Keywords
Citation
(1999), "IPC getting the lead out at IPCWORKS '99", Soldering & Surface Mount Technology, Vol. 11 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ssmt.1999.21911bab.007
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 1999, MCB UP Limited
IPC getting the lead out at IPCWORKS '99
IPC
IPC getting the lead out at IPCWORKS '99
Keywords IPC, Lead
Public and political pressure continues to build against the use of lead in electronics assembly. Japan, Denmark and the European Union (EU) are all proposing bans on lead and products containing lead, and even though the USA is not likely to entertain any such bans, international OEMs are becoming more sensitive to the issue. With that in mind, IPC is featuring an International Summit on Lead-free Electronic Assemblies at IPCWorks '99, October 26-28, 1999, at the Minneapolis Convention Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
"It is time to develop a roadmap for lead elimination", says IPC vice president of standards and technology David Bergman. "It's time to identify the issues and roadblocks and encourage research and education to take the industry on the path to eliminating lead in electronics assembly."
Bergman says that the path taken for the elimination of lead is really a question of where the industry wants to put its money. Rather than losing money fighting legislators on possible regulations that would eliminate lead usage, Bergman says the industry's money and time would be better spent building new products, and introducing lead-free alternatives.
The EU has introduced a proposal that, if passed, would eliminate the use of lead and other metals in electronics equipment by 2004. The European Federation of Interconnection and Packaging has urged the European Commission to extend the proposed deadline until 2009, but if the proposal is passed as is, there is not much time left to develop feasible lead-free alternatives. This is why it is important for members of the printed wiring board (PWB) and electronics assembly industries to attend IPCWorks '99.
"In the early 1990s, the PWB industry was tasked with eliminating the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which were used in the process of cleaning circuit boards. The industry was able to eliminate CFC usage by discussing alternative technologies openly. IPCWorks '99 gives the industry the opportunity to do the same with lead-free alternatives by providing a forum for the open exchange of ideas", says IPC director of public policy Christopher Rhodes. Rhodes adds that this conference is the first known in the US dedicated to the investigation of lead-free alternatives in the electronics assembly industry.
For information on IPCWorks '99, contact IPCWorks '99 Conference Coordinator Chris Jorgensen at +1 (847) 790-5328, or e-mail jorgch@ipc.org.