Kitemark certifies RoHS competence

RS has been awarded the BSI RoHS Trusted Kitemark, making it one of the first distributors in the UK to achieve this standard.

RS has been awarded the BSI RoHS Trusted Kitemark, making it one of the first distributors in the UK to achieve this standard.

Recognising the challenge that businesses such as RS face in demonstrating to their customers that they are taking all reasonable steps to comply with the RoHS Directive, BSI Product Services has launched the Kitemark to allow businesses to prove that they are "RoHS Trusted" suppliers.

Awarded through independent assessment on an ongoing basis, the BSI Kitemark is one of the best known and respected certification marks in the world and provides re-assurance that relevant requirements have been met or exceeded.

With the RoHS Directive coming into force on 1st July 2006, the BSI is hoping to reduce the growing confusion amongst manufacturers and suppliers as they attempt to make their business processes fully compliant.

As Neil Stanton, Scheme Manager at BSI, says: "This RoHS-specific Kitemark is designed to help companies that feel confused and bewildered by the Directive to cope with the changes they need to make".

"Businesses need to know that when they purchase a component that is advertised as being 'RoHS compliant', that it really does comply with each requirement of the directive".

Businesses that achieve the RoHS Trusted Kitemark benefit from increased confidence from their customers and suppliers.

Graham Johnson, UK Marketing Manager at RS, says: "As the introduction of the RoHS Directive gets nearer, businesses are increasingly looking for assistance and re-assurance that they are putting in place the right plans to ensure that they are compliant".

"Therefore, the fact that RS has achieved the BSI RoHS Trusted Kitemark gives our customers confidence that we are following sound and prudent procedures in order to make sure that they receive the RoHS compliant components they need".

There are three complimenting elements to the RoHS Trusted Kitemark that ensure that the Kitemark licensee is continuously and consistently able to demonstrate its capability to comply with the directive.

The first element is the material control plan based on EIA/ECCB-954 and a combination of risk assessment, materials analysis and quality control.

This is reviewed to assess the methodology employed by the applicant to ensure RoHS compliance.

The second and third elements of the Kitemark are ongoing analysis and assessment.

These involve continuing assessment by regular onsite audits to ensure sustained implementation of the material control plan, backed by selected component analysis.

The RoHS Trusted Kitemark is the second in a two-part modular scheme that attempts to remove any confusion that surrounds the RoHS Directive The first part of the scheme is the BSI Product Services' PARTS (Pre-Assessment RoHS Trusted Service) which provides a quick and cost effective route to understanding the RoHS Directive and what a company needs to do to meet the obligations of the directive.

The BSI RoHS Trusted Kitemark stands alongside RS's existing ISO9001 and ESD S20.20 approvals which provide further reassurance for electronics purchasers.

RS, which has recently increased its product range by over 100,000 new electronics products, also has a host of services to help its customers with RoHS compliance, including compliance seminars, an online knowledge centre and the "Notify me" service, where customers are emailed with the compliance status of unconfirmed products.

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