16-Dec-2005

Ninth official IMDS newsletter available.

25-Nov-2005

The Application codes in IMDS will be adapted according to the changes of Annex II of the ELV Directive. An overview on the changes can be found here.
A complete list of all application codes can be found in the FAQ section.

09-Aug-2005

Eighth official IMDS newsletter available.

25-Jul-2005

The new Release 3.1 will be available July 28th, 2005.

20-Jul-2005

IMDS Service Centers and members of the IMDS Steering Committee were contacted by their suppliers having issues with the current error handling for own material datasheet (MDS) references in the context of application handling.

Despite the benefits resulting from Release 3.0, the received requests and issues are seriously taken into account and were therefore discussed in the IMDS Steering Committee Meeting July 13th, 2005.
As a result, the following change request was added to IMDS Release 3.0 and will go live from today's perspective on July 28th, 2005 (please regularly check for final announcements concerning the timing on the IMDS Login Screen News):

If the receiver of an MDS is an OEM, applications can be amended for foreign MDS (as already is) and own MDS/module references (instead of creating new versions). Inside the supply chain (no OEM as MDS recipient selected) instead of an Error message a Warning is given for own MDS/modules referenced (the same as for foreign MDS).

The warning messages will reflect the deadline of March 1st, 2006. It is planned to switch back to the Error messages as is after March 1st, 2006.

The need to gradually update own MDS/Modules as new versions with applications directly linked is therefore only mitigated but not suspended. We strongly recommend to gradually update your own MDS/Modules in order to benefit from not always having to amend MDS to be sent to OEMs with applications.

The announcement of the IMDS Steering Committee concerning this change can be dowloaded here.

06-Jul-2005

Since the beginning of June we had to plan several down-times for adding disk space as well as several preparatory system software upgrades. All activities aimed at providing additional hardware in order to improve the server performance and by doing so improve the IMDS performance. Performance in this respect concerns the following :

• Enhancement of memory capacity
• Increasing the maximum number of concurrent users
• Shortening the up- and download periods for licensees of the IMDs interface and the OEMs
• Improved application behaviour.

The final hardware upgrade was successfully realised as planned and announced on Friday, 1st July 2005.

Yesterday, on Monday, 4th July 2005, the maximum number of concurrent users was increased by 40% under continuous monitoring. This was the precondition for not rejecting any logins anymore because of the "max. number of concurrent users". In general, the current load behaviour of the IMDS server is proportionate and levelled what fulfils the requirements for improved up- and download performance. At the moment, further configuration changes of the system software are introduced and tested aiming at further improving the web application behaviour.

Again, we ask for your understanding for the breakdowns during the last weeks. However, those enabled us to step-by-step realise the necessary activities in order to generally secure the use of IMDS - excluding the actual breakdown times.

24-Jun-2005

Due to the necessary hardware enhancements there will be a downtime next Tuesday, June 28th, 2005 from 12:00 pm until approximately 6:00 pm (GMT +2), because of operating system upgrades (kernel-/cluster-patches).

Out of today's perspective assuming no major problems will occur the hardware upgarde itself to improve IMDS' performance will take place July 1st, 2005.

Please pay attention for announcements on the IMDS login screen.

Important Notice for data download users:
Please be aware that during the announced downtimes no data download files can be accessed on the IMDS server. In case your inhouse processes pick up IMDS download files during the downtime, please reschedule these jobs accordingly.

23-Jun-2005

The new Release 3.0 is now available.

14-Jun-2005

Next Friday, June 17th, 2005 from 9:00 am until approximately 5:00 pm (GMT +2) an operating system upgrade will be completed needed for the final hardware enhancements.

Out of today's perspective assuming no major problems will occur the hardware upgarde itself to improve IMDS' performance will take place July 1st, 2005.

Please pay attention for announcements on the IMDS login screen.

Important Notice for data download users:
Please be aware that during the announced downtimes no data download files can be accessed on the IMDS server. In case your inhouse processes pick up IMDS download files during the downtime, please reschedule these jobs accordingly.

13-Jun-2005

Please find an overview of IMDS application relevant substances, related applications and conditions (e.g. material classification and threshholds).
The system uses the material classification, the substance, and the percentage (%) of the substance in the material according to the downloadable Excel file. For ease of use, each tab in the file relates to a specific substance category: Lead, Hexavalent Chromium, Mercury, Cadmium, Nickel and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons.

The first column of each worksheet shows all applications with their text applicable to the substance. The following columns show all material classifications. The resulting table shows the valid applications for a substance within a material of the specified classification. Only where an entry "x" appears in the table is the combination of application and material classification valid. If there is an additional percentage value (e.g. x<4%), the application is valid only when the percentage of the substance in the material does not exceed the stated percentage value.

IMDS system will default to the application code with a lowest percentage value for a given material classification. However, the user is RESPONSIBLE to determine if the pre-selected application is correct - the IMDS system is NOT RESPONSIBLE for determining the correct application code - it only offers a selection to make less work for the user. If there are several applications with percentages for a substance and material classification combination, the application with the lowest allowable percentage value is selected. If only one application is valid, it will be pre-selected.

08-Jun-2005

As previously under the IMDS News page announced, next Friday, June 10th, 2005 from 9:00 am until approximately 5:00 pm (GMT +2) the additional disk space will be put into production and additional database related upgrades need to be installed. We kindly ask for your understanding because of the duration of the downtime, which is determined by technical needs.
Further steps of the hardware enhancements to improve IMDS' performance will be announced accordingly as soon as change dates can be confirmed. Please pay attention for announcements on the IMDS login screen.

Important Notice for data download users:
Please be aware that during the announced downtimes no data download files can be accessed on the IMDS server. In case your inhouse processes pick up IMDS download files during the downtime, please reschedule these jobs accordingly.

31-May-2005

During the upcoming weeks several activities on IMDS production hardware and software will take place. Besides the regularly scheduled system software upgrades major changes on IMDS hardware will be completed on the background of the current IMDS performance situation. Although we try to keep impact to IMDS service as small as possible most of these activities must take place during working days at European working hours.

Next Friday, June 3rd, 2005 from 9:00 am until approximately 5:00 pm (GMT +2) a couple of preparatory hard- and software upgrades will be completed that are necessary for the following steps of adding additional disk space and server upgrade (additional CPUs and main memory).

The additional disks will probably be added Friday, June 10th, 2005. Please pay attention for announcements on the IMDS login screen.

Further steps on the hardware enhancements will be announced accordingly as soon as change dates can be confirmed.

Important Notice for data download user:
Please be aware that during the announced downtimes no data download files can be accessed on the IMDS server. In case your inhouse processes pick up IMDS download files during the downtime, please reschedule these jobs accordingly.

24-May-2005

IMDS release 3.0 is planned to go into production on June 23rd, 2005. Please get informed about enhancements in the release notes 3.0.

29-May-2005

For material related questions in the IMDS please contact one of the listed representatives of the car manufacturers instead of contacting one of the IMDS Service Centers.

24-Apr-2005

On Friday April 29th, 2005 the categories "duty-to-declare" and "prohibited" of the GADSL substances will be updated on the IMDS database. The GADSL substances have been available as a substance list with the name "GADSL" since March 24th, 2005, selectable in the filter in chapter 1 of material data sheets and in the certificate of expenditure. The filter in chapter 1 will then be defaulted to "GADSL" and referring field descriptions will be updated (e.g. the field name "ILRS category" will be changed to "GADSL category").

All substances that are currently part of ILRS will be put into a substance list called "ILRS". That allows, if required, to filter or analyze exclusively for ILRS substances as before. Substances that are categorized in duty-to-declare/prohibited must still not be marked as confidential.

Further information on which substances will be updated you may find under recommendations, "IMDS Basic Substance Changes" by that time. The current version of GADSL can be found in www.gadsl.org.

IMPORTANT NOTICE for IMDS Up- and Download licensees:
In general Up- and Download licensees must make sure to have the most current version of the IMDS basic substances loaded. However in this context it is very important to update the basic substances of the inhouse system with the IMDS substance file, because several substances change in the category attribute.

15-Apr-2005

The IMDS concurrent user amount has significantly grown including the number of material data sheets added to the system. In order to improve system performance EDS is planning enhancements that have to be confirmed by the OEMs. Since this problem is already addressed we kindly ask you not to call one of the IMDS Service Centers about this issue.

13-Apr-2005

The European Service Center phone number has been changed to +36 1 298 1536. The previous number will be unavailable from May 01, 2005 on.

12-Apr-2005

Seventh official IMDS newsletter available.

24-Mar-2005

From now on the IMDS user can select the substance list GADSL (Global Automotive Declarable Substance List) as a display filter in the ingredients screen and for MDS/module analysis (certificate of expenditure). At a later point in time GADSL will replace ILRS in IMDS.

08-Mar-2005

In the FAQ section you will find Ford Motor Company's RSMS Rollout Package 2005.

18-Feb-2005

The North American Service Center phone number was changed. The Service Center is now reachable under +1 972-403-3607.

15-Feb-2005

Official Statement of the IMDS Steering Committee about the amended IMDS Use Conditions that are active since February 14th, 2005.

14-Feb-2005

The North American Service Center change of phone number to +1 972-403-3607 has been postponed to February 18, 2005.

19-Jan-2005

Based on the feedback we've got, we want to clarify one aspect of the new IMDS Use Conditions (Version 2.2).

The usage restrictions (concerning connecting IMDS to inhouse databases) as stated in section 7 of the new IMDS Use Conditions are relevant only for users of the free IMDS Online (or Web-) System and IMDS-a2 users.

Up- and Download-Licensees and Upload/Download 3rd party tool suppliers are NOT affected, since Upload-companies have a different contract with EDS which specifically allows them to connect their inhouse databases in a reading and writing manner to IMDS using the published XML-based file transfer interfaces. Basically the only reason for the existance of the Upload/Download interface is the connection of an customer's inhouse system to IMDS.

Only users connecting their inhouse systems to IMDS Servers by circumventing the upload/download interfaces (such as HTML robots/spiders or browser macros) are affected by this change in the use conditions.

10-Jan-2005

The IMDS Use Conditions will be amended and effective from Feb. 14th, 2005. The changes are necessary to ensure secure system operations and affect §7 only.
All IMDS users who already accepted the existing IMDS Use Conditions will be informed about the changes directly by e-mail.