What general changes are necessary for the industry in European?

Citation

(2011), "What general changes are necessary for the industry in European?", Soldering & Surface Mount Technology, Vol. 23 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ssmt.2011.21923caa.006

What general changes are necessary for the industry in European?

Article Type: Industry news From: Soldering & Surface Mount Technology, Volume 23, Issue 3

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  Manufacturing in Europe remains the focus of our concern. Innovation in the manufacturing process must be associated with innovation in new products otherwise both parties will lose. Therefore, support for research and development should not be limited to “What to do” but has to be extended to “How to do it”.

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  To create additional jobs has to have the same positive recognition like the development of a new product.

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  If we only sponsor industrial programs with large companies without at the same time promoting manufacturing in Europe, we will create big and beautiful empty shells without securing employment.

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  “Fabless” in Europe is equal to “Jobless in Europe”. The social cost of “Fabless” become visible when a plant ceases production and the social cost are burdened to the community. These costs ought to be taken in account when sponsoring any programs.

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  We only will be as good as our technical skills. But, seeing the closure of factories discourages a lot of young people going to technical professions or to study at universities. We aggressively and offensively have to support technology education.

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  We will be able to maintain a strong industrial position if we sustain our capacity to create and develop strong supply chains. But, it is a well-known fact that any chain will only be as strong as its weakest link. Therefore, SMEs are essential and indispensable for the survival of large OEMs.

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  We need specialists coming from SMEs to be involved in committees for the electronic and the PCB industry. We need one person in Brussels to represent the supply chain of our industry (from design via the PCB to assembly and their supporting suppliers), their organisations and associations.

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  Taxation laws in all Member States of the EU should be directed to support and sponsor the industry located in the community. Tax incentives should be granted to business ventures which manufacture new products.

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  Likewise, easy support and facilitated cooperation between SMEs are further requirements for our industry.

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  And, finally, technical cooperation between SMEs, institutes, universities and OEMs on research programs should be facilitated and find better support in reducing the existing red tape.

Our conclusion is that, it is high time to adopt a leading European role again. The alternative is that we will see that our PCB industry and many more industries linked to it are disappearing.

We need to create a different industrial Europe, different from what it is today. We have to participate in the challenges and to meet the promising aspects of the years to come.

We are inviting the readers of this article to participate in the discussion and to let us have your suggestions and ideas in order to create in all Europe the base and the spirit for the change needed. We have to start now; otherwise it might be too late. What are your comments and ideas to our question Europe: ready for changes?

For further information, please contact: bdebconsulting@gmail.com; info@data4pcb.com; augustomeozzi@gmail.com