Should suppliers lead the transition to pure tin?

February 29, 2008

Design Chain Associates, a company that helps manufacturers cope with environmental compliance has released an article from its partner DfR Solutions that looks at the state of pure tin in the electronics industry.

Here’s the opening to the article:

One of the greatest concerns during this transition to Pb-free electronics, and therefore Pb-free components, has been the supposed rapid and widespread adoption of pure tin plating as the solderability plating of choice. A number of questionable surveys have driven this belief, with some promoting that ‘pure’ tin has captured 75% or more of the market.

The response to this wave of tin-whisker susceptible components has been impressive. Numerous organizations have sprung up to either analyze (iNEMI, E4), inform (ELFNET, GEIA), or fight (NASA Tin Whisker Group) this potential reliability threat. Millions have been spent on testing, analysis, report writing, and, most importantly, material identification (have you bought stock in XRF companies?).

Why all this time, money, and effort? Because, supposedly, the electronics supply chain is backwards. Suppliers call the shots and the OEMs, especially those in Hi-Rel (telecom, industrial, military, avionics, medical, etc.), have no control over what goes in their product and out to the customer. Could we be more wrong? For more of the article, click here.

Posted by Rob Spiegel on February 29, 2008 | Comments (0)

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