Omron Electronic Components Business - Europe has announced that, with effect from 1 March, 2006, it is fully RoHS compliant, and that it has removed all remaining non-compliant stock from its European warehouse in the Netherlands. The company has eliminated cadmium as well as lead from all of its devices - and does not require the benefit of the period of grace that the EU has granted the industry on the use of cadmium in switch contacts. Omron ECB Europe chief operating officer Nigel Blakeway commented, 'From today, all ECB components shipped by Omron in Europe to its customers and distributors fully comply with the RoHS directive.

On the issue of cadmium, Omron made a global, company-wide commitment to become a cadmium free company, and all OCB products designed in the last 10 years are cadmium free as a standard.

We have been eliminating cadmium from our remaining switch and relay ranges since April 2005, and have not encountered significant issues in matching the existing performance.

As a result, our customers are assured that there are no further changes required to our components to comply with the current directive.' Commenting on the status of the supply chain, Victor Viveen, product marketing manger at Omron ECB Europe added, 'We have been shipping only compliant products to our distributors since October 2005, and over 90% of our products have been fully compliant since April 2005.

Although Omron's distribution customers should check the exact status of their product with their supplier, almost all distribution shipments now also comply with the directive.' He continued, 'For direct customers, we have only shipped compliant products since January.

There are some very minor exceptions, where customers receive non-ECB devices as specials, and these customers have been contacted in writing and notified of the status of these products.' According to Blakeway, the European RoHS directive is only the first stage in an on-going global process.

'California's laws, mirroring RoHS legislation, take effect in early 2007, while China and Japan are also imposing restrictions,' he explained.

'There are signs that the directives will be extended to cover other toxic substances.

As part of its commitment to building a sustainable business, Omron is keeping production and operating practices under continuous review.

This will help ensure minimum disruption to our and our customers businesses as new regulations are implemented.' * About Omron - headquartered in Kyoto, Japan, OMRON Corporation is a global leader in the field of automation.

Established in 1933 and headed by President Hisao Sakuta, Omron has more than 25,000 employees in over 35 countries working to provide products and services to customers in a variety of fields including industrial automation, electronic components industries, and healthcare.

The company is divided into five regions and head offices are in Japan (Kyoto), Asia Pacific (Singapore), China (Hong Kong), Europe (Amsterdam) and US (Chicago).

The European organisation has its own development and manufacturing facilities, and provides local customer support in all European countries.