March 5, 2010: EU REACH: The Continued March of Candidate SVHC Lists and the Authorization Process – What’s Next? InCompliance Magazine. What is next for REACH and what does it all mean to manufacturers of electronic components and products?
December, 2009: US awaits first state law on safer chemicals in products Chemical Watch (Briefing). California’s legislature is to propose rules to deliver the State’s Green Chemistry Initiative next February. Geraint Roberts and Emma Chynoweth track preparations and stakeholder input. (subscription required)
November 30, 2009: California Agency Plans to Propose Green Chemistry Rules in February BNA Chemical Regulation Reporter®. The California Department of Toxic Substances Control is on track to unveil in February proposed rules to reduce toxic chemicals in consumer products.
November 17, 2009: ROHS-like House bill travels a bumpy road EDN. A US House of Representatives bill focused on the same six elements in the European Union’s ROHS directive is causing controversy in the electronics industry as it pits industry groups against each other.
October 16, 2009: Phones, printers will be first to be tested under China RoHS Purchasing. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) recently released its Key Administrative Catalog for the Pollution Control of Electronic Information Products (Batch 1).
August 25, 2009: Tech industry challenges e-cycling programs EDN. NYC's electronics recycling law raises the ire of the industry...are we starting to regret the NEPSI failure, perhaps?
August 24, 2009: Certified Green: A chemical industry standard could clarify the meaning of going green ACS Chemical & Engineering News. What it means to be green could soon become clearer. Proponents of green chemistry and engineering have started an effort to create a comprehensive industry standard that unambiguously identifies greener chemicals and process technologies. [DCA's "Environment Facts" label mock-up is featured]
August 13, 2009: Elections for New European Parliament: Impact on Environmental Policy Making TTI MarketEye. At the beginning of June 2009, citizens of the EU’s 27 Member States voted in elections for a new European Parliament. Although the turnout was fairly low (less than 50%), the results were remarkable.
June 18, 2009: Get ready for REACH and RoHS 2 Purchasing. The expanding number of environmental regulations that impact electronics around the world can make your head spin.
June 9, 2009: A Quick Look at California's Green Chemistry Initiative TTI MarketEye. A review of the current status and issues in the development of this chemical regulatory framework by Mike Kirschner. JIG-101 ed. 2 is also reviewed.
April 21, 2009: ROHS changes keep design engineers vigilant EDN. The challenge for design engineers is to track changes in the ROHS directive and match those changes against their current and future BOMs.
April 9, 2009: DTSC Announces Members of New Green Ribbon Science Panel for California´s Green Chemistry Program California Chronicle. Cal/EPA´s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) today announced the selection of 27 members to the state´s new Green Ribbon Science Panel, an advisory panel created for California´s Green Chemistry program, an innovative approach to removing or reducing toxic chemicals in products sold in California.
April 6, 2009: The Evolution of Environmental Compliance Reporting TTI MarketEye. Joel Russeau looks at what is driving material disclosure requirements and how companies should think about the challenge.
March, 2009: In One Place Mechanical Engineering. Issues ranging from regulatory compliance to finance influence the success of a project. Although there is no single tool to guide engineers through it all, people are working on it.
February 25, 2009: The Greenest Notebook Computer...Fact or Fiction? Green SupplyLine. Apple's making some pretty extraordinary claims; how true are they?
February 13, 2009: MarketEye: Introduction to the MarketEye Environmental & Supply Chain Page TTI. Read Tom Valliere's new column at passives distributor TTI.
January 26, 2009: Obama and the environment: new policies could produce more electronics regulation, opportunity EDN. Barack Obama has made the environment a priority in his administration. And the electronics industry will likely feel the impact as the new president of the United States changes federal environmental policies.
January 7, 2009: When Product Safety and the Environment Appear to Collide: The Defeat of the Candle Flame Ignition Requirement Conformity. In 2000, the U.S. National Association of State Fire Marshals (NASFM) began to promote the idea that electronics in the home could be susceptible to ignition by a candle flame, and proposed that electronic enclosures should be designed to resist ignition from such an event. This is the inside story of why that was a bad idea, and how a world-wide coalition of scientists, researchers, NGOs, firefighters, and others rescued the electronics industry from creating an environmental disaster.
December 16, 2008: Industry frustrated by EU RoHS, WEEE proposals CleanTerra. Good intentions sometimes fall short of the target. That seems to be the consensus from industry on a few of the elements of the European Commission's proposal to revise RoHS and WEEE that was announced December 3.
December 6, 2008: EU proposes RoHS and WEEE changes EE Digest. According to compliance consulting firm, Design Chain Associates, the European Commission this week proposed changes to both RoHS and WEE directives on its website.
December 1, 2008: What's in a Name? Printed Circuit Design & Fab. WEEE, RoHS and REACH are the three big names behind the movement, but what do these acronyms represent?
November/December, 2008: Let's Go Europe Mother Jones. The EU embraced sustainability. Could Brussels' green economy sprout in America? Intrepid environmental investigative reporter Mark Schapiro asks the question...what's the answer?
November 2008: One Bad Apple CIE. While most of the media attention has been given to counterfeit finished goods, Design Chain Associates, LLC has focused on counterfeit components that go into otherwise legitimate products.
October 21, 2008: Squeezing carbon from the electronics supply chain EDN. "Many people know the buzzwords, but there aren’t many that can actually define what a carbon footprint is,” Ken Stanvick, cofounder and principal of San Francisco-based consultancy Design Chain Associates, said.
September 30, 2008: The Brainstorm: Should the U.S. employ RoHS-like standards for imported products? Product Design & Development. Arguments can be made for or against it. In fact, within DCA the best we could do is reach consensus that it would be relatively straightforward, low cost, and harmless to implement (and not just for imported product, but for domestic as well; if implemented for imported product only it would be readily shot down as a trade barrier).
September 29, 2008: Distributors Drive REACh Response EE Tech Brief. An initial list of 16 hazardous chemicals was released at the end of June 2008, but additional substances may be proposed as often as twice a year, reported Kirschner.
September 29, 2008: Getting on the SIN List chem.info. The European Union (EU) environmental NGOs, via The International Chemical Secretariat (otherwise known as ChemSec, an agency that provides chemical expertise to the EU), has published its infamous SIN list-or in other words, Substitute It Now-for identifying candidate substances of very high concern.
September 23, 2008: REACH Update: 300 Chemicals on SIN List Printed Circuit Design & Fab. The EU environmental NGOs, via The International Chemical Secretariat today introduced a list of some 300 chemical substances considered of “very high concern” and suitable for disclosing, says Design Chain Associates.
September 18, 2008: REACH update: 'Substitute It Now' Substances of Very High Concern list released. EDN. Electronics supply chain watchers at Design Chain Associates reported that the SIN list was introduced at a conference held Wednesday in Brussels. The European Chemicals Agency had published a proposed list of 16 substances earlier this month. Design Chain Associates had its director of EU law and policy, Kris Pollet, at the Brussels meeting and reported that the European Chemicals Agency expects the first candidate list to be approved on October 22.
September 8, 2008: Commentary: REACH gains ground EE Times. If you thought complying with RoHS was a nightmare, brace yourself for REACH.
August 28, 2008: Blog: RoHS 2 Circuits Assembly. Circuits Assembly recently spoke to Ken Stanvick, an expert on RoHS – now having been in effect for more than two years – and one of three cofounders of Design Chain Associates. When asked when and if medical electronics would be affected by the regulation, he laughed. "If I had the answers, I’d give you the lottery numbers," he said.
August 18, 2008: Eco-friendly mobiles require a battle on many fronts RCRWireless. So is it really that easy to make a mobile phone "Eco-friendly"?
August 18, 2008: Green Engineering: Engineering the future EE Times. Gone are the days when design was, well, design. Today it's design-for-manufacturability, design-for-quality, design-for-cost, and yes, design-for-environment.
August 18, 2008: Green Engineering: Tech comes clean EE Times. ...We are in the early stages of an investment boom that will last 20 to 30 years. To date, the cleantech business has been driven by a relatively small number of venture capitalists and entrepreneurial companies. But that's now changing.
July 29, 2008: IPC Survey Reveals Electronics Industry Not Prepared for REACH Circuitnet. The press release from IPC; includes a comment from Mike Kirschner. Note that Mike is presenting a workshop on REACH at IPC Midwest.
July 1, 2008: REACH Compliance for Non-EU Article Manufacturers Conformity. An article by Michael Kirschner of DCA discussing some of the more serious issues REACH will have for product manufacturers based outside of the European Union. Click here for the PDF version of the article.
June 12, 2008: RoHS cost: $32 billion and counting Purchasing. An updated and expanded story from the one published two months ago. [ed. note - DCA worked with TFI on the survey, analysis, and report for CEA]
May 1, 2008: REACH will be the next supply chain regulation challenge Purchasing. The law will affect the electronics industry because many substances are used in electronics products and OEMs will have to make sure those substances are registered if they bring the substances into the EU for manufacturing.
April 18, 2008: RoHS has cost the electronics industry more than $32 billion Purchasing. A survey of OEMs, electronics manufacturing services (EMS) providers and component manufacturers finds that initial compliance to the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) initiative cost the electronics industry $32 billion. [ed. note - DCA worked with TFI on the survey, analysis, and report for CEA]
April 18, 2008: IP Symposium: Electronics counterfeiting has hit an epidemic level VentureBeat. At the IP Symposium in San Jose this week, the scope of the problem was laid bare. Surely, there have to be opportunities for start-ups in fighting this problem.
April 8, 2008: European Court of Justice annuls Deca-BDE RoHS exemption Electronics Supply & Manufacturing. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has annulled the decabromodiphenyl ether (Deca-BDE) exemption to the EU Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive, dated October 2005 (Decision 2005/717/EC), stating that the European Commission used an incorrect criterion, an EU risk assessment as the basis for exemption. This enters into force on July 1, 2008. [In addition to having his own consultancy in Brussels, Kris Pollet is DCA's Director of EU Law & Policy]
March 27, 2008: Webinar: Counterfeiting a ‘Real’ Issue Circuits Assembly. High-tech products make up four of the top 10 border seizures, while one of every 10 IT products is counterfeit. So says Design Chain Associates senior vice president Tom Valliere, in a Webinar today on counterfeiting in the electronics supply chain.
March 14, 2008: GOING GREEN, And what that may mean to telecom RCR Wireless News. When “going green” sometimes means having large polluters pay for lavish advertisements focused on how much they care about the earth, it helps to look beyond platitudes to tangible specifics.
March/April, 2008: Chemical Regulation Challenges Industry ASTM Standardization News. An Interview with Michael Kirschner, Nina McClelland and Michael Taubitz
February, 2008: China RoHS: Hurry Up, Now Wait Distribution Insider. Not since the furor over the Y2K bug has an impending event caused such angst in the electronics supply chain – only to be followed by a collective letdown. [ed. note: We do not recall such angst about China RoHS phase 2...or ANY expectation that it would go in to effect on Jan 1, 2008]
January 21, 2008: Outlook 2008: Preparation for REACH, State Legislation Likely to Consume Chemical Industry's Time Chemical Regulation Reporter (Special Report) [subscription only]. Getting ready for the European Union's Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) regulation, addressing U.S. state legislation involving chemicals, and supporting a North American chemicals agreement will dominat the chemical industry's time in 2008, according to interviews with industry officials.
December, 2007: REACH Exceeds Industry’s Grasp? IHS Aviation & Defense Industry Trends. For many OEMs, the title of the regulation seems to imply that they are not at risk.
October 15, 2007: RoHS revamp may add pitfalls EE Times. The European Union is reviewing its Restriction of Hazardous Substances directive and is expected to recommend tweaks that would make RoHS clearer, simpler and perhaps a bit broader. Companies selling electronics products into EU markets should be aware of the possible modifications on the table.
October 13, 2007: Schwarzenegger Terminates State RoHS Bill Circuits Assembly. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday vetoed a bill that proposed to significantly expand the RoHS statutes mandated by the California Waste Recycling Act.
September 19, 2007: Why electronics companies need to worry about REACH Electronics Supply & Manufacturing. Electronic products are manufactured with and from literally thousands of chemical substances. Most substances will be subject to registration under the REACH legislation, and certain substances of very high concern will be subject to authorization, which could eventually result in their restriction.
September, 2007: Norway’s arsenic purge could impact GaAs Compound Semiconductor. On December 15, Norway is planning to adopt legislation that will ban consumer products containing arsenic compounds in amounts of more than 0.01% by weight of the product’s “homogenous component parts”.
August 8, 2007: Busting the Myths About Counterfeiting SourceESB. Tom Valliere busts some myths while validating others.
August 1, 2007: Electronics Recycling in Korea Circuits Assembly. A joint DCA/EcoFrontier-authored article on the new Korea RoHS/ELV regulation that goes in to force on January 1, 2008.
April 30, 2007: Stakeholders Mull Need for Strategy To Address Emerging Chemical Issues Chemical Regulation Reporter (Special Report) [subscription only]. European regulations, U.S. state laws and purchasing policies, and increased attention to chemicals are spurring the need for a national or international strategy to address emerging issues related to chemicals, officials from a range of industries, nongovernmental organizations, and academia told BNA in interviews over the past two months.
April 15, 2007: Managing Counterfeiting in the Supply Chain EE Times Distribution Insider. A supply chain pedigree for every part...
April 9, 2007: Pending environmental legislation in California may impact the electronics industry Green SupplyLine. A DCA-written review of nine environment-related bills in the current legislative session in California that could impact the electronics industry if passed.
April, 2007: RoHS in China Conformity 2007 Engineer's Reference Guide. An updated version of the well-received, DCA-written treatise on China RoHS previously published in October 2006.
March 9, 2007: RoHS audits prove due diligence Green SupplyLine. A DCA-written article about why and how to go about auditing your business processes to ensure your continued ability to ship RoHS-compliant products to Europe.
February 27, 2007: China RoHS: Ready or not, it’s here Electronic News. Whether or not you saw it coming, the first phase of China RoHS concerning product “mark and disclosure” will arrive this Thursday. And the overwhelming question to the electronics supply chain is: Are you ready?
February, 2007: China "RoHS" Gives Companies False Sense of Security CMP's Distribution Insider. When the Chinese government announced the passage of its environmental protection legislation entitled, “Administrative Measure for the Control of Pollution Caused by Electronic Information Products” (Administrative Measure), members of the electronics supply chain quickly nicknamed the regulation “China RoHS.” Although doing this may have made it easier to refer to the standard in discussions among trading partners, it may have also unwittingly set up members of the supply chain for some serious turmoil after the March 1, 2007, deadline.
February 15, 2007: China RoHS demands more from buyers Purchasing. “The materials that are restricted [targeted - ed.] by the two laws are the same, but that's about where the similarities end,” says Michael Kirschner, president of Design Chain Associates, a San Francisco consultancy that advises OEMs about environmental issues. “The laws are different in a number of ways.”.
January 29, 2007: China RoHS - The Hottest Topic in Environmental Compliance Design News. Podcast - Rob Spiegel interviews Mike Kirschner about China RoHS...and US RoHS.
December 14, 2006: Next Wave of Outsourcing Will Focus on OEMs' Direct Costs Evertiq. A common theme arose during the discussions at TFI's Quarterly Forum last week: knee-jerk reactions on the part of OEMs and their manufacturing partners to the challenges of global electronics manufacturing are not working.
December 13, 2006: Technology Forecasters Quarterly Forum - China RoHS, India, Supply Chain Maturity, and more EMSNow. TFI President Pam Gordon and Design Chain Associates President Michael Kirschner took a look six months on from the EU's deadline and examined how well OEMs and EMS suppliers have made the transition to RoHS compliance.
November/December 2006: The Muscles From Brussels Mother Jones. For years, Dell Computer Corp. was known as one of the tech industry's environmental slackers; in 2003, green groups gave it an "F" on a "clean computer" report card. Today, Dell has a program to recycle almost all of its PCs, has purged new products of six toxic substances, and is working to remove other hazardous materials.
November 7, 2006: EuP: The coming regulation storm, Part 2 InfoWorld. Allowing energy attribute information about materials to flow up and down the supply chain is where IT must shine, Kirschner says.
November 1, 2006: Ahead of regulations Electronics Supply & Manufacturing. A DCA-written editorial on why the electronics industry is not viewed as "green" and thoughts on how to address the challenge.
October 24, 2006: China Label Law a Sticky Situation Circuits Assembly. Effective March 1, China will require labels on products sold to end-users that contain any substances that can be considered to fall under any of the six RoHS classes. But two problems persist: What the labels will look like, and the particulars of how companies will comply. Of particular concern are the unknowns at play preventing companies from compliance.
October 23, 2006: Global Chemical Policy Pains Chemical & Engineering News. Fed up with hand-wringing and last-minute scrambling, U.S. manufacturers taken unawares by European Union directives affecting chemicals are beginning to talk with each other. Companies are pledging to work across industry sectors to learn about plans for chemical-related regulations anywhere in the world.
October 19, 2006: EU’s REACH Laws Not Far Off Circuits Assembly. Recap of the Oct. 18 2006 DCA/EPTAC webcast on REACH.
October 18, 2006: Europe forcing higher energy standards Marketplace (American Public Media). The EU is set to adopt new, tougher energy efficiency standards for consumer products there. Host Kai Ryssdal talks to industry consultant Mike Kirschner about how the move might impact American businesses. See ACTION PLAN FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY: REALISING THE POTENTIAL.
October 14, 2006: Substance Regulations, more law! (Think you escaped RoHS unscathed? Think again!) EuroAsia Semiconductor. A DCA-written article that covers China RoHS and REACH.
October 1, 2006: RoHS In China - An Introduction Conformity. A DCA-written article that covers what it is, why it's not really a "RoHS" (yet), and what you need to be doing to ensure compliance with it.
September 19, 2006: Counterfeiting Moves Up the Technology Ladder SourceESB. Counterfeit components have long been a problem in the electronics industry, but lately, parts counterfeiters are becoming more technically savvy.
September 1, 2006: The World Confronts Its E-waste Nightmare OnEarth (Natural Resources Defense Council). Do a quick inventory. How many old PCs, cell phones, TVs, game consoles, and other discarded electronic gadgets are gathering dust in your closets, basement, or garage? Now multiply that by 100 million households -- and that's just in the United States.
September 1, 2006: China flexes environmental muscles Electronic Business. Just when the electronics industry thought it had cleared one of its toughest regulatory hurdles in years—the European Union's RoHS directive, which took effect in July—it will face what could be an even steeper challenge from China.
August 21, 2006: Design priorities shift in a post-RoHS world Electronic Engineering Times. "Being RoHS-compliant or not needs to be a product requirement from the start, because everything you do from that point on supports that decision," said Design Chain Associates' [Ken] Stanvick.
August 1, 2006: RoHS under fire Electronics Supply & Manufacturing. The July 1 deadline for RoHS compliance passed quietly. But the volume has been turned up on an engineering community debate that is deeply critical of the directive.
July 28, 2006: After RoHS comes REACH, Part 2 Design News. “We know the Europeans are working with China on a law similar to REACH,” says Michael Kirschner, president of Design Chain Associates, a San Francisco company that consults on environmental compliance. “They’re trying to help China draft chemical policy. California is not quite at the point of saying yes to REACH-like laws, but the state senate has commissioned a study on chemical policy.”
July 21, 2006: Bisphenol-A and phthalates banned from electronic toys Green SupplyLine. San Francisco bans certain phthalates and bisphenol-A in toys and child care items for infants and toddlers under 3 years old. So what does this mean to the electronics industry? It could mean the end of toys for the very young that contain electronics ... in San Francisco. I guess we'll just have to drive to Daly City to get our hazardous toys from now on...4/11/07 UPDATE: SAN FRANCISCO - Supervisors tweak ordinance banning 'toxic' child products The supervisors repealed a section of the law that bans toys and child care products made with bisphenol A, a plastic hardener found in polycarbonate baby bottles, food containers and toys. In a year, the supervisors will reconsider a bisphenol A ban if the state Legislature has not done so.
July 21, 2006: After RoHS comes REACH Design News. REACH has been called “RoHS on steroids” because of its potential to force the electronics industry to revamp components to avoid the inclusion of toxic chemicals not addressed by RoHS.
July 15, 2006: Waiting for the RoHS Enforcement Electronic News. With the July 1 Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) deadline now past, manufacturers are breathing a collective sigh of relief. Most are compliant with the directive. Yet questions persist over what the European Union’s (EU) enforcement will entail.
July 7, 2006: Palm 'hiccup' highlights EU enviro regulations RCR Wireless News. The deadline for compliance with the European Union's laws on hazardous substances in consumer goods came and went on July 1 without much fanfare...
June 15, 2006: RoHS enforcement rules still unclear Purchasing Magazine. While the electronics industry has spent billions of dollars to comply with the European Union's Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive, it is unclear how the law will be enforced.
June 15, 2006: RoHS: The tip of the environmental iceberg Purchasing Magazine. The good news is most large OEMs and electronics manufacturing services (EMS) providers say they are in compliance with the law and have the necessary documentation to prove it. The bad news is any buyer who thinks RoHS compliance is the endgame of environmental regulation is sadly mistaken. [NOTE: this article contains some incorrect and misleading information on China, South Korea, and California.]
June 9, 2006: Each RoHS law is different Design News. The RoHS-style environmental laws written in Europe, Korea, China or California are slightly different in each region, and the differences appear in critical areas...
June 2, 2006: Pass/fail: RoHS deadline leaves no room for 99% compliant Green SupplyLine. ...[T]here is a category of companies that despite comprehensive compliance efforts will have a product that just falls short of RoHS conformance.
June 1, 2006: EU prompts electronics industry to curb toxins International Herald Tribune. A tough European Union law that limits toxic substances in electronic devices takes effect July 1, and companies that want to do business on the continent are racing to comply by redesigning their products. (also in the Boston Globe)
June 1, 2006: Korean Environmental Laws – A conversation with Michael Kirschner Design News. Korea recently issued RoHS-like environmental laws. To gain some understanding of the new regulations, we turned to Michael Kirschner, president of the San Francisco-based consulting company, Design Chain Associates, LLC.
May 25, 2006: Purchasers face new environmental deadline Purchasing. [T]here is another environmental deadline on the horizon. The Energy Using Products (EuP) law is scheduled to go into effect August 2007.
May 22, 2006: U.K. takes the lead in RoHS implementation Green SupplyLine. A company needs to demonstrate that it has RoHS-compliant processes in place. "A lot of companies think due diligence is just showing a certificate of compliance from a supplier," said Stanvick.
May 18, 2006: Watch out for bogus RoHS parts Purchasing. The threat of counterfeit parts is not a new problem for electronics buyers, but it could take on a new wrinkle as the deadline for the European Union's Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive approaches. Buyers could soon see counterfeit RoHS parts hit the open market. These would be parts that are billed as RoHS compliant, but in fact are not.
May 1, 2006: Now S. Korea issues environmental controls Electronics Supply & Manufacturing. Add South Korea to the growing list of nations imposing environmental controls on the global electronics industry. On March 30, the country published proposed legislation, titled "The Act for Resource Recycling of Electrical/Electronic Products and Automobiles," and submitted it to the World Trade Organization.
May 2006: Bogus! IEEE Spectrum ...For the manufacturer whose product line has been compromised, a less tangible but still significant problem is the tarnishing of the company's image and brand. Counterfeiters also cheat legitimate manufacturers by bypassing the research, development, and marketing that went into the original product... [ed. note: DCA was interviewed for this article but no content was credited, though much is directly attributable; we are listed as a "resource" at the end of the article]
April 14, 2006: First look at Korea RoHS legislation Green SupplyLine. Korea issued its RoHS/WEEE/ELV-like legislation called "The Act for Resource Recycling of Electrical/Electronic Products and Automobiles” to the World Trade Organization (WTO) on March 30, 2006.
March 27, 2006: China RoHS scope clarified Green SupplyLine. The scope, described in Chapter 1, Article 3, paragraph (1) of the law, extends across most of the familiar territory of the EU RoHS directive with some notable differences...
March 23, 2006: Testing the Tester ElectronicNews. Note: We'd like to point out that XRF is primarily and effectively a surface analysis technique; it's field of depth is "centimeters" only in sparse substances like air...it's far less in most electronic components.
March 7, 2006: China releases its RoHS law Green SupplyLine. On February 28, 2006, China finally promulgated its final version of the RoHS directive, the “Administration on the Control of Pollution Caused by Electronic Information Products”. It is now slated to be in force on March 1, 2007.
March 5, 2006: Is Asia Ready for RoHS? ElectronicNews. With less than four months to go before the July 1, 2006 deadline for RoHS compliance, Asia’s ability to meet the directive’s demands is still largely unknown.
March 1, 2006: It's tough to be green Electronic Business. "At least one source has said this transition will cost the industry $20 billion over the next decade. Others say this estimate might even be a little conservative."
March 1, 2006: IPC standard revs up Electronics Supply & Manufacturing. The RoHS deadline is fast approaching and a standard format for communicating materials-declaration information across the supply chain has finally arrived, three months behind schedule [more like eight months! - ed.].
February 21, 2006: Standards arrive late for materials declaration Design News. Yeah but better late than never.
February 9, 2006: Are Two Standards Better Than One? Electronic Business. Those involved with ECD are quick to point out the standard does not compete with IPC-1752. “ECD is an open-source Excel-based version of 1752,” explained Michael Kirschner, president of San Francisco-based consulting company Design Chain Associates.
February 8, 2006: Content Declaration May Hurt IP ElectronicNews. ...many component suppliers are getting nervous about sending complete materials content information to their manufacturing customers. If they reveal everything contained in their component, they may be giving away their intellectual property (IP).
February 1, 2006: Why Should WEEE Care? GreenBiz. Don't procrastinate, ignore it, or hope it will go away. Don't assume it won't apply to you if you don't export to Europe -- because your customers may.
February 1, 2006: Full Disclosure Circuits Assembly. Mike Kirschner explains what the RoHS disclosure requirements REALLY are, what the challenges are, and how to address them in this article.
February 1, 2006: Still a long way to go Electronics Supply & Manufacturing. With five months before the European Union's Restriction of Hazardous Substances directive goes into effect, results from a survey conducted by Electronics Supply & Manufacturing and Design Chain Associates indicate that many companies will not meet the July 1 deadline.
February 1, 2006: Gear Up Electronics Supply & Manufacturing. Ecodesign is about to rock your world. A raft of new environmental regulations in Europe, Japan, China and parts of North America is forcing fundamental changes on the electronics supply chain, though industry sources say the process will take years to play out.
January 11, 2006: Are Counterfeit Parts Going Compliant? Source ESB. An industry participant responded to Lasky’s concern with this disturbing comment: “I have already heard reports of counterfeit lead-free solder coming in from China.” He goes on to note “It used to be that buying counterfeit parts put you in jeopardy with your production, quality or reliability. Now counterfeit parts may put you in legal jeopardy.”
January 10, 2006: China to postpone RoHS legislation Green Supply Line. Co-authored with a legal team from Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, this article is based on a conversation we had with Mr. Huang Jianzhong of China's Ministry of Information Industry regarding the material restriction, testing, and labeling law commonly known as "China RoHS".
December 14, 2005: RoHS deadline: Closer to ready Source ESB. The road to compliance has taken longer than most parts suppliers anticipated. Last year, more than 60 percent of suppliers expected to cross the line into shipping the majority of their orders with compliant parts during 2005. Only 36 percent actually achieved that self-set deadline. Now, most suppliers don’t expect to cross the 50 percent threshold for shipping green parts until 2006 or beyond.
December 7, 2005: Counterfeiters Compliant Electronic News. In one of the strangest twists in the industry’s move to green components, some of the companies hawking counterfeit parts are claiming their parts are Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) compliant.
December 4, 2005: Fill in the blanks: China's open-ended RoHS requirements raise concern Green SupplyLine. Creating environmental laws for the electronics industry that are globally standardized would be the least painful path to green electronics. However, China's new RoHS legislation, though inspired by the European Union's RoHS directive, seems to diverge from that goal.
December 1, 2005: RoHS Challenges Facing Design Process Avnet Advantage December 2005. For design engineers, component supply is only one aspect of preparing products for lead-free production. A number of production-related challenges are also part of the re-design process. “Some of their traditional design software systems or component selection software will have to be upgraded,” says Ken Stanvick, senior vice president at Design Chain Associates, a San Francisco-based consulting firm that specializes in the design aspects of the conversion to RoHS-compliant products.
November 30, 2005: China Creates Confusion as It Models Electronics Rules on European Directive (print only) BNA. China's proposed regulations to restrict the use of hazardous substances in electronic products will create significant new requirements for industry, but also leave a large degree of uncertainty in many areas, according to experts interviewed by BNA.
October 30, 2005: Materials declaration lacking and full of errors Design News. “About 20 percent of the declaration data contains errors of one sort or another.” [Michael Kirschner] notes that one declaration statement listed epoxy as a metal."
October 3, 2005: Alert: China RoHS released to WTO Green Supplyline Blog. "...the requirements appear to be far broader in terms of both coverage, as well as notification for issues such as labelling, defining a "safe use life", hazardous materials contained, packaging materials, and so on, than what the European Union is already asking the industry to do..."
October 1, 2005: Asserting supply chain control Electronic Business. "OEMs are losing their relationships with component suppliers," says Tom Valliere, senior vice president of supply chain consultancy Design Chain Associates.
October 1, 2005: Lead-free journey Electronics Supply & Manufacturing. Hitachi is getting a jump on Europe's lead-free legislation. But achieving compliance is only the first of several difficult steps manufacturers must take to safeguard their supply chains.
September 29, 2005: New EU Directive Targets Product Lifecycle Design News. A new wide-ranging directive coming out of the European Union this summer may ultimately be more of a challenge than RoHS or WEEE. The Energy-using Products directive (EuP) encompasses the entire lifecycle of a product, from design and manufacturing through use and disposal. [note - EuP has no legal requirements ... yet. Stay tuned-]
September 7, 2005: Who Foots the Bill? Electronic News. The bookkeeping necessary to keep up with environmental compliance legislation is poised to grow exponentially, adding significantly to the cost and complexity of creating and managing electronics across the supply chain -- from the smallest components to the OEMs that brand them.
September, 2005: The Lead Free Deadline Is Fast Approaching … Are You Ready? Inside Supply Management. See Ken Stanvick's 10-step implementation plan.
August 31, 2005: Design Engineers Become Compliance Regulators. Avnet Advantage August 2005. As the electronics industry moves to lead-free products, the design engineer is becoming the front line soldier fighting to avoid non-compliant products.
August 25, 2005: EuP: The EU’s Latest Directive. Electronic News. The European Union has added the Directive on the Eco-design of Energy-using Products, or EuP, to its growing list of environmental compliance policies...
August 24, 2005: Psst, Do You Know What’s in Your MP3 Player?. Electronic News. ...“There’s enormous room for error,” said Michael Kirschner, president of Design Chain Associates, a consulting firm that focuses on environmental issues. “We’ve seen some manufacturers supply an enormous amount of information while others supply zero or are scrambling under a mountain of requests.”...
August 22, 2005: Materials Documentation Still a Mess. Design News. One of the thorniest issues in the conversion to lead-free electronics is compliance information. The International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI) worked with the IPC, the electronic industry’s packaging group, to offer a standard for collecting, tracking, and disclosing information on the material content of components, but so far the standard has done little to alleviate the confusion about RoHS certification and material content information. [ed. - in part that's because it's not an approved or accepted standard yet...]
August 20, 2005: U.S. manufacturers face deadline to get the lead out. San Jose Mercury News. Many small manufacturers in the United States are in danger of missing a deadline to remove lead and other hazardous substances from electronic products sold in Europe.
August 17, 2005: Wishing Won't Make It So. Wall Street Journal - Business Europe. The "train wreck" facing the electronics industry this week -- owing to many companies' failure to keep up with increasing global requirements for environmental performance -- was completely avoidable. It raises concerns about the level of fiduciary duty exercised by business leaders who should have done a better job of seeing it coming, and of preventing it. An Editorial by DCA, Natural Logic, and Technology Forecasters.
August 1, 2005: Chapter 4: Compliance & Transitional Issues. Electronic Design's Guide to New International Environmental Laws eBook. Has everyone who should comply with the European Union’s Restrictions on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive actually done so? According to several industry sources, consultants, analysts, and two new surveys, not nearly everyone is in compliance
July, 2005: Survey Results. Green Supply Line. We sent a survey invitation to nearly 2000 of the 3000 people who have attended our webinars, netseminars, and Deadline to Lead-Free seminars asking them where in the RoHS and WEEE compliance process their company is. We had great response (as these things go), with 174 completed surveys. So what did you say? Read on!
July, 2005: Supply Chain Challenges. Electronics Supply & Manufacturing Magazine. What are your suppliers' challenges? Available in print only.
June 14, 2005: Cops Of The Global Village. Fortune Magazine. An excellent overview of why the EU, and perhaps China, is so far ahead of the US in driving corporate social responsibility in a number of areas.
June 1, 2005: The "greening" of the supply chain. Electronic Business. "It's hard not to get a little panicky over Europe's impending Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS)."
April 1, 2005: The Next Big Design Challenge. Electronics Supply & Manufacturing Magazine. "[D]esigning for the environment will become a major issue as countries set strict recycling and reuse standards and limit the use of harmful materials. Companies that get ahead of the curve will have a competitive advantage."
March 10, 2005: Electronics, unleaded: New European rules will force electronics firms to eliminate toxic substances and take back and recycle their products. The Economist.
March 1, 2005: Making progress: A new ESM survey finds industry awareness of-and preparedness for-environmental legislation is on the rise. Electronics Supply & Manufacturing Magazine. Update of the July 2004 survey.
February 27, 2005: Component compliance: Manufacturers start phasing out solder containing lead. San Francisco Chronicle, page E-1. "People in the industry are talking about a cost of 1 to 3 percent of revenue" in compliance costs ...
February, 2005: Executive's Guide to Compliance with RoHS. Start Magazine. Article by DCA; available in print only.
January 1, 2005: Beyond The Box. Electronics Supply & Manufacturing Magazine. "No longer just transporters, logistics providers offer supply chain solutions through an array of services that can save you time and money."
December 1, 2004: Shooting at a moving target. Electronic Business. Good overview of the current situation with RoHS, with comments from DCA, Dell, Solectron, Avnet, Intel, and StorageTek.
November 1, 2004: Designing for the bottom line. Electronics Supply & Manufacturing Magazine. DCA proves that Aligning Design and Supply Chains directly improves business performance.
September 1, 2004: Behind Schedule. Report on a recent survey developed by DCA for Electronics Supply & Manufacturing Magazine on the level of awareness and implementation status of environmental requirements (including RoHS/WEEE) at Electronics OEMs.
August 1, 2004: Materially deficient. Think your parts are green? Be prepared to prove it!
August 1, 2004: Designing for excellence. Electronics Supply & Manufacturing tackles DFM. See Action Item 4 of 5 for DCA content.
August 1, 2004: Q&A With the Board. Electronics Supply & Manufacturing's Editorial Advisor Board sounds off on some of today's top issues.
June 7, 2004: Outsourcing: Has it Gone Too Far?. Managing Automation. Ultimately it's about innovation: see Economics Professor Nirvikar Singh's (UC Santa Cruz) presentation on the topic.
May 17, 2004: Electronics Industry Girds For New Rules. Information Week
May 1, 2004: Thwarting counterfeiters. Electronic Business
May 1, 2004: MISSING IN ACTION. Electronic Business - Letters To The Editor
April 19, 2004: DCA Service Fosters Pb-Free Parts Switch. Printed Circuit Design & Manufacture
April 19, 2004: DCA launches lead-free compliance service. Electronics Supply & Manufacturing
April 7, 2004: Beware counterfeit electronic components. Dataweek
April 1, 2004: Avoiding allocation. Electronics Supply & Manufacturing
March 1, 2004: The wrong way to innovate. Electronic Business. DCA takes the Computer Systems Policy Project to task.
March 1, 2004: Did someone utter the 'A' word? Electronic Business
February 1, 2004: Whither RosettaNet? Electronic Business
January 1, 2004: Don't get burned by bogus parts. Electronic Business
December 1, 2003: Back to the future. Electronic Business
November 1, 2003: Lead-free logistics. Electronic Business
October 1, 2003: HOW FAST ARE YOUR REFLEXES? Electronic Business - Letters to the Editor
September 19, 2003: Demand forecasting loses its luster. EBN
August 11, 2003: Slack fab spending sounds alarm. EBN
April 28, 2003: Small EMS shops hunt for design talent. EBN
January 20, 2003: EMS furthering its role in design process. EBN article on the results of the EMS study.
January 6, 2003: Purchasing managers gain more clout. EBN article on the results of the OEM study.
