You have a good point in suggesting that not everyone is complying. I'm not sure who is and who isn't, but I know there have been complaints about a lack of enforcement.
You are correct. I hope it's worth it. I know that we are spending extra on making ROHS boards, solder rework stations, training, equipment calibration for different temperatures, etc... What concerns me the most that we are complying, but I'm not sure that firms in China, India, etc.. are as honest as we are.
The track record is not there.
I also look at many regulations as a pragmatist. Some requlations are just to keep the imports more expensive and help local guys or collect higher duty.
Nevertheless this regulation should be consistant.
It's quite a challenge. Products are global. For many companies with electronics in their products, they have to make sure they are compliant with all RoHS laws: EU, China, Korea, now India. Their products could end up in any of these countries. It will get more demanding with the EU's RoHS Recast which will take affect in 18 months. Now RoHS will cover even products that are not primarily electrical or electronic. That includes toys, like teddy bears that talk. Those products used to be exempt because they were primarily teddy bears. No longer.
More madness in the industry. The ROHS directives resemble the Health Law. Too many pages, difficult to understand and then many items do not need to comply.
India, from all countries !!!
Not enough that we need to spend three hours on shipping paperwork to send $100.00 of parts, now we will need to do all that new stuff.
There have been some attempts to create a national law in the United States. They haven't been successful. Much of the electroncis industry has been asking for a comprehensive law. Others take the view of letting different states do different approaches as experimentation and incubation, with the notion that one apporach will come to make the most sense.
A very interesting point you raise Rob. We have INDEPENDANT e-waste laws and nothing nationally. I'm not aware of the independant countries in the EU having separate e-waste laws. And since the EU RoHS is pretty much the standard, most all companies that do business worldwide simply require their products to be RoHS compliant.
That would be too easy, Beth. No, there isn't any concerted effort to create an international standard. Companies typically aim for the one that is the most strict and hope they're covered for all of them. The EU RoHS is pretty much the standard, but not entirely.
The United State is particularly problematic. We have independent e-waste laws in more than half our states. The industry would like one uniform law for the United States, but so far, that doesn't look likely. So it's a patchwork.
Seems like it was only a matter of time before India as well as other countries pass some form of e-waste and hazardous materials regulations, and the landscape is likely to get even more complex given the variances--slight or otherwise. Is there any movement to promoting more of a global standard, which might make it easier for manufacturers to comply?
Andrew Morris designed a circuit that could detect a stroke victim's groan and convert the sound into a signal so caregivers would know when help was needed.
New disc magnet motors fit into the design trend of stepping up to closed loop performance while maintaining the cost advantage of stepper motor technology.
At the Design News webinar on June 27, learn all about aluminum extrusion: designing the right shape so it costs the least, is simplest to manufacture, and best fits the application's structural requirements.
On April 21, NASA launched a novel project, putting into orbit three satellites that employ an off-the-shelf commercial smartphone as the control system.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
0 
