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NEMI Forms "Lead-Free Readiness" Task Force
Program Seeks Support, Input from Electronics Assembly Industry
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Herndon, VA · May 3, 1999 · The National Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (NEMI) today announced formation of an industry task force to help the North American electronics industry improve the environmental attributes of their products by investigating substitutes for lead in interconnect systems. This task force will investigate both process and material considerations of lead-free electronics assembly.
Comprised of a diverse group of leading OEMs and electronic manufacturing services (EMS) providers, the NEMI task force is seeking additional participation from industry, especially component and material suppliers such as manufacturers of electrolytic capacitors, multichip packages, connectors, overmolds and substrate materials.
"The North American electronics industry must develop a strategy to maintain its technological and environmental leadership, including exploring alternatives to lead in electronic products," says Jim McElroy, executive director and CEO of NEMI. "As discussed in NEMI’s 1998 roadmap, policy initiatives in Europe could impact the use of lead in electronics. In Japan, the leading electronics manufacturers have announced environmental goals which include implementation of lead-free interconnect systems by April 1, 2001. Industry must address the technological challenges of replacing lead with substitutes that will satisfy performance requirements in an environmentally sound manner."
"To remain competitive, global electronics firms will need to develop, qualify and introduce new materials, components and processes," continues McElroy. "This NEMI task force is an important step to focus industry’s attention on this problem in order to combine our current knowledge and proposed investigations into a coherent, industry-wide approach to lead-free processing."
McElroy says that the challenges of developing lead-free products include accommodation of new processing temperatures and elimination of lead-based component metalizations. Many lead-free alternative solders require processing temperatures between 240° and 260°C, which are dramatically higher than today’s standard processing temperatures of 210° to 220°C. These higher temperatures will likely require different internal component solders, overmold materials and substrates.
Representatives from a growing number of companies, including Celestica, Compaq, Delphi/Delco, Hewlett Packard, Motorola, Nortel Networks, Solectron and Visteon, are participating in the NEMI lead-free task force. The group is seeking additional participants from areas such as component and materials manufacturers to assist in addressing these process and business challenges.
NEMI will collaborate with groups such as EIA, IPC and JEDEC to minimize duplication of effort and develop industry specifications and standards. NEMI will also draw on its broad membership · including OEM, EMS and supplier companies as well as academia · to combine current knowledge and proposed investigations into a coherent, industry-wide approach to lead-free processing.
Any company that is interested in participating or has initiated, proposed, or considered a lead-free readiness program should contact Edwin Bradley (EEB001@email.mot.com) at Motorola, or Bob Smith (robertpsmith@nemi.org) at NEMI.
About NEMI
The National Electronics Manufacturing Initiative was formed in November 1994 to facilitate long-term North American leadership in electronics. The industry-led consortium is made up of more than 50 electronics equipment manufacturers, suppliers, associations, government agencies and universities. NEMI’s members represent a combined total of more than $200 billion in 1998 revenues and employ more than 1.25 million people.
NEMI roadmaps the needs of the North American electronics industry, identifies gaps in the technology infrastructure, establishes implementation projects to eliminate these gaps, and stimulates standards activities to speed the introduction of new technologies. The consortium also works with government, universities and other funding agencies to set priorities for future industry needs and R&D initiatives.
Press contact:
Cynthia Williams
207-871-1260
cwilliams@nemi.org