Distributors in the electronics industry are getting aggressive in educating the supply chain about the upcoming Reduction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) regulations.

Using regional seminars, detailed Web-based lead-free information and databases containing composition data on electronic parts, distributors are trying to avert serious supply chain problems that may occur if manufacturers don’t quickly switch over to RoHS-compliant parts.

The deadline for electronic products to be free of hazardous materials is July 1, 2006. That’s when the European Union’s RoHS regulations go into effect. The regulations require manufacturers to sell products that are free of six hazardous materials, including lead and mercury. While RoHS only applies to Europe, with a global supply chain, manufacturers can’t easily segment products by geographical market. Plus, a number of U.S. states and China are busy passing legislation that matches the RoHS rules.

July 2005 may seem far away, but with product development time running six to 18 months, the deadline is effectively here. Manufacturers are now creating bills of materials for products that will be sold past the RoHS deadline.

If recent moves in the Netherlands are any indication, Europe will stringently enforce its coming laws. Last month in the Netherlands, the government nabbed $93 million worth of Sony PlayStations because the product contains too much cadmium in its cables. Cadmium is one of the substances banned in RoHS regulations. The Netherlands has existing anti-cadmium laws going back to 1999. Apparently, one of Sony’s competitors tipped officials in the Netherlands that PlayStations contain the banned substance.

In the face of the coming laws, many suppliers still don’t have plans in place to switch to RoHS-compliant parts. Many in the industry estimate that 30 percent of component suppliers have yet to introduce RoHS-compliant components. In response, distributors have asserted that suppliers that fail to provide compliant parts will be dropped from their line cards.

To help its manufacturing customers cope with the RoHS laws, some distributors have hit the road with educational seminars. Avnet Inc. of Phoenix has teamed with i2 Technologies Inc. in Dallas to co-host regional seminars on lead-free compliance. TTI Inc. in Forth Worth, Texas is also presenting a string of seminars in 15 U.S. and Canadian cities over the next four months. The seminars cover both the technical and business issues involved in complying with RoHS laws.

A number of parts databases now contain detailed information of component composition. Arrow Electronics Inc. in Melville, N.Y. has updated its component database to offer RoHS compliancy and lead-free information to the parametric data on components. Avnet and i2 have collaborated on adding RoHS compliance information to its components database, and PartMiner Inc. of Melville, N.Y has added RoHS compliance data to its CAPS components database.

Many distributors -- including Avnet, Arrow, TTI and Newark One-- have added extensive RoHS information to their Web sites. The Web site for the National Electronic Distributors Association (nedassoc.org) also has RoHS information.

By: DocMemory
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