RoHS, which is the acronym for "Restriction of Hazardous Substances", is a directive from the European Union (EU) that restricts the use of six substances in new electrical and electronic equipment that are placed on the market by July 1, 2006.
Distributors in the electronics industry are getting aggressive in educating the supply chain about the upcoming Reduction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) regulations. Using regional seminars, detailed Web-based lead-free information and databases containing composition data on electronic parts, distributors are trying to avert serious supply chain problems that may occur if manufacturers don’t quickly switch over to RoHS-compliant parts.
RoHS presents a potentially huge supply-chain discontinuity to electronics manufacturers and could increase costs significantly. Most Americasbased businesses have been slow to realize this fact. The seminars hosted by Avnet and i2 Technologies focused on the business issues companies need to address in their RoHS compliance plans and how to make an internal case to get well on the road to compliance in 2005.
Previously mentioned, the cataloge contains over 1,6000 parts with known RoHS compliance as well as a countdown to compliance and answers some of the most frequently asked questions.
A discussion of the most popular of the alternative finishes covering strengths and weaknesses. Includes Electroless nickel/immersion gold; Porous gold; Gold embrittlement; Black pad; Organic solder preservative; Immersion tin and immersion silver; Metallurgical effects of Pb-free finishes.
Farnell InOne releases the first RoHS Directive compliant catalogue containing over 1,600 RoHS-compliant products, from suppliers such as National Semiconductor, Epcos and AVX. The first issue is being mailed to over 160,000 customers across the UK and the rest of Europe.
Major industry players are applying for exemptions from the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive on the grounds of reliability. Tin whiskers can cause short circuits in PCB assemblies.
Pulse has started implementing the requirements of the legislation in the products it develops and manufactures. New products are being designed to be RoHS compliant and existing products are being evaluated and upgraded to be compliant with both the material and production process requirements of RoHS.
Oki Micro Engineering Co., an affiliate of Oki Electric, has eliminated lead-free soldering and hexavalent chromium-free steel sheet from its stepping motors.