The RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Directive mandates compliance per July 1st, 2006. For some of our customers according to the nature of the product, different timescales apply:

• General compliance to be enforced by the EU member states from July 1st, 2006 for new electrical and electronic equipment
• Exempt for lead in solders to be used in telecom network infrastructure equipments and for server and storage area network equipment
  

The spread of dates makes it clear that a component manufacturer cannot easily execute a one-time, one-on-one conversion from its existing product lines to a new generation of lead-free and RoHS-compliant(*) products. While the majority of customers will have to make the move latest in 2006, some customers will have an exemption. Nonetheless, all of these customers are buying the same types of connectors.

Although the reliability and backwards compatibility of many lead-free products can be guaranteed, even when used in a tin-lead environment, the issue remains that a one-on-one conversion pushes customers in a direction they might prefer to avoid.

It is natural for customers with an exempt position to want to take advantage of the extra time available to perform extensive qualification test programs, prior to releasing new components with lead-free finish. Similarly, customers with a more imminent deadline will wish to work on a different timescale in the conversion of their own products.

FCI concluded that a one-on-one conversion was not the best solution. Instead, the company developed a program that supported flexibility in manufacturing and logistics. This helped to ensure the availability of components when customers needed them.

The program enabled the parallel production of tin-lead and lead-free products, for example. It supported a very customer friendly conversion, in which traditional tin-lead components would remain available for customers that were unable to make the switch.

The first step was to assign new part numbers to products that were lead-free and RoHS-compliant(*). Each of these products gains the code “LF” at the end of the part number, making it easy for customers to recognise lead-free and RoHS-compliant(*) products. The presence of the LF code guarantees that a product has been qualified as RoHS compliant(*) and is suitable for use under lead-free process conditions. This condition is called RoHS compatible and products that have reached that stage get assigned an LF part number. For each of these products, the documentation provides details about the allowed processing conditions.

The new code also makes it easy to translate between a traditional and lead-free part number: just add LF. Where the traditional part number occupies too many positions, FCI has assigned a completely new and shorter part number, again ending with LF.

By following the rules listed above, FCI has ensured that the migration path is easy for those that need to migrate.

* Analysis of substances in our products is performed to the best of our available knowledge and with all information available to FCI at the time of analysis. In that respect, and for substances like PBD and PBDE, FCI relies on its suppliers for information.