What are Conflict Minerals?

We have been taught to comply with rules since our childhood. It becomes an inevitable part of personal and professional life. Speaking of profession, there are certain acts and regulations passed by the government to set up standards, bring uniformity, and even as a matter of justice. That was how the 'Dodd Frank Act' came to life. We are quite sure about your familiarity with the act, but would like to give a glimpse below:

Glimpse on Dodd Frank Act

On 5th January 2010, the then U.S President Barack Obama passed the ‘Dodd Frank Consumer Protection Act’ to protect the interests of consumers who buy 'conflict minerals'. Conflict minerals contain four substances- tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold, and are abbreviated to be known as the '3TG'. The story behind passing the act starts with illegal mining and selling of the 3TG minerals from the Republic of Congo. Locals of Congo Republic were pressurized into mining the conflict minerals by armed groups. It led to illegal earning of millions of dollars every year, human rights abuses, etc. Several women, children, and men were forced at gun point to work for the protection of their family in uncomfortable conditions that can deter their health.

This led to death, rape, and displacement of people in their own country. The U.S government then tried to stop these acts by directly approaching the illegal mining groups. As the method failed, the government began working through companies who source conflict minerals, especially Tier 0&1- that are listed in stock exchanges. Hence arose the 'Dodd Frank Act'. But before the act was passed, ‘RMI’ (Responsible Minerals Initiative) was founded by EICC (Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition). They developed a reporting tool called ‘CMRT’ (Conflict Minerals Reporting Template) as a part of due diligence submission by suppliers of conflict minerals report to their customers.

Rise of Conflict Minerals Compliance

We know constant threats and safety hazards birthed the need to meet certain criteria. As a part of conflict minerals compliance, the buying company should receive a report in a prescribed conflict minerals reporting template from all its suppliers. Post-consolidation of the files received; it should be sent to the company's customers as a part of the prescribed conflict minerals regulations. Conflict Minerals reporting declares the authenticity of the buyer's source.

3 Signs you Need Conflict Minerals Software:

While conflict minerals reporting and compliance is necessary, the process of work should be looked upon. The process may be done manually or through conflict minerals software. With time, you would see the latter has better benefits than the former, or the manual process may offer hints to settle for a better reporting method. If you observe the following 3 signs and it affects your schedule, it may be the time to consider a change:

1. Manual Validation of Supplier Data

If you are validating supplier data manually, you are highly prone to make errors while inspecting the reports. Each report will require detailed attention and all the criteria in conflict minerals may not be met due to reasons like Missing out to inspect certain information while following the long process and difficulty in handling all data at once without proper support. It will require cross-checking and rechecking, which will make the job more tedious.

2. High costs and Effort

The cost incurred and effort exhausted will be high. The cost- meaning losing opportunities to work in different areas that can be more profitable due to high time consumption on a single project. It is also understood that the manual effort requires more time allocation. Hence, it forms and vicious cycle and the process makes the output unfruitful.

3. Less Efficiency

The validation process is monotonous. Employing a person to perform the activity may not be the best bet due to the tiresome process and lack of possibilities of producing unfavorable output. Since the primary notion of conflict minerals reporting directs to providing information to customers, any hindrance in the process due to unanticipated reasons may leave a gap in process, leading to negative impression.

AutoGen-CM: Conflict Minerals Software by APA Engineering

Before choosing the conflict minerals software, look for all the features, prices, and functioning system. The software should be user-friendly and have regular updates to make the functioning process better. You may consider our AutoGen-CM Software if you are on the lookout to make your conflict minerals reporting journey smoother. Our software comes with 150+ validation criteria for a single reporting file along with compliance with OECD rules. Validating certain points may not be considered necessary and every client may have their preferences in validating certain criteria. The AutoGen-CM Software provides the option to toggle criteria as per requirements. AutoGen-CM software comes with 3TG, Cobalt, and Mica modules too.

Optimize Conflict Minerals with AutoGen-CM: Contact Us

Undeniably, manual work may be too much to process. You can change that by taking a small step like hitting the 'contact us' button. Contact us if you would like to know more about Autogen-CM Software.