India RoHS/WEEE

India recently published their e-waste (Management and Handling ) Rules, 2011. The rules cover both restrictions (RoHS) and disposal (WEEE). The materials, limits, and exemptions are the same as EU RoHS, but encompass a more limited scope and exemption expiration dates are not included. For more information, contact Craig Hillman chillman@dfrsolutions.com.

Medical Electronics and RoHS

Cheryl Tulkoff and Randy Schueller's article on "Developing a Reliability Test Plan for Lead Free Medical Electronics" was highlighted on the front cover of the November/December issue of Medical Electronics Design Magazine. For more information contact Cheryl Tulkoff, ctulkoff@dfrsolutions.com.

Lead-Free Reliability Workshop: Oct. 31st in Irvine, CA

IPC Conference on Reliability:
ASSEMBLY PROCESS for a RELIABLE PRODUCT

LEAD-FREE RELIABILITY WORKSHOP: October 31, 2011

CONFERENCE: November 1–2, 2011 • Irvine, Calif.

This unique event will take you through the assembly process — from materials to test and inspection — and provide you with the latest information so you can increase your reliability.

LEAD-FREE RELIABILITY WORKSHOP

October 31
10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Design for Reliability in the Lead-Free Era

Instructor: Cheryl Tulkoff, Senior Member of Technical Staff, DfR

This workshop provides a focused but comprehensive discussion of all issues that can arise during the transition to lead free. All areas of potential risk will be examined, including:
• popcorning
• tin whiskers
• plating failures associated with various solder materials
• plated-through hole (PTH) barrel cracking
• pad cratering
• thermomechanical wearout
• high-cycle fatigue

For each reliability concern, the latest research will be shared and you will learn the best ways to mitigate risk based on a product's design, materials, complexity, volumes and customer expectations of reliability. A final summary will provide you with a roadmap for ensuring the reliability of your lead-free product.

Who Should Attend?
This course is designed for engineers and manufacturing personnel who need to fully comprehend the characteristics of design for reliability (DFR) and how it applies to unique applications.

Register Now!

RoHS Part II Finally Arrives

The new RoHS Directive became law on July 21, 2011. Key points:

• No new restricted substances
• Nine (9) exclusion categories - military, space, transportation (trains, planes, autos), fixed installation, large industrial tools, off-road machinery (i.e., bulldozers), implantable devices, solar panels, and R&D equipment
• Compliance timeline - medical and monitoring/control have 3 years, in-vitro medical has 5 years, and industrial monitoring/control has 6
• Exemptions will end in 5-7 years, including telecom and high lead
• CE mark required
• Larger companies must go beyond certificates of compliance
• Your EU importer is now also liable
• Oh, and don't forget India

See how this differs from our reporting two years ago. What will this mean? More paperwork and more testing. Need help? Contact Craig Hillman, chillman@dfrsolutions.com.

Trends in Material Substitution

The fear of RoHS is starting to lead to some fascinating material substitutions, including halogen-free flame retardants and a nickel-tungsten replacement for hexavalent chrome. But, RoHS is not the only environmental legislation OEMs need to worry about. Conflict minerals is fast becoming the legislation of concern, with several organizations trying to direct the industry response. Some DfR customers are even eliminating tantalum capacitors from future designs (legislative obsolescence?). Confused and concerned? Contact Randy Schueller for assistance.

RoHS II Has Arrived

Approved two weeks ago by the European Parliament, this major update to environmental legislation does not provide too many surprises. Key things in the document to be aware of: no new restricted substances; there are nine (9) exclusion categories - military, space, transportation (trains, planes, autos), fixed installation, large industrial tools, off-road machinery (i.e., bulldozers), implantable devices, solar panels, and R&D equipment; medical and monitoring and control have three years to be compliant, in-vitro medical has five years to be compliant, and industrial monitoring and control has six years to be compliant; all exemptions will die out in five to seven years, including telecom / enterprise and high lead (Pb); and you will need a CE mark. For more information on RoHS, including compliance and transition, please contact Craig Hillman, chillman@dfrsolutions.com.

Environmental Legislation: The Latest News

EU RoHS
The latest proposed modifications to RoHS include covering ALL electronic equipment (that means military and avionics), elimination of brominated and chlorinated flame retardants (BFR / CFR), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and nanomaterials, and requiring a CE mark to demonstrate compliance. At the same time, consumer electronic companies are actively supporting the elimination of BFRs and PVCs. Why? Maybe because Greenpeace is watching closely and aggressively weighing in on each exemption.

US RoHS
The American RoHS is expanding through IEEE Standards 1680.2 and 1680.3. These standards expand beyond the current RoHS by banning Tetrabromobisphenol-A (TBBPA) and requiring inventorying of over 100 other substances. This will affect you because these standards drive the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) and all new government procurement must be compliant to EPEAT.

China RoHS
The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has released a new general requirements document for China RoHS. The biggest changes? The scope has broadened from Electronic
Information Products listed in a catalog to any Electronic and Electrical Products powered below 1500 VDC or 1000 VAC. In addition to the restricted six (Hg, Pb, Cd, Hex Cr, PBB, PBDE), there is the possibility of "State regulations of other harmful substances" and inspection will be performed at both entry AND exit and items will be subject to quarantine (say goodbye to the building of SnPb electronics in China).

Oh, and don't forget conflict metals and India RoHS.
Have a headache? Don't go for the aspirin. DfR helps hundreds of companies each year with the challenge of meeting environmental requirements, including Design for Environment (DfE). For more information, please contact Randy Schueller, rschueller@dfrsolutions.com.

Paying the Price for SnPb

Staying with SnPb? It's going to cost you. Forget that the latest technology is not even available SnPb (DDR2 and DDR3 SDRAM are only RoHS-compliant) and will require reprocessing (at $15 to $60 per part). Even parts that are still SnPb come with a 50% (512MB SDRAM) to 800% (2N222A NPN Transistors) price premium. Pb-free looking more enticing? Contact Cheryl Tulkoff, ctulkoff@dfrsolutions.com, to learn about DfR's turnkey Pb-free services, including BOM scrub, process review, construction analysis, product qualification, and reliability predictions.

Industry Response to RoHS

The electronics industry continues to respond to the pressures of environmental legislation. The use of Pb-free solder continues to rise, with current Pb-free levels projected to increase to 90% of all solder by 2011. This evolution is being driven by the transition to Pb-free assemblies in non-consumer markets, such as telecom, high-end servers, automotive and medical. For more information on preparing for this transition, please contact Randy Schueller, rschueller@dfrsolutions.com or Cheryl Tulkoff, ctulkoff@dfrsolutions.com.

What about China RoHS?

Last October, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released the Key Administrative Catalog for the Pollution Control of Electronic Information Products (Batch 1). This document, which identifies the specific products covered by China RoHS, is currently limited to phones and printers. Additional versions covering other equipment are expected. While some exemptions are allowed, the biggest concern is the requirement for testing at specified labs in China. For more information, please contact Randy Kong, rkong@dfrsolutions.com.

...and where will RoHS be Tomorrow?

As made clear in the IPC and our ruminations, the consumer industry is supportive of RoHS expansion. And the EU is willing to oblige. The rapporteur is now recommending that all electrical equipment be covered under RoHS and all brominated and chlorinated flame retardants be banned (see the full proposal and arguments.) Amendments are possible until end of February and an initial vote is not expected until late April, so stay tuned. For more information on RoHS, please contact Craig Hillman, chillman@dfrsolutions.com.

Where is RoHS Today...

The last half of 2009 was rife with predictions on the status of RoHS2, including the mysterious 11th Category, exemption recommendations, and DfR's own insight. However, all speculation ceased when the proposed RoHS2 was released. While a more complete list of changes is provided here, the biggest ones are:
• Medical and Monitoring / Control Equipment will be covered
• The list of banned substances has NOT changed
• Compliance to RoHS will now require the CE mark
• All lead (Pb) solder/plating exemptions remained, but will be phased out in four years

Counterfeits Continue to Proliferate

The occurrence of counterfeit parts has skyrocketed over the past several years as component life cycles have become shorter and RoHS and WEEE legislations have introduced additional opportunities for counterfeiting. While the introduction of these fakes into defense and aerospace programs is especially concerning, there is one piece of good news: Counterfeiters can get caught. For more information, please contact Nathan Blattau, nblattau@dfrsolutions.com