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Version 19.1 by SuperUwe Trueggelmann on 2025-11-22
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1 = Introduction =
2
3 The cecQAF (CEC Query and Assessment Form) is central to the CEC Certification Process.
4
5 After signing the NDA, the cecQAF is used progressively throughout the CEC Certification Process of a Vendor's sustainable product, throughout the different phases of the CEC Certification Process:
6
7 |=Phase|=Function of the cecQAF|=
8 |[[Ordering CEC Services>>||anchor="HOrderingCECServices"]]|Define the products and sites the vendor wants to subject to CEC Certification, and for which Product and Site combination the Vendor requests CEC Certificates|
9 |[[Prepare the CEC Assessment>>||anchor="HPreparetheCECAssessment"]]|Capture the data for the Production Sites and Components, such as electricity consumption of each production site, number of product produced by each production site, sustainable content, mass, and dimensions of each Component, transport distances and types of transport (road, sea, air)|
10 |[[CEC Assessment>>||anchor="HCECAssessment"]]|Record form for the CEC Assessment, Corrective Action Plan form.|
11
12 The instructions described subsequently are grouped firstly by the Phase and then by the worksheet the Vendor has to complete.
13
14 == General Guidance ==
15
16 The worksheets requiring the Vendor to enter data prior to ordering CEC Services have light blue tabs.
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18 The worksheets requiring the Vendor to enter data prior to the CEC Assessment have dark blue tabs.
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20 You can only enter information into the light blue or white fields of the various worksheets, not into the medium or dark blue fields in the vendor sections, nor into the "not blue" sections.
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22 Some areas are greyed out until you enter information elsewhere. For example the fields in the Recycling worksheet are grey until you have defined that you request a certificate for the corresponding Product and Site combination; only then the corresponding fields show a light blue background.
23
24 = Ordering CEC Services =
25
26 == Overview ==
27
28 To request CEC Certification Services, the Vendor must enter information into the following worksheets in the cecQAF:
29
30 * Coversheet
31 * Components
32 * Products
33 * Sites
34 * Certificates
35
36 Once the Vendor entered the required information into the Worksheets, the Vendor must:
37
38 * save the cecQAF to their computer,
39 * name it according to the cecQAF Naming Convention,
40 * and send it to [[contact@cecocert.com>>mailto:contact@cecocert.com]]
41
42 This will initiate the CEC Quotation, Invoicing, and Payment Process.
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44 Some instructions are also given in Section 1b of the Coversheet of the cecQAF.
45
46 Below is the description what to enter into each worksheet in the cecQAF:
47
48 == Coversheet ==
49
50 The Vendor must enter the following information into Section 1a of the Coversheet worksheet:
51
52 * Registered Company Name (must match the registered company name)
53 * CEC Primary Contact information (must match the registered primary contact)
54 * Commercial Contact information (the person handling the communication related to commercial questions, for example manages the quotation)
55 * Technical Contact information (the person handling the communication related to the technical questions)
56 * Functional Unit (from the pull down menu), email [[contact@cecocert.com>>mailto:contact@cecocert.com]] if you have a product that is not available in the pull down menu
57
58 The section Units is optional at this stage.
59
60 The section Count of Items is automaticall populated from the data the Vendor enters into the other worksheets.
61
62 == Components worksheet ==
63
64 Enter information for each component that is part of a product the Vendor intends to receive a CEC Certificate for.
65
66 The minimum information at the Ordering CEC Services stage is:
67
68 * Function
69 * Nominal Material
70 * Supplier
71 * If you receive the same Nominal Material in different thicknesses from the same supplier, please complete one row for each thickness, and also complete the Thickness column for these materials.
72
73 The information itself can be corrected before the CEC Assessment, but the number of components must be correct. Additional components incur additional cost.
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75 The other information is optional at this stage, but will have to be entered before the CEC Assessment can take place.
76
77 == Products worksheet ==
78
79 For each Product the Vendor intends to receive a CEC Certificate for, enter:
80
81 * the Name of the Product, this is the name your company assigns to the product, for example the commercial name your company intends to market the product under. The name may be corrected prior to the CEC Assessment; the purpose is to inform CEC about the number of Products and Variants, and have an initial name to identify the product.
82 * Select the components each Product consists of, using the pull-down menu in each cell. This may be corrected prior to the CEC Assessment.
83 * If you have multiple card constructions to make one product, for example you use overlay from different suppliers when making a card, then define your primary construction (the one sold in the highest volume, or the one initially qualified) as the Product in column C, and the variants in columns D to H. Note that you will just receive one CEC Certificate for a product including its Variants, reflecting the worst case. If you want separate certificates, then define the different constructions (for example card with overlays from different suppliers) as individual Products and not as Variants of one Product.
84
85 == Sites worksheet ==
86
87 For each Site the Vendor intends to receive a CEC Certificate for, enter the requested data, including a name for each site.
88
89 == Certificates worksheet ==
90
91 The Products and Sites you defined following the instructions above will show up in the Certificates worksheet.
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93 CEC Certificates are issued for a specific Product produced in a specific Site.
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95 For each combination of Product and Site you request a renewed CEC Certificate for, enter the Claim Number (like "clm1234") from the current CEC Certificate into the cell in the column corresponding to the Site and the row corresponding to the Product. If the CEC Certificate is already expired, then add "(exp)" (without the quotes) behind the Claim Number.
96
97 For each combination of Product and Site you request a new CEC Certificate for, enter the word "New" (without the quotes) into the cell in the column corresponding to the Site, and the row corresponding to the Product. You need to request a new CEC Certificate if the combination of Product and Site had not previously been CEC Certified.
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99 Every CEC Certificate requested as a result from this process must be correctly specified at this point in time. Additional Certificates will require completing a new cecQAF once this one has been processed.
100
101 = Prepare the CEC Assessment =
102
103 To prepare the CEC Assessment, the Vendor needs to provide accurate information about the Components, Sites, and Products.
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105 This information will be verified during the CEC Assessment.
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107 The Vendor is not permitted to make changes less than 5 working days before the scheduled start of the CEC Assessment.
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109 The subsequent sections give guidance for entering the required information into the worksheet named in the heading of each section.
110
111 == Coversheet ==
112
113 Verify the information in the Coversheet Section 1a.
114
115 If not completed already, select the correct Unit in the tow "Unit for the Functional Unit":
116
117 * "card" for card bodies, IC Cards, personalisation solutions
118 * IC for Integrated Circuits
119 * ICM for IC Modules
120 * kg for plastic films and plastic resins
121 * If you are uncertain what to choose, e-mail [[contact@cecocert.com>>mailto:contact@cecocert.com]]
122
123 Follow the instructions in section 1c.
124
125 == Components worksheet ==
126
127 Enter information for each component that is part of a product the Vendor intends to receive a CEC Certificate for.
128
129 All blue columns except the CEC Claim ID column must be completed.
130
131 In the CEC Claim ID column enter the CEC Claim ID granted to your supplier for this component. Check with your supplier if the component is CEC certified. If the component is not CEC certified, then leave the cell empty.
132
133 The information must be correct for the CEC Assessment to be successful.
134
135 == Products worksheet ==
136
137 For each Product the Vendor intends to receive a CEC Certificate for, enter:
138
139 * the Name of the Product, this is the name your company assigns to the product, for example the commercial name your company intends to market the product under. This name will be used to identify the product on the CEC Certificate.
140 * Select the components each Product consists of, using the pull-down menu in each cell. This is the construction that will be assessed during the CEC Assessment.
141 * If you have multiple card constructions to make one product, for example you use overlay from different suppliers when making a card, then define your primary construction (the one sold in the highest volume, or the one initially qualified) as the Product in column C, and the variants in columns D to H. Note that you will just receive one CEC Certificate for a product including its Variants, reflecting the worst case.
142
143 == Sites worksheet ==
144
145 For each Site the Vendor intends to receive a CEC Certificate for, verify the requested data, including the name and address for each site.
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147 This information will be used on the CEC Certificates for this site.
148
149 == Certificates worksheet ==
150
151 Verify the information already entered into the worksheet. E-mail [[contact@cecocert.com>>mailto:contact@cecocert.com]] regarding changes or corrections you think you need to make to this worksheet.
152
153 == Recycling worksheet ==
154
155 === Production waste recycling quota ===
156
157 ==== Information to enter ====
158
159 If you recycle the production waste from producing a specific Product in a specific Site, and you request CEC Certification for the Product and Site combination, then you can enter the recycling quota in % for the production waste.
160
161 The recycling quota is the recycled mass from the production waste specific from producing that type of product (for example PVC card) divided by the total mass of the production waste from producing that type of product.
162
163 Note that production waste containing plastic material usually has to be sorted by material type (PVC, PET, PETG) to allow for effective recycling.
164
165 During the CEC Assessment the feasability of the recycling approach is verified.
166
167 ==== Evidence to retain for the assessment ====
168
169 You need to demonstrate the following to have your claims for recycling of production waste accepted:
170
171 * You maintain records about your production waste, including waste categories differentiating different types of plastics (unless you only use one type of plastic) and other materials (like paper or packaging materials)
172 * The amounts of production waste you claim are recylced correlate reasonably with the amounts of waste expected from your production, for example for card producers the amounts of waste resulting from rejects and punch grids/skeletons
173 * You have evidence of shipping the correct amounts of material to your recycling provider
174 * Your recycling provider confirms receipt of the amounts
175 * Your recycling provider provides evidence about the recycling process and the products your production waste is recycled into
176 * If you have no historic data because your recycling process is new, then reasonable assumptions may be found acceptable during the CEC Assessment.
177
178 === Product EOL waste recycling quota worksheet ===
179
180 ==== Information to enter ====
181
182 If you recycle the product waste at end of life of a specific Product produced in a specific Site, and you request CEC Certification for the Product and Site combination, then you can enter the recycling quota in % for the Product EOL (EOL = End of Life) waste.
183
184 The recycling quota is the recycled mass from the product EOL waste specific to that that product divided by the total mass of the product EOL waste of that specific product.
185
186 During the CEC Assessment the feasability of the recycling approach is verified.
187
188 ==== Evidence to retain for the assessment ====
189
190 You need to demonstrate the following to have your claims for recycling of product EOL waste accepted:
191
192 * You have control of the collection process, and reasonable assumptions about the effort the collection takes
193 * You have evidence about the collected amounts of material
194 * You have evidence that the collected amounts of material have been forward to recycling providers
195 * Your recycling provider confirms receipt of the amounts
196 * Your recycling provider provides evidence about the recycling process and the products your production waste is recycled into
197 * If you have no historic data because your recycling process is new, then reasonable assumptions may be found acceptable during the CEC Assessment.
198
199 === Yield Loss and Sheet Format worksheet ===
200
201 ==== Information to enter ====
202
203 The worksheet allows 2 methods to record Yield Loss. The recommended method is Method 1. Method 2 can produce more accurate results, but unless there are substantial differences in yield between products, the significant additional effort in record keeping are not justified by the typically very small differences in the resulting CEC Indicators.
204
205 You should enter each of the requested types of Yield Loss in the respective fields.
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207 If you only have one overall Yield Loss number, then enter it in the row for Card format Yield Loss and leave the other two rows empty.
208
209 === Evidence to retain for the assessment ===
210
211 You at least need to maintain records showing the total amount of material issued to production, the amount of good product produced, and the amount of rejected product. The sum of the amount of good product produced and the amount of rejected product shall match the total amount of material issued to production.
212
213 === Transport worksheet ===
214
215 ==== Information to enter ====
216
217 ==== Evidence to retain for the assessment ====
218
219
220 (% class="box warningmessage" %)
221 (((
222 The below text is from the V1 cecLQF form, and needs to be updated. We keep this text for the time being as it may provide some help when completing the V2 LQF form, until it is replace by an updated text.
223 )))
224
225 |Step|Action
226 | |NOTE: You can only enter information into the light blue fields of the various worksheets, not into the medium or dark blue fields!
227 |1|On worksheet "Coversheet",
228 |1.1|- define the contact information for the LCA Support work
229 |1.2|- define the information requested under "Card Construction Summary"; this information is used to identify and understand the product; it is not used for any calculation, especially the "Primary Card Material".
230 |1.3|- define the information requested under "Yield Summary". This information is used for calculations.
231 |2|For each layer of your card construction, starting with the front layer as "Layer 1" (ISO standards define that the side of a card containing the ISO/IEC 7816-2 contacts is the front, and the side containing the magnetic stripe is the rear of the card), define the information requested in the respective sheets:
232 |2.1|- Row 2 is automatically determined based on the name of the worksheet tab
233 |2.2|- Row 3: Select "Yes" if that layer is present in the construction, "No" if it is not. The first 5 "Layer N" worksheets are pre-set to 5, the others to "No". You can change in cell B2 of each "Layer N" worksheet if that "Layer N" worksheet shall be included.
234 |2.3|- Row 4 - select the function the layer has in the card construction, eg "Overlay (coated)" or "Core (printed)".
235 |2.4|- Row 5 - Select the material the layer is primarily made of. Usually this is the primary polymer.
236 |2.5|- Rows 6 to 9 identify the material and this information may help to identify accurate information for the calculation of the LCA. If you consider this a serious trade secret and do not or are not permitted to disclose this information, then write "CONFIDENTIAL". We will try to do the calculations without this information, and will come back to you if that is not reasonably possible.
237 |2.6|"Sheet matrix": Define the number of cards on your printed sheet, or in case of injection moulded cards the number of cards from one mould.
238 |2.7|"Dimensions": Following the instructions in column G, define the dimensions and the weight of a single sheet of this Layer. As most companies do not have a scale accurate in the microgram range, to get a somewhat accurate value for the weight of a single sheet, please weight a larger number of sheets, eg 1000 sheets, then divide the measured total weight by the number of sheets and enter the result as the Sheet Weight in cell B20.
239 |2.8|"Composition of the Plastic Material": Following the instructions in column G, enter the information you have or can obtain from your supplier. If you do not have certain information, then leave the corresponding fields empty. You need to at least define the Type of the Primary Polymer. If you do not provide any additional information in this section, we will make assumptions for the percentage of additives and colorants, and assume that the Primary Polymer is the only polymer in the layer. If eg a specific additive is a trade secret you, or your supplier, do not want to disclose, then include the percentage of this under "Other known" in cell C30, but write "CONFIDENTIAL" under "Type" in cell C30.
240 |2.9|"Embedded materials and coatings": If you receive the layer pre-coated, define the coating in column B under "Material" and the thickness in mm under Quantity in column C. If you only know that the coating is an adhesive but not the chemical composition, just enter "adhesive" in column B.
241 If the layer contains an antenna or other metal structures, calculate the volume of metal according to the guidance in column G and enter it into column C. "Embedded antenna wire" is typically copper wire of 0.1 mm diameter and appear as very thin lines. If the antenna structure is wider and appears silverish and is visible on both sides, it is likely Aluminium and you need to use the rows 39 and 40 "Metal on front/rear". If the layer is a weighted inlay with metal inside, use row 41 "Meal inside".
242 |2.10|"Transport": Transport from your supplier can significantly contribute to the environmental impact, so it must be considered. To determine the actual distances in an acceptable way, you may find the following websites useful:
243 - For Sea freight distances: https:~/~/www.searates.com/services/distances-time/;
244 - For Rail and Road, directions obtained from maps.google.com or maps.bing.com are generally acceptable;
245 - For Air Freight, the distance between the two airports, determined using Google Earth or similar services is generally acceptable.
246 - Take records, eg screenshots, from these calculations, as you will need them as evidences during the CEC Assessment!
247 |3|If the product you requested the LCA Support for contains an IC (eg ICC, but not CB), then complete the IC worksheet to the right of the "Layer 20" worksheet:
248 |3.1|Set B3 to "Yes"
249 |3.2|Enter the supplier and product information in B6 to B9.
250 |3.3|Enter the width and the height of the IC into B12 and B13. Use the nominal dimensions provided by the IC supplier. If these are not available, measure the width and height of the IC and then also set E12 and E13 to "Vendor measurements".
251 |3.4 |Enter the thickness of the IC into B15. Use the nominal thickness provided by the IC supplier; if the IC supplier provides a range, then take the arithmetic average of the minimum and maximum specified for the rante. If these are not available, measure the thickness of one IC and then also set E15 to "Vendor measurements"; in this case also describe how you did the measurement under "Vendor's notes" as some corrections of the obtained value might be necessary.
252 |3.5|If you buy the IC in wafer format, then complete the Transport section too. If you buy the IC packaged into an ICM or an IL containing the IC, then leave the Transport section on the IC worksheet empty as transport of the IC will be covered by the Layer worksheet for the inlay or the ICM worksheet.
253 |4|If the product you requested the LCA Support for contains an ICM (eg many ICC, but not CB), then complete the ICM worksheet to the right of the "Layer 20" and the "IC" worksheets:
254 |4.1|Set B3 to "Yes"
255 |4.2|Enter the supplier and product information in B6 to B9.
256 |4.3|Select the module tape construction type in B10. If you know that the module tape is single sided, then select "Single Sided", otherwise leave it as "Double Sided" as that is the most common construction. If you are using a module tape construction different from these two, select "Other" and describe the construction under "Vendor's notes".
257 |4.4|Select the way the IC is connected to the contacts of the module tape in B11. If you do not know the interconnection technology, then leave it as "Die and Wire Bond". If you know the IC is connected using flip chip technology, then select "Flip Chip". If another technology is used, then select "Other" and describe the interconnection technology under "Vendor's notes". Wire bonded ICs typically are encapsulated by a clear or black plastic material to protect the wires. Flip chip'ed ICs are usually not encapsulated.
258 |4.5|Enter the width of the module tape into B14. This is in almost all cased the standard width of 35 mm. If you determine a different value, please send a photo of the module tape with this form.
259 |4.6|Enter the pitch between two modules in the winding direction of the tape into B15. Note that normally this value is either 9.5 mm (many 6 contact modules, but not for 8 contact modules), or 14.25 mm (for 8 contacts modules and for many 6 contact modules with a surrounding antenna)
260 |4.7|To determine the mass of the module tape attributable to a single module, 3 measurements are take:
261 - Measure the weight of a whole module reel, without packaging but otherwise as received, before inserting it into the embedding machine, and before adding any leader tape to it, should you do that, and enter the determined weight, in gram, into B17.
262 - Once you have processed the whole reel, measure the weight of the empty reel plus the weight of the black interleave tape (should there have been one between the windings of the module tape), plus the weight of any reject modules punched from the module tape (if any) and enter the determined weight, in gram, into B18.
263 - Enter the number of good ICM according to the module reel supplier 's label, into B19.
264 The worksheet will now determine the mass attributable to a single module in B20.
265 |5|Additional notes:
266 - The worksheet "Card Construction Summary" is determined automatically from the other worksheets. DO NOT ENTER ANY INFORMATION INTO THE "Card Construction Summary" worksheet.
267 - If you find any issues with this workbook, or have any questions completing it, please e-mail the Excel workbook you are working on together with your observations or questions to uwe@trucert.com.
268
269 = CEC Assessment =
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271