Assent, Inc. announced today that independent research firm Verdantix recognized the company as a leader in the product compliance space in the recently released Smart Innovators: Product and Chemical Compliance Solutions report. An assessment of the functionality of Assent’s solution in key areas of differentiation and innovation showed that the Assent Supply Chain Sustainability Platform has market-leading functionality in the product compliance solutions market, and is the recommended solution for complex manufacturers. The report also focused on the increased need for proactive compliance and digital solutions to avoid the increasing costs of non-compliance, with an emphasis on the effect of evolving PFAS regulations as an urgent market driver. 

"The world of product and chemical compliance is undergoing a period of unprecedented regulatory change. As new regulations continue to be released and existing regulations amended, firms require digital tools to gain clarity over their regulatory obligations and to manage risk to their business,” said Verdantix in the Smart Innovators: Product and Chemical Compliance Solutions Report.

Key takeaways from the report include:

• Assent received the top scores in the product compliance sub-categories, confirming the platform’s position as a market leader in a field of 19 vendors.
• Assent’s Supply Chain Sustainability Platform was described as having market-leading, differentiated capabilities for PFAS, REACH, and SCIP sub-categories. Assent scored at least three out of four (defined as meeting the full Verdantix criteria for a comprehensive solution) in any product compliance category. 
• PFAS is driving significant urgency for companies to adopt a digital solution, with heavy risks attached to litigation over the presence of PFAS chemicals in products or parts.

“This report validates Assent’s market leadership across the most critical aspects of product compliance that companies face today. It also reinforces our commitment to providing manufacturers with leading innovations and expertise to proactively address increasingly urgent regulatory risks,” said Andrew Waitman, Chief Executive Officer. “In this new research, Verdantix underscores the profound effect of PFAS regulations on the data management and reporting requirements. Our strategy at Assent aligns with Verdantix’s findings and as a result, we are seeing accelerated adoption of our PFAS solution amongst manufacturers with complex supply chains.”

The report highlighted a market demand for product stewardship vendors that “combine product compliance, supply chain management and sustainability functionality in a single platform.” Verdantix also emphasized that the link between product compliance and sustainability is blurring, noting that Assent’s rebrand from Assent Compliance in early 2022 recognized compliance’s role in a piece of a broader sustainability puzzle.  

Regulations and their impact are at an all-time high, the report recognized, stating that companies must be proactive and leverage digital tools and technology to organize data in a central location to maintain and expand market access. Assent continues to develop and release products, including the new PFAS solution as a part of the Assent Supply Chain Sustainability Platform, allowing companies to proactively implement multiple solutions through one platform. Assent was recognized by Verdantix in July as one of the only solutions in the market that is actively working to identify PFAS in the supply chain. Since then, Assent has collected more than half a million PFAS declarations for parts for customers, and distributed more than 40,000 requests for information to suppliers. 

“The momentum behind the global restriction of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – sometimes referred to as ‘forever chemicals’ – is difficult to overstate,” says the report, recognizing the impact of PFAS on the regulatory landscape for complex manufacturers. It further outlines the “potentially fatal litigation risk” for companies, and an estimated industry-wide burden of 11.6 million hours to manage.

Assent’s solutions are designed with regulatory expertise for complex manufacturers, allowing customers across verticals such as medical devices, electronics, and industrial equipment to go deeper than suppliers to products, and even substances within parts, to map their global supply chain. Visit Assent’s website here to download the report or learn more about Assent’s marketing-leading PFAS solution.