Material Disclosure
Encyclopedia
Material Disclosure is a software tool developed by Actio Corporation
. The software tool aims to collect, parse and store information about product ingredients, primarily for Corporate Sustainability Reporting (CSR) and Compliance reporting to agencies such as the US Environmental Protection Agency.
Manufacturing companies who make or sell food and beverage products, consumer finished goods, even auto or aerospace parts and components need to track not just the parts and ingredients, but also any known-toxic chemicals in those parts and ingredients that may affect product safety. Managing chemicals is part of quality assurance for all products:
-- within the manufacturing process
-- while in use
-- when in disposal or end-of-life
Actio is known for developing software technology in hopes of a greener manufacturing supply chain. They approach this by creating a database type of software. The database tries to track chemicals that industry uses to make products, and screens that list of chemicals, bill of materials, or raw material formulations against regulated chemicals and threshold amounts.
Named chemicals to be regulated can be updated from state to state, country to country, and year over year as regulations change. Management of the regulatory compliance aspect of ingredients in manufacturing is a significant challenge as more countries and states try to cope with pollution control, climate change, and consumer demand for more responsible industry and greener products. Both legislative and consumer demand exist for greener, safer products, which means safer ingredients for workers who build or provide commodities, entities who use them, and the environment, including humans, that handles them after use.
For instance, in Europe, an electronic product cannot have more than 1000 parts per million (ppm) of a chemical called hexavalent chromium
, a toxic substance made famous in the film Erin Brockovich
. Other known-toxic substances, such as mercury and lead, are also restricted in the EU in the same manner in electronics, under a directive called RoHS. Worldwide, there are hundreds of such chemical restrictions that manufacturers must adhere to, each with different threshold amounts and conditions and action items attached. Regulations guide industry towards a cleaner, less polluted society across all nations. But if adhering to environmental and product design regulations is impossible for businesses then the positive, eco-stewardship manifestations of those regulations is mitigated.
Material Disclosure is, in a sense, a content management system. It is a central hub of information on toxic chemicals, stored as both data bits and actual documents. Material Disclosure as a tool differs from an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA
) database in that it is for private use, meaning companies use the software for the more proprietary management of corporate data for optimization purposes, internal audits, streamlining initiatives, compliance, risk management, report generation, and other uses specific to a company. It also is independent from a company's ERP system, so while it can connect and use ERP system data, Material Disclosure is not reliant on a particular software giant. Further, it is independent in the sense that it is ASP / SaaS
, which is also called "Cloud" software
.
Material Disclosure functions in a three-fold approach to data collection and control. First, it extracts ingredient data from material safety data sheets, technical data sheets and certificates of analysis. Second, it collects information from suppliers, which is done by automated outreach by email, itself set up and administered by a designated person in the manufacturing company spearheading the ingredient management initiative. Third, the database is updated regularly by Actio to ensure that regulation lists are current.
This product is not affiliated with the EPA or with ECHA.
Inc. Magazine
named Actio on its 2010 list of America's fastest growing companies.
Actio Corporation
Actio Corporation is an American software company founded in 1996. The company began as an MSDS authoring and data management service, using a hosted model which is now known as SaaS or software-as-a-service, but in the mid-90's was called ASP...
. The software tool aims to collect, parse and store information about product ingredients, primarily for Corporate Sustainability Reporting (CSR) and Compliance reporting to agencies such as the US Environmental Protection Agency.
Manufacturing companies who make or sell food and beverage products, consumer finished goods, even auto or aerospace parts and components need to track not just the parts and ingredients, but also any known-toxic chemicals in those parts and ingredients that may affect product safety. Managing chemicals is part of quality assurance for all products:
-- within the manufacturing process
-- while in use
-- when in disposal or end-of-life
Actio is known for developing software technology in hopes of a greener manufacturing supply chain. They approach this by creating a database type of software. The database tries to track chemicals that industry uses to make products, and screens that list of chemicals, bill of materials, or raw material formulations against regulated chemicals and threshold amounts.
Named chemicals to be regulated can be updated from state to state, country to country, and year over year as regulations change. Management of the regulatory compliance aspect of ingredients in manufacturing is a significant challenge as more countries and states try to cope with pollution control, climate change, and consumer demand for more responsible industry and greener products. Both legislative and consumer demand exist for greener, safer products, which means safer ingredients for workers who build or provide commodities, entities who use them, and the environment, including humans, that handles them after use.
For instance, in Europe, an electronic product cannot have more than 1000 parts per million (ppm) of a chemical called hexavalent chromium
Hexavalent chromium
Hexavalent chromium refers to chemical compounds that contain the element chromium in the +6 oxidation state. Virtually all chromium ore is processed via hexavalent chromium, specifically the salt sodium dichromate. Approximately of hexavalent chromium were produced in 1985...
, a toxic substance made famous in the film Erin Brockovich
Erin Brockovich
Erin Brockovich-Ellis is an American legal clerk and environmental activist who, despite the lack of a formal law school education, or any legal education, was instrumental in constructing a case against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company of California in 1993...
. Other known-toxic substances, such as mercury and lead, are also restricted in the EU in the same manner in electronics, under a directive called RoHS. Worldwide, there are hundreds of such chemical restrictions that manufacturers must adhere to, each with different threshold amounts and conditions and action items attached. Regulations guide industry towards a cleaner, less polluted society across all nations. But if adhering to environmental and product design regulations is impossible for businesses then the positive, eco-stewardship manifestations of those regulations is mitigated.
Material Disclosure is, in a sense, a content management system. It is a central hub of information on toxic chemicals, stored as both data bits and actual documents. Material Disclosure as a tool differs from an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
) database in that it is for private use, meaning companies use the software for the more proprietary management of corporate data for optimization purposes, internal audits, streamlining initiatives, compliance, risk management, report generation, and other uses specific to a company. It also is independent from a company's ERP system, so while it can connect and use ERP system data, Material Disclosure is not reliant on a particular software giant. Further, it is independent in the sense that it is ASP / SaaS
Software as a Service
Software as a service , sometimes referred to as "on-demand software," is a software delivery model in which software and its associated data are hosted centrally and are typically accessed by users using a thin client, normally using a web browser over the Internet.SaaS has become a common...
, which is also called "Cloud" software
Cloud computing
Cloud computing is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as a utility over a network ....
.
Material Disclosure functions in a three-fold approach to data collection and control. First, it extracts ingredient data from material safety data sheets, technical data sheets and certificates of analysis. Second, it collects information from suppliers, which is done by automated outreach by email, itself set up and administered by a designated person in the manufacturing company spearheading the ingredient management initiative. Third, the database is updated regularly by Actio to ensure that regulation lists are current.
This product is not affiliated with the EPA or with ECHA.
Inc. Magazine
Inc. (magazine)
Inc. magazine, founded in 1979 and based in New York City, is a monthly publication focused on growing companies. The magazine publishes an annual list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S., the "Inc...
named Actio on its 2010 list of America's fastest growing companies.
External links
- Material Disclosure Best Practices ChemInfo 2010-4-1
- Actio Releases Update of Material Disclosure Software 2009-10-17