Current Status of European Lead-Free Soldering 2005
ELFNET (European Lead Free soldering NETwork) has published its second Europe-wide survey of lead-free soldering implementation status as of early 2006, to give a key snapshot before the RoHS implementation deadline in July.
This report updates the 2004 ELFNET Status Report.
The analysis includes data on implementation progress within organizations, preferred materials and information gaps. This year ELFNET has included a section on the key issue of marking and labeling.
The general conclusion is that, as expected, there has been significant progress since 2004. However there is till much room for improvement and optimization.
The majority of respondents felt well-informed about lead-free soldering, although around 20% were still not active.
Thermal issues were a major technical obstacle for some, with component availability being the main logistical problem.
Detailed data is given on alloy choices, confirming SnAgCu as the major substitute for all types of soldering. SnCu is second for wave and manual soldering. Solder ball and finish materials varied widely.
More than 80% reported changes to technical equipment with 72% making large or moderate changes. 81% also have changed or plan to change internal inventory and management processes.
In a special survey on labeling it was discovered that 60% would prefer a 'RoHS-Compliant' label with only 20% opting for 'Lead-Free'. However it seems that less than 30% felt that labeling is necessary at all and less than 20% were already labeling products. There was less inclination to label at the component level.
Although up to 20% stated that a standardized label was required and 60% were aware of industry-standard labeling systems such as IPC1066/JESD 97, less than 10% were using them in practice.
The survey was carried out towards the end of 2005 and at the time around 50% of respondents had been requested to supply RoHS compliant products and 11% asked for Full Materials Declarations. For their own part, 53% were requesting declarations of RoHS compliance from suppliers, 22% were requesting Full Materials Declaration and 16% were engaged in RoHS testing.
The data file is attached below:
D5_1_ELFNET_lead-free_soldering_status_survey_2005.pdf (927kb)
This page uses material from the ELFNET website “Current Status of European Lead-Free Soldering 2005".
