Green Products
Basic stance
Contributing to the sustainable development of society and conducting environmentally-friendly business operations are essential issues that need to be addressed in modern business management. The Advantest Group works to develop products from the perspective of environmental conservation while prioritizing high precision and high quality, and certifies products that are environmentally-friendly in terms of the three key aspects of energy saving and resource conservation, improving recyclability, and elimination of hazardous substances as green products. There is demand in society for the supply of green products because they provide both a reduction in the environmental footprint as well as an improvement in economic value. The Group is developing green products in response to these demands and based on the belief that these products will be beneficial for its customers.
Development flow of green products
At the Advantest Group, all new products undergo a product environmental assessment.
During the environmental assessment, products are assessed from various aspects, including energy savings, the number of parts used, product size, recyclable design, and elimination of hazardous substances. Products that meet the Voluntary Standards for Green Products are certified as green products and are awarded with an Eco Label (type II).
Development flow of green products
Advantest Group Eco Label
The Advantest Group Eco Label features an original three-color design representing energy and resource conservation, recyclable design, and elimination of hazardous substances through green procurement.
Energy and Resource Conservation
Voluntary Standards
- Energy-saving design
- Reduced-material design
- Miniaturized design
Recyclable Design
Voluntary Standards
- Design with renewable resin materials
- Design for ease of disassembly
- Release of information on disposal
Elimination of Hazardous Substances
(Green Procurement)
Voluntary Standards
- Improved rates of green procurement
- Elimination of banned substances
Energy and resource conservation
We aim to reduce the environmental footprint of our products through system designs that offer energy efficiency, feature ecologically-sound components and materials, and result in units that are smaller in size.
Recyclable design
In recyclable design, we release information on parts that will require special attention during disposal, and we seek to use recyclable materials for resin parts designed in-house. Moreover, we make sure that products are easy to dismantle with standard tools, and we use rechargeable batteries displaying a recycling symbol.
Elimination of hazardous substances (green procurement)
To eliminate hazardous substances from our products, we have established Group standards on banned substances based on the IEC 62474 standard, and we conduct surveys of hazardous substances contained in parts and materials used in our products.
Green products certified during fiscal 2013
We supply the following products, which were certified as "green products" in fiscal 2013.
- T5831
- T5831ES
- T2000 ISS LSMF + IS46TH
- CX0050
- TAS7400
- Six types of T2000 module products, etc.
Introducing our Green Products
CloudTestingTM Station CX0050
CX0050
The CloudTestingTM Service developed by the Advantest Group is the industry's first on-demand testing service. This product represents a new concept in semiconductor testing, giving semiconductor manufacturers, design houses, and educational and research institutions an on-demand testing environment.
The Advantest Group turned its attention to educational institutions as a new market for this service and began developing hardware that would allow such institutions to provide the latest equipment and teaching materials within a tight budget to train the next generation of technicians. The result is our desktop testing device, CloudTestingTM Station CX0050, released in December 2013. Aiming to produce an extremely simple, all-purpose tester, we optimized functions and reduced manufacturing costs, concentrating the essence of our know-how in the CX0050.
Until this product appeared, semiconductor testers were too bulky, too heavy, and too noisy to be considered truly portable. We attacked all three problems simultaneously. Thanks to striking advances in miniaturization, the CX0050 is small and light enough to be carried easily in a business bag, and noise has been reduced by half.
As a result, the CX0050 is RoHS compatible and has been certified as a green product for its superior environmental features.
Aiming to develop environmentally-sound products / CX0050
Cloud Testing Service, Inc.
Noritaka Tsuchida
We started developing the CX0050 with the goal of making it familiar and simple even for customers who had never used a semiconductor testing device before. The product concept was "desktop usable," and from the start we reviewed specifications and designed for environmental friendliness. As a result, superfluous features have been reduced as much as possible, electricity consumption has been cut, and parts have been lightened. In addition, all harmful substances designated in the RoHS Directive have been eliminated from parts and the circuitry layout process used in producing the CX0050.
The Advantest Group will continue to develop products that contribute to the good of our customers while contributing to a more environmentally friendly society.
Performance Comparison
Advantest's statement on the RoHS Directive
In complying with environmental laws and regulations, the Advantest Group is working toward eliminating use of hazardous materials while also pursuing environmental conservation efforts that entail reducing consumption of energy and resources. More specifically, we have been working with our suppliers since September 2003 on initiatives to investigate and eliminate use of restricted hazardous materials.
We are in compliance with the European RoHS Directive*.
Advantest's semiconductor testers and handlers are classified as Large-Scale Stationary Industrial Tools (LSSIT) and as such are exempt from the EU-RoHS Directive. Nevertheless, on the basis of our commitment to environmental conservation we continue working toward further elimination of hazardous substances from these product lines.
* Certain exemptions aside, the European Union Directive 2011/65/EU on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances (RoHS) in electrical and electronic equipment and respective revisions currently restrict the use of six substances in such products:
- Lead (Pb)
- Hexavalent chromium (Cr VI)
- Mercury (Hg)
- Polybrominated biphenyl (PBB)
- Cadmium (Cd)
- Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE)