Are You an Electronics Supplier that Uses the IMDS? AIAG Needs to Hear from You!

By Kelly Scanlon, director, EHS policy and research The International Material Data System (IMDS) is the automobile industry’s system for managing information on materials used in auto manufacturing; it enables companies to meet national and international standards, laws, and regulatory obligations for materials declarations. Some suppliers may have used Recommendation 019 (REC 019) materials in their IMDS declarations in the electronics supply chain. REC 019 provided a modular approach to electronic components reporting, including components containing lead (Pb). In September 2019, the IMDS Steering Committee voted to deactivate REC 019 because suppliers may not have diligently followed the required reporting process, leading to unacceptable risks. Deactivating this process removes the modular reporting and may now require a full materials declaration, a change that will increase resource requirements for all electronic components previously using REC 019 materials. The IMDS Steering Committee is seeking feedback from suppliers on enhancements to the IMDS that would reduce impacts to suppliers due to the deactivation. To that end, the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) is hosting a free webinar on 18 October from 9:00–10:00 am ET to provide a forum for suppliers to discuss impacts. The AIAG welcomes suppliers to bring examples of how the Material Data Sheets for their IMDS entries will change if they must use full material disclosure. They will be providing all information from the webinar to the IMDS Steering Committee later in October; thus this webinar is very timely and important for those who want to express their concerns about potential impacts and enhancements to the IDMS to resolve the issues. Click here to register for the AIAG webinar and be sure to share your concerns about potential impacts and bright ideas for resolution.