This week Arena Solutions will upgrade its SaaS PLM product, Arena PLM Fall '05 release, to include compliance management features. Also announced was the Arena PLM Enterprise Edition. Originally, Arena mainly targeted the SMB market.

Three of the most far-reaching government regulations will force manufacturers to "design for compliance," and to propagate those design requirements down to the smallest suppliers, according to Eric Larkin CTO at Arena.

The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA), with a January 2006 deadline from the Food and Drug Administration.FALCPA requires food processing and manufacturing companies to list on their labels the eight most common food allergens that may be contained in the finished product.

The Restrictions on the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS) Directive, from the European Union [EU] goes into effect July 2006. RoHS, in particular, will have a dramatic affect on the computer industry. It will prohibit the sale in the European Union of electronics products that contain more than 0.01 percent of eight hazardous materials, one of which is lead.

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive also from the EU, had an August 2005 initial deadline for compliance. WEEE is a waste disposal and recycling regulation, that will make manufacturers responsible for what happens to goods at the end of their product lifecycles.