...As the REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals) initiative moves toward law in the European Union (EU), the electronics industry will have to assess the law’s impact and make changes in products accordingly. So far, it’s difficult to tell just how many changes OEMs will have to make to comply with REACH.... more...

...REACH looks at the overall use of chemicals in consumer products, so it is not aimed specifically at the electronics industry. However, REACH is expected to identify chemicals that are currently used in electronic components, so it will have an impact on the components industry.... more...

...The industry will spend $30B the next five years to address this compliance problem, our research shows. This conservative number is based exclusively on the U.S. electronics industry only, and an average 3% top line revenue spent to rectify the problem. In fact, this really affects global companies in the electronics supply chain, with some reporting spending greater than 6% of top line revenue to become compliant.... more...

...Market research from Frost & Sullivan asserts that the move to lead-free - taking place globally in response to the European Union's (EU's) RoHS Directive - will stimulate the SMT equipment industry.... more...

...Waste electronics recyclers have expressed concerns that new producer responsibility regulations could see a scramble to under-cut costs. They fear that a consolidation of the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) market could slash margins and even undermine the viability of the recycling process.... more...

...The US Government Electronics and Information Technology Association (GEIA) is in the final stages of publishing three industry consensus documents to aid aerospace, defense, and other high performance electronics industries respond to the global transition to lead-free electronics... more...

...The electronics industry has given a "cautious welcome" to the DTI's latest consultation on new WEEE regulations. Manufacturers and importers are now digesting the details of proposed regulations, which should see them made responsible for collecting and recycling waste electronics from July 2007.... more...

...EU member states voted in favor of six new RoHS exemptions last month that include lead and cadmium in printing inks, lead in finishes of fine-pitch components other than connectors, lead in solders for specific capacitors, lead oxide in certain displays and lamps, and lead alloys as solder for specific transducer applications.... more...

...Chuck Dow, Director of Quality at Lantronix, discusses recent RoHS legislation and its global implications.... more...

...Lead-free use has exacerbated the need to distinguish between solderability and 'soldering ability' tests to maintain integrity of electronic assemblies, writes Graham Naisbitt.... more...

... While the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations are enough of a mouthful to be forgettable, the significance of their implementation (plus the sound of the acronym) should mean that the retail sector remembers to pay close attention to the imminent developments... more...

...The government says it is at last ready to say when it plans to implement the long-overdue European directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). The directive will now come into force on July 1, 2007, according to energy minister Malcom Wicks, who also set out the final proposals for how the directive will be implemented.... more...

...It's true that maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) parts are exempt from the European Union's Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive, which took effect July 1. But it's also true that everyone who buys or uses components is, or will soon be, impacted by RoHS.... more...

...The UK has announced a new date for implementing the WEEE directive. The UK’s Waste & Resources Action Programme (Wrap) has launched a tender for companies to start projects for closed-loop recycling of plastics from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).... more...

...there is zero evidence of harm from lead in electronic solder. While the EU has enacted this legislation with plausible good intent, much harm appears to be on the way instead. Interestingly, it appears that the EU legislators, in an effort to appear "green," ignored their scientific council's recommendation to wait for the facts before enacting the legislation.... more...

...Now that most OEMs that sell electronic products in Europe have made their adjustments to comply with RoHS, it’s time for them to prepare for additional demands on the content of chemicals in electronic components.... more...

...This is the first of a two-part article looking at the European Union's coming REACH legislation. The European Union's (EU) Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) regulation is moving through legislation bodies toward law even as business and chemical industry groups fight to quash it. REACH has been called "RoHS on steroids" because if its potential to force the electronics industry to revamp components to avoid the inclusion of toxic chemicals not addressed by RoHS.... more...

...US and Asian governments are about to impose their own versions of the EU's ROHS directive. Rather than targeting each region's regulations, manufacturers may standardize on the most stringent "green" directive. This move will affect even products that are exempt from regulation, as component manufacturers move away from noncompliant parts.... more...

...The Government Electronics and Information Technology Association (GEIA) is in the final stages of releasing three documents to help aerospace, defense, and other high performance electronics industries respond to the global transition to lead-free electronics driven by the European Union (EU) 2002/95/EC Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) and 2002/96/EC Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directives.... more...

...Chipmakers began transitioning to Pb-free finishes and "green" packaging years ago, prompted largely by the European Union's clampdown on six substances - including lead - in electronics equipment. Eliminating lead has significantly affected the electronics industry. The biggest technical challenges by far are selecting a replacement for reliable tin/lead finishes and choosing a mold compound that could meet the higher reflow temperatures required by Pb-free processing.... more...

...Gen3 Systems' Managing Director Graham Naisbitt, member of both the IEC and IPC test standards committees, says lead-free implementation has exacerbated the need for manufacturers to draw a distinction between solderability and 'soldering ability' tests to avoid undermining the integrity of electronic assemblies used in critical applications... more...

...While the industry's focus on tin whiskers has primarily looked at unassembled components, it's also important to understand its impact on second-level board assembly to better gauge risk to products in the field.... more...

...Group addresses assembly process and reliability requirements for SnPb and Pb-free modules. iNEMI's High-Reliability RoHS Task Force has published guidelines regarding assembly processes and reliability requirements for RoHS5 and RoHS6 subassembly modules.... more...

...Anticipating the industry’s greatest needs, IPCWorks 2006 will focus on lead free implementation, reliability and compliance with RoHS and similar directives. This year, the event, featuring technical conference sessions, professional development workshops, the designer’s certification program, standards development meetings, and free roundtables and forums will take place September 7 - 14, 2006, at the American Airlines Training and Conference Center in Fort Worth, Texas.... more...

...Ireland has seen a five-fold increase in waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) recycling since it implemented the WEEE directive in August last year.... more...

...NPL, the UK's national measurement laboratory, will begin a round robin testing programme aimed at a better understanding of the accuracy and calibration of XRF instruments used for RoHS testing.... more...

...As I said in a recent posting, the Packaging Directive has been around for 12 years so I didn't expect many problems with the packaging that electronics comes in Re clearing customs. I was wrong.... more...

...Chuck Dow, Director of Quality at Lantronix, discusses recent RoHS legislation and its global implications.... more...

...An article on the website of our sister publication, Purchasing magazine, finds there is a tight supply of RoHS compliant parts, "as manufacturers have not produced enough to meet demand, according to independent distributors." The article also notes there is a tight supply of non-compliant parts as well, since many component manufacturers have cut back their non-compliant production or stopped it altogether.... more...

...Following the success of the last annual Lead-Free Experience held at this year's Nepcon exhibition, the SMART Group has published its Lead-Free Experience 4 report, now available free of charge at www.smartgroup.org.... more...

...The UK DTI have published unofficial notes of the recent TAC meeting, including approval of exemptions, clarification of some scope issues, update on the work of the RoHS Enforcement Authorities Network and status the Categories 8 and 9 study.... more...

...Taiwan undertook a massive effort starting in 2005 to ensure that all domestic companies including SMEs that export to the European Union met all requirements of the EU's RoHS directive. This effort involved more than 4,000 companies at a cost of $6.2 million.... more...

...Group addresses assembly process and reliability requirements for SnPb and Pb-free modules iNEMI's High-Reliability RoHS Task Force has published guidelines regarding assembly processes and reliability requirements for RoHS5 and RoHS6 subassembly modules.... more...

...Does anyone really know how the authorities will enforce RoHS or which products they will initially target? The answer is yes. In May 2006, a group called the EU RoHS Enforcement Authorities Informal Network released a document called the "RoHS Enforcement Guidance Document" with detailed guidance on these questions. The document is aimed at both the authorities themselves and at industry.... more...

...China's home appliance manufacturers could see exports to the European Union plunge by a third because of failures to meet new standards on hazardous materials, an industry expert warned Tuesday. . . No Chinese companies in this sector were immune from the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS) Directive, said Yu, secretary-general of the chamber's Home Appliance Chapter .... more...

...FARNELL InOne, a leading source for RoHS compliant products and information, has issued a warning about old part numbers as the July 1 RoHS deadline comes into force, alerting design engineers about the dangers of simply assuming components are compliant.... more...

...OK International announces a series of enhancements that optimise existing Metcal MX-500 and SP200 systems for a simple, cost-effective transition to lead-free soldering... more...

...The EU’s Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive took effect this week and could have a short-term impact on pricing and availability of electronics and electrical goods, experts said . . .Mike Bellnier, vice-president of engineering services at storage systems maker Adaptec, said there was potential for "huge disruption" in the supply chain. "When we changed all the components on our products to comply with RoHS we had to change our manufacturing processes, our handling procedures, and our inventories," he said.... more...

...Palm's latest smartphone will no longer be shipped to Europe because it breaches EU regulations that limit the acceptable amount of hazardous substances in electronics goods. Palm stopped shipping the Treo 650 smartphone to Europe after 30 June to meet the requirements of the RoHS (restriction of hazardous substances) Directive, said Andy Brown, Palm's chief financial officer, during a conference call last week to discuss the company's financial results. The directive went into effect on Saturday.... more...

...RoHS enforcer NWML has been directed to take a tough stance over the new hazardous materials rules from day one as it starts to police the European Directive which came into law in the UK on July 1. According to the enforcement authority, its policy will be to try and "help those that are aiming to comply, and pursue vigorously those that intend to flout compliance with the regulations".... more...

...If you make or integrate electronics-based equipment or components and haven’t heard by now that the RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) European Directive deadline is tomorrow, July 1, 2006, you may have been living under a rock.... more...

...A ban on hazardous substances spells opportunity for new materials and electronic waste services.... more...

...A new company in Bloomington, Ind. has been launched to help manufacturers through the transition to RoHS-compliant electronic components. E-Certa (Environmentally Certified Electronic Trade Alliance), a consortium of five companies, was founded to bring technologies together to convert leaded components to RoHS compliant. This service is designed to help manufacturers that have an overstock of non-compliant parts.... more...

...Palm announced in its latest quarterly conference call that no more Treo 650 shipments will be sent to Europe because of new European environmental laws. The smartphone will be available from carriers until current inventory runs out. Palm has also promised a new Treo model designed for European markets before the end of the year to replace the Treo 650 and comply with the RoHS directive.... more...

... With just hours to go before the controversial RoHS (Restrictions on Certain Hazardous Substances) Directive passes into UK law on 1 July, the Professional Lighting and Sound Association (PLASA) has issued a warning to its members about the forthcoming EuP (Energy-using Products) Directive, which may have the potential to hit manufacturers even harder than RoHS.... more...

...Well today is "The Day," RoHS starts, but the furor continues. I would like to review some points: 1. The EU and the world are choking on WEEE . . . 2. The WEEE directive is a recycling law aimed at attacking this crisis... more...

...Y2K it's not. At least that was the consensus among distributors at the recent Electronic Distribution Show in Las Vegas, regarding the pending July 1 deadline for compliance with the European Union's Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive.... more...

...Beginning July 1, Taiwan's electronics industrial sector will face a real test from the Restriction of Hazardous Substance (RoHS) directive in view of the inconsistent standards for examinations and sampling among E.U. nations.... more...