REACH interview by RSJ Technical Consulting

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REACH Compliance Interview
with Wiring Harness News

Wiring Harness News May/June 2011

Michael Wurzman was featured in an interview appearing in the May/June 2011 issue of Wiring Harness News, the official publication of the Wiring Harness Manufacturers Association (WHMA). The front page article was titled "REACH Basics for the Harness Manufacturer." Key excerpts from the article are reprinted below, with many thanks to the Wiring Harness News:

	[Wurzman] stressed that with REACH, wire harness manufacturers will need to track ALL substances contained within the components and be able to know at any point in time whether those substances are on the SVHC Candidate List, or the Annex 14 [Authorization] list.
	“I view REACH as working together with the supply chain to get toxic substances out of the production environment. If I know I have no SVHCs coming in the door, and I’m not creating any in my process, then the products are good for sale in the EU.”
	“You really have to know your suppliers, and this brings up the whole notion of risk management. Is your polymer supplier a small offshore company offering a ‘same-as’, or is it DuPont, Dow, or any of the other big names that have a lot of risk?”
	“The way the legislation is written, you are responsible for knowing what is in the product you receive.” REACH substances are often hard to test for, and he reiterated the importance of knowing the supplier is doing proper audits, along with the proper testing.
	Once the supply chain has been verified, Wurzman indicated the next step is to build the database. “What I do with customers is work on a database of all the substances in all the components that come in, again, just like we do for automotive.” Once this occurs, it becomes obvious to him where there is incomplete data.
	Of equal importance to Wurzman is checking a company’s facility from receiving to shipping. “When we do an audit,” he said, “we go to every department -- receiving, engineering design, manufacturing, and shipping -- to make sure nothing is added that we don’t know about.”
	When asked specifically about guiding his customers through the SVHC declaration process, Wurzman is proud to say, “The way we handle that is, we have it out of there before it ever hits the SVHC list.”
	RSJ Technical keeps close tabs on discussions between EU Member States and the various non-governmental advisory groups, “so we know what is coming down the pike for SVHC Candidate List inclusion, and can go to work on substitutes well in advance.”
	In concluding his assessment of REACH, Wurzman described the benefits that a good consultant brings in putting together a process to track materials. “It’s really a matter of putting REACH in as part of your supply chain process. For most companies, they don’t have the time or adequate human resources, so that’s where we come in.”
	He expressed RSJ Technical’s ability to provide varying levels of service depending on customer need. He also noted that their experience has led them to a select group of software products that improve the quality and manageability of environmental compliance data for various laws, directives and standards.

To learn more about REACH, please see our tutorial page. To learn more about our REACH reporting services, please see our services page.

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