Re: PPAP and the IMDS (International Material Data System) - What did I get myself in
Hi All,
Being an Automotive Tier one I would say we are fairly experienced with IMDS. So to clarify:
1. IMDS is a huge database that
most automotive OEMs prescribe to and use in order that they fulfill their obligations with regards to the ELV directive.
2. The ELV directive is an EU directive that prohibits the use of certain chemical elements. These are Lead, Hex Chromium, Mercury and Cadmium. It also sets targets for vehicle manufacturers in terms of the % of their vehicles that must be recycled. So IMDS facilitates for the identification of material that can be recycled and hence can be used by the OEM in their calculations. IMDS does actually go further and use a list called the
GADSL (Global Automotive Declarable Substance List) identifying many substances that are of concern and should be eliminated or just reported. Each individual OEM has different requirements for the substances on this list so check with your customer.
3. The IMDS can be used by the whole supply chain, so your sub-suppliers can submit data to you, you can then use this data to make submissions to your customer, eliminating the need for duplicating information.
4. The basic premise of any submission, is to include all parts, all components within those parts, all materials within the components and all Basic Substances within those materials. Giving you a huge tree of information.
Back to the original post, I would say a spring is actually fairly easy. You have the base material (Steel?....) and it's composition. Then you would have the surface treatment and it's composition.
I see no liability from reporting your materials in IMDS, it is an "Information Resource", used by the supply chain to review and report material data for the reasons I have mentioned above.
As already mentioned, you don't submit PPAP to IMDS, but your IMDS submission is part of the PPAP procedure if cited by your customer. If you use the latest PSW (4th ed), you'll see there is a section where you declare IMDS compliance.
Just wanted to clarify things a bit but if you are more confused than ever, let me know and I will clarify any point in question.