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Thorough Management of Chemical Substances
We at Tamron are continuously working to refine our management and analysis
systems for chemical substances in cooperation with our business partners, striving
to keep harmful chemical substances out of products in the supply chain. |
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In July 2006, the RoHS (the Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances in electrical and electronic equipment) Directive* was
enforced in the EU area, while The Law for Preventing Environmental Contamination by
Electronic Information Devices was enforced in China in March 2007. Restrictions on
chemical substances have been becoming tighter than ever on a global basis. Recognizing the
importance of the restrictions, Tamron established our environmental quality assurance system
to ensure thorough management of harmful chemical substances. For example, Tamron’s
Environment-related Substance Management Regulations clarify chemical substances that
must never be used, those admitted for now but that will be banned in the near future, and
those not applicable. Our Guidance for products Environmental Quality Assurance and Guidance
for Establishing Product-related Environmental Quality Assurance System provide specific
procedures for preventing harmful substances from entering our products. In addition to those
regulations and guidelines, Environmental Quality Management Procedures were enforced in
spring 2007, as supplementary regulations to strengthen management of harmful chemical
substances. Tamron will continue to reflect changes due to new laws and regulations, as
well as requests from customers, in the regulations and guidelines, refining our environmental
quality assurance and helping all cooperating factories in their quest for the same goal. |
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Manufacturers procure raw materials,
parts, and other auxiliary materials
from suppliers to make products. What
becomes important in such procurement
operations is keeping the parts and
materials free of harmful substances.
Tamron introduced an eco-partner
system in August 2006 to establish
better relationships and give preferred
status to eco business partners and
suppliers. The system implements
environmental quality assurance when
procuring parts and materials, while
preventing harmful chemical substances
in supply chains. As of March 2007, we
had 91 domestic suppliers as our ecopartners.
We will work on expanding the
program to accredit all our domestic
suppliers as our eco-partners in the near
future. We are also aiming to expand
the scope of accreditation to suppliers
abroad.
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In 2006, our three factories in Aomori and Tamron Optical (Foshan) introduced
upgraded XRF (X-ray fluorescent) analyzers to inspect and measure lead,
mercury, cadmium, total chrome, and total bromide in plastic and metallic
parts, thus refining our inspection structure for mass-production items. At
Omiya Head Office, in addition to the analysis of lead, mercury, cadmium, and
hexavalent chromium in prototype molded parts with an ICP-AES(Inductively
Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy), we inspect with GC-MS(Gas
Chromatography Mass Spectrometry) to confirm that component materials
are free of polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) and polybrominated diphnyl ether
(PBDE). Thanks to this refinement of the analysis structure following RoHS
Directive enforcement, our actual measurement capability of PBB and PBDE
in 2006 doubled compared to our structure in 2005. (Measurement results in
2006: PBB (2,051 items), PBDE (2,064 items)
We will continue to work on improving and refining our analysis systems to
establish an analysis structure even more reliable and capable of responding
to customer requests even more efficiently.
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Environmental control has been
becoming a matter of growing concern
in recent years. Regulations on harmful
chemical substances are becoming
stricter than ever as symbolized by
the RoHS Directive enforced in July
2006. As a manufacturer of plastic
products working in such a market
environment, our company must use
materials without restricted harmful
substances such as lead and cadmium.
We have been working on reducing
and eventually eliminating harmful
substances as guided by Tamron with
their environmental quality assurance
system and standards.
Our company manufactures plastic
products, but some processes such
as painting are often subcontracted
to other companies. Therefore, in
addition to managing our own practices,
administering processes and procedures
adopted at our subcontractors becomes
essential. Performing these tasks is
not easy, but regulations and guidelines
provided by Tamron are a great help.
We wish to continue to strive to
establish and refine a system enabling
us to prevent any inadvertent outflow
of harmful substances and adapt
ourselves to ever changing laws,
regulations, and requirements.
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Tetsuya Murakami
Manager, Operation Department,
Koryo Resin Co., Ltd.
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