride.

Innovation and need

Recently I saw a blog post that said a greener New England is on the way, that the northeast quadrant of the United States is poised to become the innovative green tech capital of the world.

The gist was that the over-educated, industrious, conservative New Englanders would bring innovation and revolution to the green tech, rather like what Silicon Valley did for the computing industry. New England wouldn’t do this out of utopian ideals. It would come to pass out of practical need.

What sort of need? The inability to afford New England heating and cooling expenses, and the New Englander ability to do something about it.

Shell Oil notes increasing demand and more difficult supply restrictions

To illustrate the need, here are two pieces of news from earlier this week:

Europe is planning an 80-90% GHG reduction, or greenhouse gas reduction, by 2050. The plan, published earlier this month, aims for emissions reductions as follows: 2020 (25%), 2030 (40%), 2040 (60%) and 2050 (80-95%).
Simultaneously, the largest oil company in Europe, Shell Oil, announced that there will soon be an oil shortage, between tightening restrictions and increased Asian demand. "Supply will struggle to keep pace with demand," said the report, which is oil-company-ese for "significant price hikes are somewhat inevitable."

The logic is as follows:

There is monstrous expected economic growth in India and China from now through 2050,
There are increasingly stringent restrictions on emissions, ergo processes, transportation, and regulatory parameters, therefore
Meeting increased demand with more restriction will be challenging (thus expensive)

The gap of demand to supply "will have to be bridged by some combination of extraordinary demand moderation and extraordinary production acceleration," said Shell, as reported by the Associate Press. AP ended the article rather cheekily, but fairly, by pointing out:

Shell’s net profits last quarter were $6.79 billion (Q4 2010).

You know what’s cooler than 6.79 million dollars? 6.79 billion dollars. (Paraphrased from the film, The Social Network.)

What's cooler than 6.79 billion dollars? 6.79 billion dollars per quarter.

Innovation as necessity

What’s cooler than cheap oil?

Not needing oil & gas for heating and cooling homes, office buildings and public spaces.

I recently read something about a vision for America by 2025: geothermal heating and cooling for every building in the country. Maybe we should contact New England about that, was my first thought. But really, it's not such a bad idea. If the cost of doing so less than $6.79 billion per quarter, we ought to get some momentum behind the idea; because we're spending that money anyway.

Maybe that's the kind of innovative thinking we need to get over this 9% hump.

9% !

For more on the innovation survey, please see this NSF data: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf11300/ See also: Bruce Nussbaum on America's Innovation Policies

Chemical Ingredients: Can Plasticizers Be Green?

2011-02-17T11:55:00.003-05:00

What do Lockheed Martin, Nike, Johnson & Johnson, Hubbard Hall and Herman Miller have in common? They are members of the Green Chemistry and Commerce Council (GC3) out of Lowell, Massachusetts. GC3 is an organization (born of academia) that aspires to advance:

green chemistry
design for environment (DfE)

towards more "sustainable supply chain management."

Sustainable supply chain management means, roughly, in this case: using fewer and less-toxic chemicals in manufacturing, both at the component level and in processing.

45 companies are currently members of the GC3.

Chemical ingredients and design for environment

Design for Environment (DfE) assessment methodology does involve a technical review of each product component, starting with the chemical component’s structure, to determine its key health and environmental characteristics. The review team then compares an ingredient’s characteristics to other chemicals in the same use class. It considers possible negative synergies between ingredients. Then it places the ingredient on a continuum of improvement relative to other similar chemicals. This process is also known as Alternatives Assessment.

Through its methodology DfE provides information to formulators that helps them select from among the safest chemical ingredients in an ingredient class. The approach is adaptable to changing circumstances and new information, emphasizing continuous improvement as the opportunities for safer formulations grow with chemical innovation.

Green plasticizers

Currently, the Green Chemistry Council (GC3) is working on what's called the Plasticizer Pilot Project. The project is led by a GC3 working group; the working group says it aspires to work with business as well as academia. Dow has one. But the GC3 group seeks to compile (and presumably to maintain) a comprehensive list.

The plasticizer project, says the Council, will focus on the environmental, health, and safety (EHS) evaluation of plasticizers (both phthalate and non-phthalate) used for wire and cable applications. This will include both PVC and PVC-free wire and cable insulation and jacketing products, examples include FEP, PTFE, PVDF, PFA, XLPE, PE, PP, TPE, EVA, urethanes and silicone.

Green chemistry

Green Chemistry - as most know but not as many as those of us with an umbilical cord to product supply chain news might think - is chemistry that seeks to reduce or eliminate the need for and generation of hazardous materials during the manufacture, design, and application of chemistry. Green Chemistry is most notably being pursued by the good state of California - although the initiative appears to be paused since January 1, 2011.

The 12 Steps of Green Chemistry are outlined in Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice, by Doctors Paul Anastas and John Warner, and are reprinted below from the GC3 web site.

12 steps to greener chemistry

Oddly, you don't have to start by admitting you have a problem. (You might think that analysis of current products and supplied components and ingredients would seem a wise choice for a start point.) For Green Chemistry, you just have to attend twelve principles.

12 Steps to greener chemistry are:

Prevent waste: Design chemical syntheses to prevent waste, leaving no waste to treat or clean up.
Design safer chemicals and products: Design chemical products to be fully effective, yet have little or no toxicity.
Design less hazardous chemical syntheses: Design syntheses to use and generate substances with little or no toxicity to humans and the environment.
Use renewable feedstocks: Use raw materials and feedstocks that are renewable rather than depleting. Renewable feedstocks are often made from agricultural products or are the wastes of other processes; depleting feedstocks are made from fossil fuels (petroleum, natural gas, or coal) or are mined.
Use catalysts, not stoichiometric reagents: Minimize waste by using catalytic reactions. Catalysts are used in small amounts and can carry out a single reaction many times. They are preferable to stoichiometric reagents, which are used in excess and work only once.
Avoid chemical derivatives: Avoid using blocking or protecting groups or any temporary modifications if possible. Derivatives use additional reagents and generate waste.
Maximize atom economy: Design syntheses so that the final product contains the maximum proportion of the starting materials. There should be few, if any, wasted atoms.
Use safer solvents and reaction conditions: Avoid using solvents, separation agents, or other auxiliary chemicals. If these chemicals are necessary, use innocuous chemicals.
Increase energy efficiency: Run chemical reactions at ambient temperature and pressure whenever possible.
Design chemicals and products to degrade after use: Design chemical products to break down to innocuous substances after use so that they do not accumulate in the environment.
Analyze in real time to prevent pollution: Include in-process real-time monitoring and control during syntheses to minimize or eliminate the formation of byproducts.
Minimize the potential for accidents: Design chemicals and their forms (solid, liquid, or gas) to minimize the potential for chemical accidents including explosions, fires, and releases to the environment.

For more on Green Chemistry Council and how your company can get involved, go here: http://www.greenchemistryandcommerce.org/

U.S. D.O.T. Says Toyota Problem Was Not In Electronics

2011-02-10T17:21:00.001-05:00

Like Chrysler (great commercial during the Superbowl this year) and Ford, looks like Toyota is going to make the comeback we all expected. Ken Thomas of the Associated Press reported recently that the Obama administration's investigation into Toyota safety problems found no electronic flaws to account for reports of sudden, unintentional acceleration and other safety problems.

The chips were down; the chips were cleared.

Baby you can drive my car

Government investigators said that the only known cause of the problems are mechanical defects that were fixed in previous recalls.

The official blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation stated:

NASA engineers pored over more than 280,000 lines of software code looking for potential flaws that could initiate an unintended acceleration incident. Alongside NHTSA, they bombarded vehicles with electro-magnetic radiation to see whether it could make electronics systems cause the cars they control to gain speed.

And today, their verdict is in. There is no electronic cause behind dangerous unintended acceleration incidents in Toyotas.

"We enlisted the best and brightest engineers to study Toyota's electronics systems and the verdict is in. There is no electronic-based cause for unintended acceleration in Toyotas," said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood according to the AP.

The National Academy of Sciences is conducting a separate study of unintended acceleration in cars and trucks across the auto industry. The panel is expected to release its findings this fall.

Yes you're gonna be a star

In a blog post one year ago, we commented on Toyota's inimitable supply chain -- and how their improvements and leanings to it are as impressive as their environmental record. Here's how the company describes its efforts:

The vehicles and technologies, including their complete life cycle assessment - from development and production, to vehicle use, to how the vehicle is recycled at end of life
The partnerships that are necessary to bring these advanced technologies to market
The energy required to power the technology
The urban environment in which these products will operate, including how the personal car fits into a mixed mobility transit strategy, re-charge/ re-fuel infrastructure, car sharing, more

A recent ethical reputation ranking of companies by Geneva-based Covalence ranked Toyota, along with Unilever and HSBC, as having consolidated their leadership with Best Ethical Quote Score, according to a write-up in Environmental Leader.

So the automotive industry is moving forward - one could even say it's accelerating.

Gartner Survey Says CIOs Finally Get Cloud

2011-02-02T10:41:00.003-05:00

Gartner just released a survey of over 2,000 CIOs representing more than US $160 Billion in spending, across 50 countries and 38 industries. Cloud computing was a leader on the list of CIO's 2011 technical priorities. Why cloud? For trust, money, and a whole bunch of other reasons. (See our previous post that identifies 7 benefits of SaaS.)

Cloud technology takes off

Supply chain data management by cloud is not a new concept. It makes sense, because a supply chain involves different locations, different timezones and uniquely permissioned auditors. Since almost everything in a company that makes anything at all has a complicated supply chain, it was only a matter of time before the average enterprise Information Officer would catch onto the cloud.

Why now?

Trust

In addition to selecting cloud computing as a top priority, CIOs responding to the Gartner survey expected to adopt new cloud services quickly, reported the esteemed tech journal CMSWire.

Currently, only 3% of organizations operate most of their IT in the cloud or on a software as a service (SaaS) platform.

Over the next four years, 43% of CIOs want to transition to a cloud dominated infrastructure.

Look out, cloud technology providers!

The Gartner survey indicates that cloud computing is moving into the mainstream. Cost savings and rapid technology adoption that cloud offers are two very compelling motivations for this. Also, most people are using the cloud now in their private lives (banking, social networks, remote desktop access, email accounts, SaaS services...) which has boosted general trust in the paradigm and product lines.

Money

CIOs expect cloud technologies to liberate 35% to 50% of infrastructure and operational resources.

50% is a very high number. Heck, 35% is a high number.

According the the Gartner IT survey, CIOs' 2011 business priorities include:

Reducing enterprise costs
Improving business processes
Improving operations
Attracting and retaining new customers

Cloud technology surely empowers three out of four initiatives listed there. (As for the other, an argument could be made that cloud technology helps with attracting and retaining new customers, but it would be an argument, not a fact.)

Adoption

As CMSWire aptly reported in its story on cloud technology:

The Gartner survey suggests that IT will be changing dramatically over the next few years. IT changes will be driven by technology that was recently considered "too cutting edge" for wide-spread adoption. CIOs will be consistently challenged with supporting growth while reducing cost and improving operational efficiency.

Cloud technology answers the challenge.

Cloud, ASP, SaaS, On-demand, Web-based and Online

Cloud solutions for supply chain management are usually called SaaS, some are still called ASP. Other terms include on-demand, web-based, and on-line applications.

While a die-hard IT Director will argue that all these things are not actually, pedantically "cloud," for all intents and purposes, they are. Any application served up over the internet is what people and journalists mean when they say "cloud."

And we all have to get used to it. And here at this blog, we're okay with that. Apparently CIOs talking to Gartner are too.

To keep up, we'll spend more time watching the clouds.

China Is More E Than E-Waste These Days

2011-01-28T09:56:00.005-05:00

Divya Sharma reported yesterday via Reuters from Asia that manufacturers of electrical products forecast strong 2011 revenue growth. This comes on the heels of strong fourth quarter results in the sector.

Ametek, a global manufacturer of electronic instruments and electromechanical devices ($2.5 billion in annual sales) cited growth in demand from industrial, oil & gas, power and aerospace customers. At this posting, the Ametek stock is priced at $40.80.

Reuters also reported that Teledyne, the electronic component maker, posted a higher quarterly profit, boosted by higher sales at its electronics and communication unit. For Q4 2010, the company earned $36.6 million, or 99 cents a share, compared with $32.2 million, or 88 cents a share, a year prior.

Bull in the China shop

Teledyne also said it would "focus on its core electronics, instrumentation and engineering businesses after selling its aviation products business to an unnamed international buyer." Interesting on a few levels, not the least of which is that the company sold its aviation products business. This was announced on December 14 last year: Teledyne would sell its general aviation piston engine business to Technify Motor (USA) LTD., a subsidiary of AVIC International, for $186 million in cash.

Headquartered in Beijing, In 2009, AVIC International has consolidated annual sales of approximately US$ 6 billion. AVIC was formerly known as CATIC International Holdings Limited. It's an investment holding company. AVIC International aviation customers include Boeing, Airbus, Snecma and Honeywell, says its press, but then, everyone's customer base includes Boeing, Airbus, Snecma and Honeywell to some degree so that doesn't really tell us much. (I don't mean to be cynical, just realistic: those are the most comprehensive supply chains out there.)

AVIC being a China-based holdings company is also interesting. We should get used to seeing that. China is more economy than e-waste these days. The electronics aspect of this is the tip of the iceberg.

In a video recently circulated by a manufacturing magazine Economist Martin Jacques discussed China's likelihood of taking over as the world's dominant economy by 2050.

(source: http://www.mbtmag.com/Content.aspx?id=1899)

Jacques showed that Goldman-Sachs said that by 2027 China's economy would be twice that of the United States. But then he said that this projection has been adjusted, due to the recent global economic tumble.

Now, says Jacques, updated forecasts indicate that China's economy will be larger than that of the United States by 2020. That's less than ten years from now. That kind of thing can improve your posture quickly.

China from the inside out

The video is worth watching. Jacques goes on to identify three "building blocks" to understanding Chinese culture and how it is different from our own culture. He also says that contrary to popular belief, Chinese culture will not become more like Western culture as it becomes more modernized and successful. In fact, we need to become educated quickly on how their culture ticks so we can more accurately predict and understand market behavior.

According to Martin Jacques, Chinese thought is critically different from Western thought in the Chinese firm notions of:

culture: one unified civilization with many different systems within it
race: where nationality and race are almost synonymous
state: where state is not a meddler, it's a family member, a patriarch

Jacques' point is that we'd better start understanding Chinese culture now because they're going to be boss soon. He wrote a book about it called "When China Rules the World: The End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order." A good read if this sort of thing interests readers as much as it does this blogger. (Do we have a choice but to be interested..?)

A very informed review of the book in the New York Times provides this perspective:

As China finds its own path economically, it is unlikely to look west for political advice, Jacques suggests. Its ruling Communist Party, having largely set aside its socialist ideology, has become a modern version of an imperial dynasty. China’s Communist leaders have flirted with reviving Confucianist thought, positioning themselves as protectors of Chinese unity, the state’s traditional role. Many Chinese see that mission as sacred. Jacques argues, credibly, that most Chinese will back their leaders, with or without democratic reforms, as long as the country keeps getting stronger.

So how might the world work under Pax Sinica? Jacques ventures some fascinating guesses: The United States often promotes democracy within nations. China insists on democracy among nations. If the power of countries in the international arena were determined by how many people they represent, China would have more clout than all the Western democracies combined.

- by Joseph Kahn, former Beijing bureau chief and deputy foreign editor of The New York Times.

So when Reuters reports on the elevating electronics market - and immediately we're talking about Chinese holding companies - it really should come as no surprise at all.

As the next few years tick by, we'll want to understand what's happening in China more from the inside out. Which is why voices like Jacques, Kahn and others are so very important to the manufacturing industry and supply chain management, starting right now.

EU Postpones Raw Material Sourcing Expansions

2011-01-25T15:04:00.003-05:00

By spring, the European Commission is expected to temporarily shelve plans empowering European companies to obtain expanded access to raw materials world-wide. This comes amid public, governmental and industry calls for greater traceability of imported minerals from African countries to better screen supply chain conflict minerals.

Less conflicting metal and kinder sourcing, right ahead

Last November, EU's Executive Commission stated it would be assertive about securing access to foreign markets and scarce natural resources and that this would be part of a plan to help the EU battle the economic crisis. That statement came on the heals of China moving to restrict exports of rare earths. Rare earths are the raw materials used in everything from wind turbines to mobile phones.

A European Commission spokespeople told EurActiv -- which by the way is an excellent news source for this sort of thing -- that the issue of transparency in the extractive industry will be reflected in the EU's new communication on raw materials. This new communication was originally due to to be published tomorrow, January 26, but publishing has since been postponed.

However, Commission representatives also said that the situation in the mining sector in some African countries was "complex" and full traces of imports would be difficult to carry out in practice.

EU Initiative

Objectives of the EU Initiative include provisions that the actions and recommendations for further EU Initiative activity should be based on the 3 major pillars identified in the Raw Materials Initiative or RMI, as follows:
1. ensure a level playing field in access for resources in third world countries
2. foster a sustainable supply of raw materials from European sources
3. reduce consumption of primary raw materials by increasing resource efficiency and promoting recycling/reuse

IPC weighs in heavy

IPC -- association representing the Electronics Industry -- as always takes the "smart and firm" stance on the issue of conflict sourcing.

"Although reporting requirements only apply to companies required to report to the SEC, it is expected that these requirements will rapidly be passed through the entire supply chain. The requirements are expected to flow down from the publicly traded companies through the entire supply chain from the OEMs to the solder manufacturers and everyone in between. Ultimately, while this is targeted to reporting, the reporting requirements will undoubtedly impact the selection of suppliers throughout the supply chain, as public companies now will be responsible for detailed knowledge about the location of source materials affected by the new regulations. Today, companies have no mechanism through which to comply with this requirement."

Scary observation but spot on.

Conflict sourcing regulations

Another industry compliance Blog by the Actio Communications Network weighs in with the latest regulatory news by saying that these source material regulations are to be adopted no later than April 15, 2011. It's all happening faster than one might think.

In the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, signed into law by President Obama on July 21, 2010, are new requirements for manufacturers of products containing tin, tantalum, gold, tungsten, or any other “conflict metals.”

The Act includes these provisions regarding minerals sourcing:

Section 1502 requires persons to disclose annually whether any conflict minerals that are necessary to the functionality or production of a product of the person, as defined in the provision, originated in the Congo or an adjoining country and if so to report on due diligence on the source and chain of custody of those minerals, which must include an independent private sector audit of that report that is certified by the person filing the report
Section 1504 requires reporting issuers engaged in the commercial development of oil, natural gas, or minerals to disclose in an annual report certain payments made to the United States or a foreign government

Regulations required by Sections 1502 and 1504 must be adopted no later than 270 days after the Dodd-Frank Act’s enactment, so the latest would be April 15, 2011.

For more on sourcing regulations in the U.S., go to this post: http://www.actio.net/default/index.cfm/actio-blog/conflict-minerals-electronics-and-the-sec/

Your supply chain

Blood in the Mobile is a documentary released last September. It's about the cell phone manufacturing and conflict minerals. Of course, every industry is different. But deep inside we're all the same: raw materials and a supply chain made of compassion, or at least, of humanity.

So, what's in your product?

High Speed Rail from London to Beijing in 19 Hours?

2011-01-17T09:50:00.003-05:00

Supply Chain Brain reported this morning that a proposed high speed rail line (HSR) would carry passengers and cargo from London to Beijing in just 19 hours.


19 hours from London to Beijing? (photos8.com)

The Telegraph U.K. said, "London-Beijing in two days."

These trains would travel at 200 to 215 mph, which is slow by HSR standards. Supply Chain Brain reports that the fastest Chinese domestic line train, the Harmony Express, now travels at 250 mph. A Shanghai line clocks 270 mph, and some European trains are almost as fast. In America, the super-fast Acela Express only gets up to 150 mph on its course from Boston-New York-Washington, D.C.

"We are aiming for the trains to run almost as fast as aeroplanes [sic]," said Wang Mengshu, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a senior consultant on China's domestic high-speed rail project, speaking with the Telegraph.

19 hours from London to Beijing!

It's enough to remind you of an old Steely Dan song.

This London-Beijing train would transport passengers and move raw materials from under-developed but mineral-rich countries such as India and Pakistan. Another proposed line would connect Germany, then Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar and Malaysia.

For perspective, in May of 1997 Seattle PI announced a new "express" train from Beijing to Hong Kong took only 30 hours. 19 hours across Siberia, the Urals and across Europe would be amazing.

Apparently the report on the proposed train line(s) can be obtained here but the page doesn't really give up much except ask you to subscribe to a newsletter.

(map courtesy Wiki commons: World_location_map.svg)

Electronic Chemicals Market To Exceed US$30.9 Billion Globally

2011-01-12T16:11:00.002-05:00

Global Industry Analysts, a market research firm based in San Jose, California, forecasts that by 2015 the global electronic chemicals market will top US$30.9 Billion. Revenues for semiconducting materials in the Asia-Pacific region are expected to surge at a compound annual growth rate of 10.3% during the same period.

Electronic chemicals are used in producing electronic components such as Printed Circuit Boards, Integrated Circuits, flat screens, and semiconductor chips, a reported in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Electronic chemical mixes include:

chemical planarization slurries
lithography materials
metallization chemistries
pure chemicals
electronic gases
integrated circuit chemicals

when these are used in semiconductor devices and device processing.

Semiconductor and other industry fabrication plants and are expected to resume investments in purchasing raw materials for electronics this year. These investments, say insiders, promote relevance as the chip industry continues to evolve in Integrated Circuits manufacturing.

Major players in the marketplace include:

and many others.

Global Industry Analysts or GIA publishes this type of off-the-shelf market research. Full report can be found here.

If interested in historic forecasts for electronic chemicals, check out this 2002 forecast from American Chemical Society (ACS) -- always interesting to see where we came from.

For reference, Intel's Q3 2010 revenues were $11 Billion.

EPA Requires 19 Chemicals Tested For EHS

2011-01-04T13:53:00.004-05:00

In breaking manufacturing news from Washington, D.C., the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing a final rule under the modern TSCA or Toxic Substances Control Act.

The new final rule requires that manufacturers of 19 high production volume (HPV) chemicals test the effects, in terms of environment, health, and safety (EHS) of the named 19 chemicals. Companies must then submit the data to the EPA.

Steve Owens, EPA

“This chemical data reporting will provide EPA with critical information to better evaluate any potential risks from these chemicals that are being produced in large quantities in this country,” said Steve Owens, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.

“Having this information is essential to improve chemical safety and protect the health of the American people and the environment,” Owens said.

HPVIS data

EPA already hosts the High Production Volume Information System (HPVIS) which is an on-line database populated with HPV chemical data. HPVIS allows users to search and query chemical data tailored to their specific needs.

We checked out the database. A search for "toxic" or "triclosan" yielded nothing - zero (0) search results. Not everyone has chemical CAS numbers at their fingertips. This is where these types of databases often fail. Even compliance managers have to dig up CAS numbers.

Anyway, the CAS number for triclosan is 9012-63-9. We tried that and still got zero (0) search results. Maybe we needed something with a higher production value? So we tried BPA and got one (1) result. What comes up is pretty neat data - see if you can see this link - and if not, do the search yourself. It's worth being familiar with the database, especially if you're a journalist reading this blog.

New rule of 19 high production chemicals

The chemicals in the rule announced today show up in many consumer and industrial uses and products. For instance:

9, 10-anthracenedione is used to manufacture dyes
leuco sulfur black is a fingerprinting agent
diphenylmethanone is used in consumer products and may be found in personal-care products
C12-C24 chloroalkenes are used as metalworking fluids
pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) is a blasting and demolition agent

Ironically, these were hard to find -- zero (0) -- in the HPV database. Hence the rule...?

The challenge and the rule

Today's rule on the 19 chemicals requiring testing follows on 2010's voluntary HPV Challenge Program Chemical List launched by EPA that included chemicals used in household products such as hobby/craft glues, personal-care products, home cleaning products, home maintenance products, and automotive products.

The program challenged companies to make health and environmental effects data publicly available for HPV chemicals.

Companies voluntarily supplied data on more than 2,200 HPV chemicals. But apparently no health and environmental effects data was provided on the 19 chemicals in today's rule. Thus EPA found it necessary to require testing.

In the coming year, EPA intends to require testing of other chemicals for which the agency has not received data. So really, this is a warning flag from EPA that it's not messing around. Nor should it be, with dangerous chemicals in everything from food coloring to jewelry, public pressure on EPA is at an all time high.

You'd expect consumer protests would be the next thing. And hand it to Dow Chemical for stepping away from the pack and towards greener chemicals and products last year.

For Industry

As a reminder, in 2008, the OECD produced Guidelines for Chemicals Testing. These may help. Or not! But a key reference for the back pocket of companies pursuing the chemical testing in an action sense of the word:

OECD Test Guidelines are harmonized test methods included in the OECD Council Decision on Mutual Acceptance of Data. This means that “data generated in the testing of chemicals in an OECD Member country (or some non member economies ) in accordance with OECD Test Guidelines and OECD principles of Good Laboratory Practice2 shall be accepted in other Member countries (or non member economies) for purposes of assessment and other uses relating to the protection of man and the environment”.

GM Plans Resin Strategy to Improve Global Production

2010-12-30T17:34:00.002-05:00

Eyes on resins

General Motors Corp. plans to create a common list of approved resins better coordinate its global production.

“One of the things that we’re looking for is common shrinkage to be able to control our tolerances on a global basis with the same type of tooling on a global basis,” said Dale Gerard, senior manager -- North America materials, GM.

Instead of meeting up to five different regional requirements, resin suppliers will now have one common set of specifications to match. Product development and car launches will have fewer complications because everyone is working from the same set of standards. For example, GM in Latin America recently reduced the number of materials they had to oversee from 47 to 11.

Gerard said that GM wants to “standardize work in the various regions” in order to “validate our products in one region to cover the needs for another region.”

Producing vehicles faster requires advanced computer design and engineering. The global resin strategy, with its common set of specifications, allows engineers to quickly acquire and validate data on materials performance, resulting in increased production and less time to bring vehicles to market. For more on resin, see Plastics News.

“Ideally, the company may one day be able to do large pieces of product validation in the computer, rather than spending time and money creating full prototypes,” Gerard said.

Guest blogger Laura Chidester has worked as a technical journalist for over ten years and currently manages the documentation team at Actio Corporation while continuing to report on broader industry and environmental trends.