International Materials Data System (IMDS)
Material Management Across The Supply Chain Becomes Global Standard
Multiple legal restrictions related to environmental issues require manufacturing companies in Germany to precisely record the materials they use during their processes and in their products. In 1997, German car manufacturers realized the benefits they could reap by implementing a standardized format for exchanging material information across the entire supply chain. EDS was asked to carry out a study to ascertain the most cost-efficient data exchange environment and determined a centralized IT-based approach made the most sense both economically and productively.
EU legislation proposed for 2000 went a step further to include an end-of-life vehicle directive that forces car manufacturers that sell in Europe to take back cars at the end of their life cycle and recycle a high percentage of the materials used to produce them. German car manufacturers volunteered to recycle 85 percent of the mass of each vehicle by 2002, and committed to recycling 95 percent by 2015. To reach that goal meant adopting a sophisticated materials information exchange system that would reach across the supply chain.
By 1999, with the 2000 deadline looming, other EU countries joined Germany in wanting a standards-based system they could all use – and one with the potential to be extended globally
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