Page 16
ManageMent
www.us-tech.com
Online DfE Training and Certification
By Sally Cole Johnson A
new online design-for-environ- ment (DfE) training and certi- fication program may revolu-
tionize the way engineers approach the design of electronics products. If you’ve been searching for an
online design-for-environment (DfE) training and certification program to help you keep pace with the latest environmental regulations, energy- efficient methodologies, and supply chain strategies in the electronics in- dustry, you’re not alone.
International Environmental Regulations
It can be a daunting task trying
to keep up with the burgeoning num- ber of international environmental regulations such as the European Union’s Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE), and
the European Community Regula- tion on Chemicals and Their Safe Use (REACH), which mandate that certain chemicals that had been used by the industry for years are now deemed to be “hazardous” to human health or the environment, and must be either phased out or restricted. When you start adding up all of
these regulations, and there are many others, it’s a lot to try to keep track of while designing products.
Easy Access Needed Recognizing the industry’s need
for easy access to a DfE training pro- gram, Technology Forecasters Inc. (TFI), PlesTech Ltd., and Harvey Stone Communications joined forces to create DfE Online, a highly cus- tomizable, self-paced program for electronic design engineers, man- agers, executives, supply chain man- agers, and product launch teams.
2:28 PM “Given the rise in compliance is-
sues internationally, we think DfE is a critical business strategy for com- panies, and an important career in- vestment for busy managers and en- gineers,” explains Pamela J. Gordon, founder and president of TFI. “Few companies have rigorous training programs for DfE principles that un- derlie not only environmental regula- tions, but also help reduce costs, pro- duce competitively better products, and enjoy the efficiency that comes from DfE.”
Convenient Training DfE Online is designed to bring
convenient, lower-cost training to the people working in the electronics in- dustry around the globe who see a huge gap between their in-house training capabilities and the growing number of hurdles they face in meet- ing DfE requirements. What’s in- cluded in the training? The program encompasses eight modules:
l Why DfE is critical. l
l l l l
The impacts of substance emissions on health and the environment.
Reduction of material resources in DfE.
Techniques for designing energy-efficient electronics.
DfE methods for disassembly and high-value “afterlife”.
Tools for measuring environmental performance and monetary return on investment.
l
Supply chain strategies for reducing social and environmental impacts.
l
DfE case studies, critical recommendations, and future roadmaps.
Perhaps one of the most helpful
aspects of DfE Online, the training is customizable to each individual company’s specific priorities and needs — you can choose which slides or modules to assemble. It was de- signed for maximum possible flexi- bility, so that training can be done as a group or individually. While prod- uct launch teams will likely want to do the entire training, others in- volved in marketing, legal, or fi- nance may be more interested in fo- cusing on a subset of modules or por- tions of modules to review.
Pro Development Tools Tools for professional develop-
ment are also included — in the form of hundreds of case studies, videos, articles, interactive exercises, quiz - zes, a user forum, and a certificate
for successfully completing the training. Pricing is available for individ-
ual, team, and corporate licenses — ranging from $995 US for an individ- ual license, $8,500 for a team li- cense, and $19,000 for an unlimited corporate license. So far, the indus- try response is overwhelmingly posi- tive because so many companies have been searching for a program like this and are eager to finally learn the concepts of DfE and have all of their employees be “on the same page” by taking the training program together. “The bottom line is that our
training grounds the industry in the environmental and social issues in- volved in DfE, so that they can
Trying to keep up with
the burgeoning number of international environmen- tal regulations — RoHS, WEEE, REACH and others — can be daunting.
specifically target making their prod- ucts more cost-effective, responsible, and compliant,” Gordon points out. “It also provides compliance coaching that will help you meet not only to- day’s regulations more efficiently,
but also future regulations.” Contact: TFI, 2000 Santa Clara
Avenue, Alameda, CA 94501 % 510- 479-3478 Web: www.TechForecast-
ers.com/dfe-online/ r
March, 2013
Lost your news item of interest?
Find it once again at
www.us-tech.com
Just pick a keyword and let us “search” for you.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100