Circuits Assembly - November 2008 - (Page 28)

Cover Story On the other side, one major consumer electronics provider received negative press from Greenpeace for the material content in its multimedia and Internet-enabled mobile phone. (Greenpeace felt the product did not do enough to reduce environmental impact.3) Medical companies should monitor the market to determine the significance of a product’s environmental friendliness and its impact on customer decisions. • Material supply – Multiple material considerations need to be taken into account: Component obsolescence. As components have moved to compliance, vendor capacity and/or component margins have motivated suppliers to obsolete certain components. “Many companies producing COTS parts have discontinued noncompliant versions now that they’re producing RoHS-compliant parts.”4 Material obsolescence needs to be monitored on a regular basis to ensure product continuity is not interrupted. For new product developments, medical OEMs should consider the impact of SnPb component obsolescence. Medical OEMs need to weigh the cost of product redesign and validation in the event of obsolete material versus establishing the necessary infrastructure within their organization to support environmental compliance. Component availability. In Benchmark’s experience, many vendors have shifted to RoHS-compliant components and the industry has stabilized; we see typical fluctuations in RoHS component availability based on industry demands. However, for SnPb components, especially throughhole components, availability and cost are changing. Vendors are reducing or elimiLife can be tough. nating some lower-margin through-hole components and increasing the price of Attending a trade show shouldn’t be. SnPb components, in some cases by 30%. “Those parts are still being produced, but their prices are likely to increase, since they will be produced in smaller quantities as the high-volume commercial industry shifts to RoHS-compliant parts.”5 This will impact both price and availability, potentially driving some companies to brokers for component supply, which leads to other associated risks. Component compatibility. Many SnPb components have been converted to RoHS compliant by switching the component lead finish to a non-lead material. These components are backwards compatible: They can be soldered with SnPb or Pb-free solders. There is, in some cases, potential for new Pb-finishes to develop tin whiskers. In addition, some component manufacturers will change the component lead finish for compliance, but the component’s maximum case temperature may not be February 24-25, 2009 able to handle the higher temperatures The first and only truly interactive, web-based event of Pb-free soldering. The greatest risk for for designers, fabricators and assemblers manufacturing process incompatibility is with BGA packages (Table 2, online). Network – learn – participate – If the OEM chooses to keep its prodfrom the comfort of your home or office! ucts SnPb, it needs to put processes in Learn more: www.virtual-pcb.com place to mitigate risks within the products. Component monitoring and BoM scrubs Circuits Assembly NOVEMBER 2008 circuitsassembly.com 28 http://www.virtual-pcb.com http://www.virtual-pcb.com http://www.circuitsassembly.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Circuits Assembly - November 2008

Circuits Assembly - November 2008 Contents Caveat Lector Industry News Market Watch Talking Heads Focus on Business On the Forefront Screen Printing Better Manufacturing RoHS Conversion for Medical Devices Supporting Full-Service Customer Requirements at the Regional EMS Level Speed Thrills Tech Tips Wave Soldering Process Doctor Pb-Free Lessons Learned The Defects Database Getting Lean Materials World Product Spotlight Ad Index Assembly Insider Technical Abstracts

Circuits Assembly - November 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.