Green Evaluation of Electronic Products

Export and foreign trade enterprises are facing the test of a series of standardized procedures such as foreign product safety standards and manufacturing material standards. Dr. He Yihua, senior technical manager from SGS Standard Technical Service Co., Ltd., shared the opportunities and challenges of Made in China under the new international electronic product regulations for many entrepreneurs at the Dongguan Station of the "Zhisheng Future Export Forum".

SGS Standard Technical Services Co., Ltd. is the world's leading testing, identification and certification organization, and a recognized benchmark for quality and integrity. He Yihua is also the director of China Electric Appliance Industry Low Carbon Technology Alliance. He has the qualification of ISO9000 auditor, and has published more than 30 papers in foreign professional journals and obtained two patents.

He Yihua: In recent years, many companies have been paying attention to emerging markets. Just now, Mr. Pei also mentioned that the demand in emerging markets has declined slightly in the past two years. In markets with traditional advantages, such as Europe and the United States, it still maintains an upward trend. My wife is also engaged in foreign trade. I talked to her when they participated in the Canton Fair today, how is the situation of foreign businessmen participating in the Canton Fair this year. In the past few years, she mentioned to me some buyers from emerging markets, such as buyers from South America, the Middle East, etc. There are more, but there are fewer buyers in Europe and the United States, but this year she said that European and American manufacturers have slightly increased at the Canton Fair, and the Middle East market has decreased. What Mr. Pei said just now verifies what I saw at the Canton Fair.

We hope that foreign manufacturers will purchase our products. It is very important to know where our advantages and competitiveness are and why others should purchase my products. Today I will share with you based on my experience and observations.

From the monitoring data of our national monitoring center, we can see that not only the European and American markets are our main export markets, but also the ranking of our products' export obstruction is also dominated by Europe and the United States. Here is a picture we can see, In the national statistical report is the annual report in 2012, because it did not release this report in 2013, in this report we can still see that Europe is the region where our exports are the most hindered, followed by the United States, but in some emerging markets There is no significant factor that hinders exports, and the impact on technical barriers is not very large. They also made some statistics on the impact of export products. The biggest one is light textiles. After all, it is what we come into contact with every day in our daily life. Mechanical and electrical products account for a large part. The third is toy products, including electronic products. , Since the tradition of the Pearl River Delta is to be an area dominated by electronic products, most of the products that are blocked here may be exported from us.

Among so many blocked areas and blocked products, what are the reasons for our products to be blocked from exporting to these areas? There is also a statistic. Let’s take a look at what this statistic looks like. The biggest obstacle is that the product goes out and tells others that the product cannot come in. The biggest factor is the safety of the product itself.

It is also very obvious in the statistical report that obstacles to personal safety and endangering safety take the first place. The second is the chemical factor. When it comes to chemistry, we are relatively clear in the electronics industry, which may involve environmental protection regulations in Europe and the United States. The third is electrical safety. The Pearl River Delta region is special, and electronic products are dominant, so we also need to focus on Concerned about electrical safety. This is the national statistical data, telling us a message is that the quality of the product should still be based on the focus.

In addition to product quality, most of our companies are working hard to improve product quality. In addition to this factor, what views will consumers or the market pay attention to? I also have several survey reports below. Two of the three survey reports are from professional institutions. These professional institutions do some market research for enterprises, and then help enterprises to do some market strategies, that is, positioning, how to do our products. marketing strategy. The first report was in 2009, which is a bit old, but this survey report is very interesting because it surveyed both developed economies and developing economies, including China's so-called emerging market economies, the survey results found that young A generation of consumers is very fond of green products, and they like to buy so-called green products. The second survey report was made in 2011. This report also conducted a survey of consumers in the market, including both emerging economies and mature economies. The demand of some global consumers for green products is increasing year by year. This report is even more obvious. It is a market research report made by DuPont in 2012. It has conducted surveys in many countries around the world, because many companies are now paying more attention to the domestic market in addition to exporting. In this report, we can see that China's consumption The recognition level of green products is very high. 70% of Chinese customers think that green products have a great impact on our lives. On the contrary, the proportion is higher than that of Canada and the United States. It is very interesting. We Chinese On the contrary, I prefer green.

Therefore, from the market research report, we can find that consumers are very fond of so-called green and environmentally friendly products. For enterprises, of course, enterprises hope that we can meet the needs of consumers and the market, and we hope to do so Products enhance the corporate social image, enhance our social status and the effect of the brand.

We can see that different products are said to be environmentally friendly from different perspectives, some say that materials are recycled, some say energy saving, some say health and safety, some say performance, what exactly is This kind of product is truly environmentally friendly. Are there guidelines or standards to help us see that this product is really environmentally friendly? This is the topic we hope to discuss below, what kind of product is truly environmentally friendly.

Whether we really want to make environmentally friendly products or not, product quality is still the top priority. We must pay attention to it. Only when we do a good job of product quality can we develop other characteristics. To make high-end products, the first thing is quality.

Let's take a look at the standards or guidelines that can be referenced. Here are some environmental recognitions, the German DER BLAUE ENGEL certification and the US epeat's environmental seal, and finally China's environmental recognition. Especially the environmental protection seals of Europe and the United States, due to the promotion of the government, such as epeat, the environmental protection watch will be preferentially purchased in government procurement. Due to the promotion of the government, their image is relatively high in the eyes of foreign countries, so there are more Consumers will look to see if your product has received the appropriate seal. The second is the guidance document for environmental protection agencies. Whether it is the environmental protection sheet or the guidelines of environmental protection agencies, when they evaluate whether a product is environmentally friendly or green, there are three major parts to evaluate: the first major part is to evaluate the product itself, including the energy saving of the product. What it looks like, as if we were initially seeing energy efficient ventilation. Second, pay attention to whether there are any chemicals that are harmful to the human body or the environment in the products. Third, what is the status of the recycled materials in the products? Due to the over-exploitation now, the shortage of resources is becoming more and more serious. Therefore, if this material is discarded at will, it will cause pressure on the environment and cause waste. Many people are now discussing It is said that it is possible for my material to be recycled, etc. This topic is currently a topic that attracts more attention. The last piece is to make some assessments in the product life cycle, including the emissions of the product itself, including carbon emissions and other factors to pay attention to. This is the focus of the product itself.

The second part, in addition to the product itself, may also pay attention to the operation of the enterprise and the impact on the environment during the operation of the factory. The first two are related to our carbon emissions, one is the carbon emissions of the factory itself, and the other is the carbon emissions of the supply chain. When it comes to carbon emissions, of course, we must mention the issue of clean energy, because the use of clean energy can reduce carbon emissions, and what is related to the use of clean energy by enterprises is how. After paying attention to the product and the current operating company of the company, what is the third major focus? The focus is on the sustainable development of the enterprise, which includes the management of chemical substances in the entire enterprise, the management of hazardous chemical substances in the entire production process, and the procurement and utilization of renewable resources. It seems that avoiding conflict minerals is mainly related to anti-terrorism. Recently, two companies in China have been warned, and the last one is related to product recycling. Have you considered the future treatment of product waste gas?

The guidelines or standards currently seen in the market basically cover the three major areas mentioned above.

Let's look at some cases in detail how they implement the three major blocks mentioned above.

The first case is a failed case. This case is intercepted from the EU's non-food early warning system, which warns non-food consumers. Once a product is found to be faulty in a member state of the EU , this member state will publish information on the system, and all EU member states will take unified action to deal with the same batch of products. What are the features of this product? Let's take a look at why it was recalled in this market. It violated three regulations at the same time, which is very interesting. The first is that there is an electronic component (walkie-talkie) on this product. In this walkie-talkie, a solder core was found inside The lead exceeded the RoHS requirement, Linben (voice) was found in the plastic part, which violated REACH, and finally SCCP was found in the plastic, which violated the POPs regulations. This product violated three regulations at the same time, so it was in customs. It was cut off and recalled on the market. Therefore, the basic quality of the market requires us to do it.

The second case, a successful case, is the policy requirement for the world's largest retailer to be green The second is the use efficiency of materials, the use and recycling of materials, the third is the effective use of natural resources, including the safety and reliability of materials, the last one is not only concerned with the product itself, but also concerned about corporate social responsibility issues. We can see that it basically includes the three major blocks mentioned above, and they are basically discussed. It has also been very successful. It has designed different questionnaires and different survey schemes to investigate global suppliers. As long as it is supplied to it, it needs to satisfy its relevant questionnaires. This is the management policy of the retail industry.

Because most of the audience is in the manufacturing industry, let's also look at the success stories of the manufacturing industry.

Apple, its product is indeed very high-level, and its environmental protection strategy is also very high-level. At present, every product on its official website can check the status of the product's entire life cycle to the environment , have published relevant data. Its environmental protection policy includes all aspects from the use of materials and factory production to logistics transportation, to consumer use, the final waste recycling and disposal of products. Even the logistics part pays attention to how to reduce the impact of products on the environment and bring the energy of positive green information to consumers. All aspects are very thoughtful.

My final suggestion is to make some conclusions about the practices of benchmarking companies. This summary is integrated into the life cycle of our products. At each stage of the product, we will consider its impact on the environment, or Factors that consumers expect to see. Of course, the factors here may be relatively imaginary. We can convert them into actual parameters, including the use of harmful substances, product quality, material use, energy consumption, water consumption, etc. into specific indicators for analysis, and take out our environmental protection. Benchmark products, where my product is different from others.

Secondly, the indicators we can refer to are different for special products. Our products have our own particularity. I can focus on a little narrower. For example, we operate printers or copiers in the office. I always have a feeling that if I copy or print beside me for a long time, there may be some odor. Is it possible for these products to reduce VOC emissions during the work process? My product will have an advantage, because it reduces the physical impact of office personnel. health hazards. For example, I am making some products with standby function. Is it possible to keep the standby power consumption as low as possible? A very popular article uploaded on WeChat recently said which products in the house are secretly consuming power. The reason is that many products we do not It will be unplugged, it is in a standby state, and it consumes power secretly. How can we keep the energy consumption of these products as low as possible. Some customers will say that I have too much content to pay attention to, and I may have to take into account all aspects. There may be no way to do it all at once. We say that we can focus on it. For example, there are already mandatory requirements in the market. In the process of design, my proportion and my attention can be put a little higher. When there are no mandatory requirements in the market and it is just a matter of consumer trends, my proportion can be Put it lightly, as long as it is a little better than the products of my peers, it will surpass it, so the specific gravity can not be so large, and the specific gravity can be selectively increased.

These are the experiences we hope to bring to you. Today we cannot start due to limited time. Our SGS is an organization specializing in inspection, identification and test certification. You can contact us if you need it. We can provide you with some suggestions at different stages of the product or the entire life cycle of the product and the different stages of the production process. and scheme. I hope our help can help you export your products smoothly, and also differentiate our products from those of our competitors.