The only thing that is certain is that compliance is more easily mandated than achieved. It always takes time, and a lot of it.
The RoHS2 (also called the RoHS Recast) was drafted in 2008 with an eye toward restricting hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment sold in Europe. “Improving implementation and enforcement of laws on electrical and electronic equipment and cutting unnecessary administrative burden are the main objectives of the revised directives proposed by the Commission today,” the European Commission said in its news release. Five years later, in January 2013, the compliance requirements went into effect.
The original RoHS Directive restricts the use of Lead (Pb), Mercury (Hg), Cadmium (Cd), Hexavalent chromium (Cr6+), Polybrominated biphenyls (PBB), and Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE). The second stage introduced new CE marketing and outlined declaration of conformity requirements.
Today, compliance is anything but complete, but clearly it's moving in the right direction. The newest revision called for a review of the list of restricted substances before July 22, 2014 and demanded periodic review after that. The infographic below highlights where we are in various indsutries and products.
Let us know how RoHS 2 has impacted your business.
Certainly, the elimination of lead from electronic devices has been one of the most widely felt changes. From a solderability and ease od use standpoint, lead based solders are hard to beat. Other choices require generally higher soldering and solder reflow temperatures, which placed more stress on other materials of construction used in electronic components and hardware. However, the industry has found solutions that provide a better overall balance of manufactuability and environmental issues.
THe reality of the global electronics supply chain is that there's no such thing as “just in europe' any more. I hope that demands from these markets will translate into higher awareness overall.
@Rich lead free is a big part of the conversation these days. We aren't there yet but i think we are moving in that direction. I believe the challenge still lies in harsh enviorments uses.
@Hailey – It is true that hardware for harsh environments poses a greater challenge – mostly because of the potential consequences of system failure. There is no need to justify high reliability aicraft system requirements. It takes time for new technology to prove itself reliable …and the more stringent the requirement, the longer it takes.
@Eldredge, from history we know that every new technology and each new certification takes time to integrate into the system. I'm willing to bet it's usually ten to fifteen years.
Hailey,
Don't you feel that a Good number of Certification today just adds more and more to the paper-work involved ?
Such a Huge amount of Paper-work with not much Concrete Gain.
What a waste!
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@Tech4People, I think that many organizations find that the burden of compliance with RoHS2, Dodd Frank, etc. overwhelming. However, these are imporant issues that need to be monitoried and solved and we haven't found a better way.
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Readers: what would you recommend as a way the industry could tackle these issues in a more streamlined way?
Hailey,
You have to figure out what works best(& what does'nt) here.
Wherever possible just automate & Simplify the Whole Compliance Procedure.
If you look at most Compliance Procedures they have a lot of Overlapping Strands;makes so much sense to merge everything together by Product-Type.
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Automation is good as far it goes, but i believe that these sorts of initiatives really need to be tied to strategic objectives within the organization. WHen you have these instances that organizatoins are doing stuff because they have to, you never get the best results.
Hailey,
That's a fair statement to make.
You simply should'nt go for Newly Fangled concepts because some Highly Paid Consultant tells you it will achieve great results.
Remember its you and your Company's Results on the Line here;Don't fall prey to foolish thoughtprocesses/Snake Oil.
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There is some great news in these slides that has not been mentioned. Electrical & Electronic Components are the most risky parts. That group is 48% not RoHS today. Overall 63% of parts are RoHS2 compliant. New part introduced since 2012 are over 90% RoHS2 compliant. This is great news.
The bad news. Risks lay mostly with products introduced before 2009. Since OEM products tend to change little, there are still many that specify non-RoHS parts, which will need to be designed out. Since there are still so many non-RoHs parts in the supply stream, engineers and buyers need to be very careful which ones they use.
There are many companies that are now 100% converted to RoHS complance parts only. You have lower buyer risk from these since there are no mixed production facilities.
Jim Kandler @mc2098
There is some great news in these slides that has not been mentioned. Electrical & Electronic Components are the most risky parts. That group is 48% not RoHS today. Overall 63% of parts are RoHS2 compliant. New part introduced since 2012 are over 90% RoHS2 compliant. This is great news.
The bad news. Risks lay mostly with products introduced before 2009. Since OEM products tend to change little, there are still many that specify non-RoHS parts, which will need to be designed out. Since there are still so many non-RoHs parts in the supply stream, engineers and buyers need to be very careful which ones they use.
There are many companies that are now 100% converted to RoHS complance parts only. You have lower buyer risk from these since there are no mixed production facilities.
Jim Kandler @mc2098