March 21,
2007
Component
Supply Chain Remains Smooth
When
the RoHS deadline passed last summer, many people in the components industry expected
supply chain disruptions. Some thought there wouldn’t be a sufficient supply of
lead-free parts, while others believed that the exempt industries – military,
aerospace and medical devices – would find it hard to locate sufficient
supplies non-compliant parts as the component manufacturers switched to
lead-free product. The conventional wisdom said that component manufacturers
would decrease their production of leaded parts, thus increasing the costs of
non-compliant parts.
So
far not much has happened on either side, though many still expect
non-compliant parts to increase in cost during the coming months. The component
manufacturers have mostly been able to deliver RoHS compliant parts on time,
but the demand for those lead-free parts has not been as great as expected.
Both Avnet in Phoenix and Newark InOne in Chicago report that only about half
of their orders are specifically calling for compliant parts.
Meanwhile,
we’ve seen few reports of significant shortages of non-compliant parts. Mike
Morston, VP of global supply chain management at contract manufacturer,
Celestica Inc., explains that most of his OEM customers have shifted to
lead-free manufacturing. He also notes that Celestica continues to manufacture
products for OEMs in the exempt industries. For those companies, parts are
still plentiful, though they are beginning to rise in price, since the
non-compliant parts are being produced in smaller quantities. While
non-compliant parts are still widely available, Morston did note he expects it
will become more difficult to find non-compliant parts in the future.
A
recent report from MEC Innovation Inc. insists there will be shortages of
leaded parts. The report projects that non-compliant parts will begin to go
obsolete in coming months and component buyers will see high prices for
non-compliant parts, longer lead times and general uncertainly of availability.
MEC recommends that manufacturers now using non-compliant parts should begin to
re-design products to use lead-free components.
In some
cases, switching to lead-free components is not an option. The military,
aerospace and medical device industries have been exempted from RoHS laws
because their products require the high-reliability that comes with lead-tin
solder. Lead-free solder is more susceptible to tin whisker growth. Whiskers
are not likely to grow in your cell phone or television, but when the component
is subjected to conditions of high pressure and extreme temperatures – such as
those experienced in jets or satellites – tin whiskers can grow and short out
components.
A
recent story in the UK-based Electronics Weekly reports that shortages of
leaded parts are already showing up in Europe. These shortages have triggered
higher component prices for non-compliant parts. Many European manufacturers
that are exempt are simply switching over to lead-free components in the face
of price spikes and parts going out on allocation.
Part
of the challenge for the exempt industries is that they have become accustomed
to buying commercial off the shelf (COTS) parts because they are less expensive
than high-reliability military specification (MilSpec) parts. In recent years,
those COTS parts have been sufficiently reliable even for military
applications. But now those COTS parts are lead-free, so many military
suppliers are returning to the MilSpec parts they bought in decades past.
While
there are some shortages of non-compliant parts, the drop off has not been
dramatic. But that will probably change in the next year or two – which is one
or two years later than predicted. “Certainly commercial electronics parts
suppliers will continue to produce leaded components for the military market,
but those parts will be produced for a considerably smaller market and will
probably be higher priced,” says Dave Wessing, VP and general manager of SBS
Technologies’ Government Group, a military supplier.
Wessing
believes the ultimate response by military suppliers will be a blend of
shifting to lead-free parts and paying more for the parts that absolutely must
be non-compliant for high reliability. “We will learn to use lead-free
components in embedded boards and systems and we will find ways to serve those
military customers who require leaded components in their equipment,” says
Wessing. “Over time, the only viable components out there will be lead-free,
but by that time, we will have learned how to maintain the reliability of our
products while using lead-free components.”
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