No sooner has Release 14.0 been implemented in the IMDS than Release 14.1 is already casting its shadow. The following changes were announced in the last mdsystem newsletter:

1. Default selection of an Org.-Unit in newly created MDSs
Users assigned to one or more Org.-Units within their company can select which Org.-Unit an MDS belongs to in the “Supplier Data” tab of an MDS’s details. This can be an easy to forget step and MDSs might be accidently assigned to the root company instead of the correct Org.-Unit. To avoid this situation, especially for users who are only assigned to a single Org.-Unit, IMDS will remember which Org.-Unit the user has used the last time and use it as default for all newly created MDSs.

2. Rejection reason in Inbox/Outbox search results
For sent/received MDSs in either the “rejected” or the “modified” state, the rejection reason will be displayed in the search result of the MDS Inbox and Outbox. Since most rejection reason are too long to be displayed within the search result, the new column will only contain a shortened text, cut off at a certain length. However, when exporting the search result as an Excel sheet, the full rejection reason will be included.

3. Allow search for SCIP Material Category by ID
To allow the search for SCIP Material Categories by ID, a new search field will be added to the dialog for assigning a category to a material. This field will work similarly to the Taric Code search field in the dialog for assigning SCIP Article Categories to components.

4. Error for editable references to hidden data
Inactive substance, standard materials or application codes in IMDS are either “deactivated” or “hidden”. In both cases, they cannot be found or assigned in new MDSs, but while deactivated data will result in either warnings or error messages in the check, no messages are shown for references to hidden data. This allows the continued use of hidden data in existing MDSs, but prevents them from being referenced in new MDSs. When creating a new version or a copy of an MDS referencing hidden data, the check currently also does not show any message. This means that by versioning or copying new MDSs can be created which reference hidden data that should not be used anymore in new MDSs.
To avoid this, an error message will be shown whenever hidden data is referenced in editable MDSs. Users will have to replace the reference with a valid one before releasing the MDS.

5. Error for deactivated application codes
To prevent the usage of deactivated applications codes, the severity of the check message for deactivated application codes within referenced components will be increased from warning to error.
Like the warning message before, this error will not appear when sending/proposing legacy spare parts.

6. Proposing MDSs with deactivated contact
A deactivated contact person assigned to an MDS currently results in an error message in the check making it sometimes impossible to send propose old datasheets without creating a new version.
This will be changed so that no check message will appear if the proposing company has a valid default contact which can be displayed instead of the original deactivated contact.

7. Splitting of application code 5(b) into 5(b)(i) and 5(b)(ii)
To reflect the new ELV Annex II (EU) 2023/544, the application code “5(b) – Lead in batteries for battery applications not included in entry 5(a)” will be deactivated and the following two application codes, which are both valid for the same substances, classifications and thresholds, will be added:
– 5(b)(i) – Lead in batteries
(1) used in 12 V applications
(2) used in 24 V applications in special purpose vehicles as defined in Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2018/858 of the European Parliament and of the Council
– 5(b)(ii) – Lead in batteries for battery applications not included in entry 5(a) and entry 5(b)(i)

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