QUALITY & ENVIRONMENTAL
The maxim of “excellence in everything” is the basis of In2Connect UK Ltd’s business culture.
Total quality in everything we do is our goal and the driving force behind our quality policy.
We foster a culture within which efficiency, innovation and quality performance are encouraged and rewarded. We acknowledge that our clients are our finest ambassadors.
Our policy is to assemble, stock and distribute products which benefit our client’s business activities and help them advance their own success. We will endeavour to meet our clients’ requirements first time, every time and will strive to exceed their expectations.
In order to ensure that the quality policy is implemented and maintained, a Quality Management System comprising of this QA Manual and a set of QA procedures has been compiled to the requirements of ISO9001:2008. The exclusions to the Standard are “Design and Development” (clause 7.3) as the Company does not undertake such activities and “Validation of processes for production and service provision” (clause 7.5.2) as all product can be validated at the time of supplying customers. If the situation changes; suitable controls will be applied.
The scope of work is the assembly, stocking and distribution of electronic connectors, cable and cable harnesses, mainly for industrial, instrumentation, aerospace and military business sectors.
The Company is committed to continual improvement of the quality management system as verified by the setting of quality objectives which are measured and reviewed at management review meetings. The quality objectives will subsequently be reset and the process repeated. The Company will ensure that it complies with all relevant statutory and regulatory requirements.
The Company ensures that there are appropriate controls within the quality management system for outsourced processes and service providers (e.g. all piece part or finished connector suppliers, professional services providers, sub-contract labour, carriers and specialist resources).
The Company is committed to provide the infrastructure and environment to ensure its’ quality objectives are met.
In2Connect UK Ltd Environmental Compliance Statement
We recognise our obligations as a supplier to operate our business in an environmentally responsible way. It is our aim to comply with all applicable legal, regulatory and corporate requirements and, if it is deemed appropriate, adopt more stringent standards for the protection of the environment and the communities with whom we cooperate.
ROHS Statement
The European Union ‘Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment’ Directive (2002/95/EC) which took effect on July 1, 2006 prohibits the sale of electronic equipment containing certain hazardous substances such as lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (“PBB”) and polybrominated diphenylethers (“PBDE”) in the European Union.
With effect from July 2011 the ban on heavy metals and other dangerous chemicals in electrical and electronic equipment has been extended to a much wider range of products, with new rules entering into force. The new Directive 2011/65/EU (affectionately known as RoHS II) improves the safety of electronic products such as thermostats, medical devices and control panels, and will prevent the release of hazardous substances into the environment. The new law is a revision of the RoHS Directive on the restriction of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. It will continue to ban lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium and the flame retardants Polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE). The original RoHS Directive covered several categories of electrical and electronic equipment including household appliances, IT and consumer equipment, but it has now been extended to all electronic equipment, cables and spare parts. Exemptions can still be granted in cases where no satisfactory alternative is available. The list of banned substances will be reviewed on a regular basis.
The key elements of the new Directive are as follows:
- A gradual extension of the rules to all electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), cables and spare parts, with a view to full compliance by 2019
- A review of the list of banned substances by July 2014, and periodically thereafter
- Clearer and more transparent rules for granting exemptions from the substance ban
- Improved coherence with the REACH Regulation on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals
- Clarification of important definitions; and CE marking denoting compliance with European norms reserved for electronic products that also respect RoHS requirements.
Directive 2015/863 was published in 2015 by the EU, which is known as RoHS 3. RoHS 3 adds four additional restricted substances (phthalates) to the list of six.
In2Connect UK Ltd is not primarily a ‘Producer of Electrical or Electronic Equipment’, but recognises its responsibility as a supplier of connectors, cable assemblies, and equipment potentially used within electronic based systems and products to offer RoHS compliant products where required.
Compliance with all relevant legislation, taking into account any appropriate exemptions, is achieved based on competent design and manufacture and on assurances from suppliers of components, sub assemblies and other items which form an integral part of the products we supply. Products are not routinely tested and this statement of compliance reflects our best endeavours and our due diligence to ensure, as far as is reasonably possible, that our products are compliant, where applicable.
At components for resale level, In2Connect UK Ltd collaborates with its suppliers. In2Connect UK Ltd does not carry out laboratory analysis, destructive testing or chemical analysis of incoming materials to determine the presence or absence of banned substances. Compliance is declared by in-house engineering investigation and supplier raw materials declarations and we make no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of such information.
With our large potential customer base and extensive range of distribution products it is neither practical nor environmentally friendly for us to provide specific written product certification on an order by order basis. Compliance declarations will only be made against the banned substances listed and requests for investigations to determine the status of other substances that may or may not be present and are not listed by the directive will be considered as being a request for an independent laboratory analysis, will incur an appropriate cost and will be actioned only on receipt of an authorised Purchase Order for such investigation from the requestor.
Directive 2002/95/EC did not demand renumbering or re-marking of compliant product in any way. Many of our products have their unique range of part numbers and it is our policy not to make changes to the numbering to indicate RoHS compliance, due to the fact that such changes would have a considerable impact on both internal and customers databases and documentation. We acknowledge that our suppliers of parts for resale may have introduced post RoHS number changes and our clients are free to seek advice independently from any of our major franchised suppliers.
Please note that Directive 2002/95/EC did not demand marking of compliant product – the action of placing a product on to the market after the implementation date is a presumption of compliance.
The latest RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU (RoHS 2) came into effect on 3 January 2013. RoHS 2 deals with the same hazardous substances and the same maximum concentration limits as Directive 2002/95/EC (RoHS 1). Therefore, all products meeting the substance restrictions of RoHS 1 remain compliant to the substance restrictions of RoHS 2. The scope of RoHS 2 is expanding to phase in the previously excluded categories of medical devices and monitoring & control instruments, as well as certain cables.
In2Connect UK can supply bespoke products. In this case, the customer’s requirements will be ascertained and if a non compliant product is required then it will be supplied as such after first obtaining a suitable declaration to the effect from the customer. There will be no labels on non compliant products indicating non compliance.
REACH Statement
European Regulation (EC) No. 190712006R, REACH Regulation
REACH is a regulation of the European Union, adopted to improve the protection of human health and the environment from the risks that can be posed by chemicals.
In2Connect UK Ltd is a supplier of cables and connectors to many customers worldwide. In2Connect UK Ltd does not manufacture any of the components that it sells or add any chemicals during the handling process. Unlike suppliers of substances and mixtures, suppliers of articles do not always have to provide standardised information to their customers. Only when the articles supplied contain a substance included in the Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern for authorization and:
- The substance is present in articles produced and/or imported above a concentration of 0.1% (w/w).
- The total amount of the substance present in all articles produced and/or imported, which contain more than 0.1% (w/w) of the substance, exceeds 1 ton per actor per year.
- The substance concentration threshold of 0.1% (w/w) applies to the article as produced or imported.
In2Connect UK Ltd does not import or distribute any chemicals or mixtures or use any substances intended for release in the manufacturing of its assembled articles. Chemicals used in the components or the manufacturing of components are selected and used at the sole discretion of the manufacturer of the components, and in many cases the exact composition of articles or mixtures, will be commercially confidential information. The Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical substances is therefore the sole responsibility of the component manufacturer.
With our large potential customer base and extensive range of in-house manufactured and distribution products it is neither practical nor environmentally friendly for us to provide specific written product certification on a product by product basis. We collaborate with our suppliers on the presence of 151 Substances of Very High Concern (as at 16th December 2013) in their components. In2Connect does not carry out laboratory analysis, destructive testing or chemical analysis of incoming materials to determine the presence or absence of banned substances. Suppliers to In2Connect UK Ltd can be requested to supply certificates which guarantee that candidate substances are not used in the manufacture of their products or remain below legal concentrations in their products; but In2Connect UK make no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of such information.
As In2Connect does not intentionally add SVHC and based on the “article” criteria in the REACH regulation, all articles supplied by us are interpreted to be exempt from substance regulation and therefore compliant with the REACH regulation.
WEEE
In2Connect UK Ltd is not classed as a ‘Producer’ in respect of the WEEE directive (2002/96/EC / 2003/108/EC) and The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2006 and subsequent amendments.
If you have additional questions concerning our position on RoHS II or REACH compliance and WEEE, please contact our Quality Department QA@in2connect.uk.com