Lead-Free

What You Need To Know

The elimination of lead from electronic assemblies is already underway in Europe and Asia, and will most likely become universal throughout the electronics industry within the next 2 - 3 years.

Events are moving very fast. Further development of government regulations and initiatives (Japan and Europe have already invoked Lead-Free deadlines), the impact of major corporations marketing Lead-Free products as "environmentally friendly", and the ability to buy or sell products globally - these may all be factors that will shorten the time you have to adopt Lead-Free.

Making the Transition
Transitioning to Lead-Free will impact virtually every aspect of manufacturing operations, from design through field service.

Solder materials enter the manufacturing stream as surface coating on PCB's and substrates, component leads and terminations, internal connections within components, as well as solder pastes, bars, and wire.

To achieve true lead-free products, all of these must be eliminated and in most cases replaced with some other material that does not contain lead. Additionally, evaluation of the assembly process will be necessary to determine best practices for soldering processes and profiles.

ITM's Lead-Free Process Audit
As an objective, knowledgeable and independent third-party, ITM can review your lead-free assembly processes and recommend specific direction for product compliance and process compliance improvement . The ITM Lead-Free Process Audit was put together is conducted by experts, not a committee. We focus on the important and critical areas and do not waste your time with the superfluous.

ITM Services Help You Go Lead-Free

• Lead-Free Implementation:
  The Other 90%
  ½ Day course
• The Real Cost of Lead-Free
  includes the Pre-Audit
  1 - 1½ Days
• Lead-Free Pre-Audit
• Lead-Free Roadmapping Service
• Lead-Free Implementation Preparation
  (follows the Pre-audit)

For more information, contact: itm@itmconsulting.org