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PRESS RELEASES

PRESS RELEASES

Here you will find articles about the IMDS that were published in newspapers and magazines. IMDS internal news can be found under News or News Archive.

Please be aware that - unless otherwise specified - the following articles are translations of press releases originally published in German.

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VDI-Nachrichten, 05. November 1999

Recycling: EDS plans international material data system for car manufacturers: Internet to facilitate car component recycling

VDI nachrichten, 5.11.99 - EDS is setting up an international electronic material data system (IMDS) on behalf of the car manufacturers Audi, BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, Opel, Porsche, VW and Volvo. The Internet-based system of the company - which, it says, is one of the leading international service providers for information technology (IT) - provides car manufacturers and their partners with information on which materials the individual components of a car are composed of. After a pilot phase and the user training required, the IMDS will be fully operational in March 2000.

"A so-called 'model office' lets our customers work with the system even during the development phase," Frank Loydl, the EDS director in Germany responsible for Supply Chain Management (SCM), explained about the project. This means that the car manufacturers are directly involved in the development of the material data system which considerably increases effectiveness and quality of the development process. The three-month pilot phase, in which 30 suppliers are also involved, will start at the end of 1999 with a system which is already productive. All participants will be linked to an "electronic community" via the Internet. This virtual community will simplify the recycling of car components in the future by means of the fast and direct exchange of information. The emphasis in the development of the EDS solution is mainly on the maximum efficiency of the system for automotive suppliers, security of their data, user friendliness as well as flexibility and the expansion potential of the system.

Above all else, the international electronic material data system must guarantee the direct, fast and efficient flow of information between all participants. Therefore, users are connected to a central server via a four-level system architecture. They can enter defined standard data into a uniform material data sheet template. Due to competition reasons, the automotive suppliers have specified very high security standards. The Rüsselsheim information technology experts therefore developed a multi-level security concept with different levels of access rights for individual users. According to the company, the modular scaleable concept guarantees minimum effort for future functional extensions. Inclusion of new members, which is the goal, will be possible without any great additional effort. In the future, the suppliers will also have the opportunity of setting up their materials management within this system. The starting point for cooperation between EDS and the car manufacturers was the latter's voluntary commitment to recycle 95% of the mass of a vehicle by the year 2015. However, this is possible only with precise information on the composition of the supplied parts. Additionally, the increasingly strict laws and regulations on environmentally friendly waste disposal, on dangerous substances and on the promotion of recycling require very detailed information on the materials used for processes and products.