In last month’s column, I postulated that the hazardous-substance-free movement represents a major paradigm shift and creates demanding requirements for industry, creating a much higher bar of performance for business. QC 080000 IECQ HSPM can be a help.

While the increasing demand for business efficiency represents a significant challenge, industry’s history suggests that we can meet the new demands. This next step will mirror what happened when the business world embraced the now familiar new approaches to quality control through process management and continuous process improvement. What will be different is how much more companies will have to become interconnected.Increasing environmental accountability will force a fierce examination of every component, supplier, delivery method, and process for design, manufacturing, marketing, and disposal required to bring a product to market.

This reminds us again that the globe and all its parts are becoming ever more interconnected. The perspective of humankind was forever changed when we saw the first photographs of Earth taken from space. For the first time, we all saw that we inhabit this small planet together. Today we see our interconnectedness from ground level. We see that what happens in the cities and villages of Asia affects the world, and what happens around the world affects Asia. This is true for the whole world, and more of humanity is coming to understand this.

One perspective is that the primary driver for embracing QC 080000 is that it makes business sense. It provides the world with a needed centering point for establishing a framework for cost-effective process management stretching from “womb to tomb,” incorporating suppliers and customers in a systems approach to hazardous-substance reduction and management. When properly implemented and maintained, QC 080000 offers a more efficient and accurate representation of environmental responsibility and regulatory compliance throughout the supply chain for the regulated environments in which goods are sold.

Another perspective on the future of HSPM is that we’re in the midst of a messy and sometimes painful transition from chaos to sustainable order. You and I are writing the book today about how industry and society will address hazardous substances and environmental responsibility. We are pioneers. We have made some mistakes already and will likely make more, and through our experimentation and shared learning we will progress. We need to progress. The world needs us to progress.

With these perspectives in mind, let me be so bold as to offer some predictions about the next few years for industry, especially the electrical goods and electronics industries.

Prediction 1: The burden of regulatory requirements and the level of business savvy needed to manage to global requirements properly will put some weak businesses out of business. Green requirements raise the bar for all of industry, leaving some companies that cannot elevate their efficiency to die. This is as it should be. It’s the natural selection process in the marketplace.

Prediction 2: Technology and science will continue to identify more and more substances and their effects upon humankind. In other words, the number of substances we understand and label as “hazardous” will increase. Science is leading to new understanding of how the human body works and how environmental influences affect health. This will inevitably lead to an increasing number of substances coming under market scrutiny and trade regulation. It also means that consumer purchasing preferences will change as buyers seek to avoid hazardous substances and threats to the environment.

For each new scientific revelation, business and industry will need to respond, ideally not with a huge, chaotic new effort reminiscent of the last few years but with a simple addition of the new hazardous substance being incorporated into an already robust process of management. That is what makes the general framework and fundamental approach of QC 080000 so important and useful; once properly set up , new substances can be added easily.

Prediction 3: Legal and financial liability, economic vulnerability, and enforcement will increase. Sooner or later public mechanisms to force the global business community to fully address environmental concerns about hazardous substances will kick into high gear. Citizens, especially in their roles as consumers and environmentalists, will force their governments, if need be, to penalize offending businesses and create even more laws and regulations to address environmental hazards. If industry is appropriately responsive now, citizens may be more willing to allow time to adjust to new requirements as they arise. If not, an angry relationship between industry and citizens may arise, making commerce much more difficult.

Prediction 4: Scientific and engineering standards and requirements for many industries will increase. Some of this comes from the natural progression of technologies. More of it will be demanded by much higher expectations and demands for expertise. One example is the improving methods and scientific equipment being utilized for testing at KTL, an independent testing laboratory. While KTL has had a long-standing reputation for excellent testing, the last few years have seen a dramatic increase in the sophistication of testing being done there. Other testing companies are improving similarly. Many companies have significantly upgraded their internal testing resources, capabilities, and expertise. Yet, some evidence suggests that the rigor of some RoHS compliance testing is lacking and that the methods and findings are not scientifically sound.

Perhaps a corollary to this prediction is that testing companies will find themselves more involved in and concerned about their clients’ processes, growing beyond the assumption that a few sample products represent a reliable test base to assure that all production is in conformance.

Prediction 5: Business will focus more attention on alternative materials and processes for the production of goods, allowing substitutions for and elimination of known hazardous substances. This will usher in a much greater demand for scientific inquiry, experimentation, and clever engineering—all good things for business and the world.

What are we to do with these perspectives and possibilities? Together we must commit to aggressively position industry to reduce and eliminate hazardous substances from our products and processes. We must participate in and support global schemes, such as QC 080000 IECQ HSPM, that bring universally acceptable standards to industry, standards that stretch across borders and oceans. Every business must work to strengthen its interconnectedness with suppliers and customers as a way of doing business. We must try to position industry as leaders in the green movement, not as resisters.