Rohs
Does RoHS apply to all industrial products?
No. RoHS applies to electrical and electronic equipment placed on the market, unless specifically excluded; the scope is product-class dependent, so not all industrial equipment is covered.
What does 'RoHS compliant' mean in procurement terms?
It means the supplied part or assembly is represented as meeting the directive's restricted-substance limits for its applicable scope, usually supported by declarations, test data, and traceable supplier documentation.
Why is RoHS important for inventory traceability software?
Because the software must distinguish compliant from noncompliant parts at the SKU, revision, supplier, and lot level, so regulated builds can be released with defensible traceability.
RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) is an EU directive that limits specified hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment placed on the market. Current Directive 2011/65/EU restricts ten substances, including lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, PBB, PBDE, DEHP, BBP, DBP, and DIBP. In inventory systems, RoHS serves as a compliance attribute tied to parts, BOMs, supplier declarations, and receiving records.
RoHS control starts at the item master and approved vendor list, where each component is tagged with compliance status so planners never issue noncompliant material to RoHS-controlled orders. Receiving verifies supplier declarations or test records against the purchase order and part number, then segregates compliant and noncompliant stock to prevent mixed lots in storage, kitting, or line-side replenishment. On the shop floor, RoHS is critical in soldering, plating, plastics compounding, and rework because a single noncompliant input compromises an entire WIP lot or serialized finished good. Traceability systems record lot, date code, supplier certificate, and chemical declaration to show which components entered which build. For multi-market manufacturers, ERP/MES systems maintain market-specific compliance flags, since the same part may be accepted in one region and restricted in another. RoHS therefore operates as a material segregation and release-control rule spanning procurement, receiving, inventory control, kitting, WIP genealogy, and final product release.
Mixed-Lot Contamination: When compliant and noncompliant lots of a component are merged in one bin, component genealogy breaks and the whole production order becomes suspect. Without segregated storage or lot-level flags, kitting can silently destroy RoHS compliance for finished goods.
Supplier Declaration Without Verification: Purchasing accepts a blanket RoHS statement, but receiving never checks part-level scope or revision changes. A substituted finish, pigment, solder, or plasticizer then enters production unnoticed, contaminating an otherwise compliant build.
Incorrect Compliance Mapping in ERP/MES: An item master is marked RoHS-compliant while only one revision or configuration truly qualifies, so stock is allocated to the wrong customer order. When proof is requested, shipment holds, rework, or scrap becomes inevitable.