Wired in San Jose

I had a great time in April on Friday the 13th. I can’t say the same for the Wednesday the 11th or Thursday the12th,when I was trying to get to San Jose to speak at the annual Wiring Harness Manufacturer’s Association Conference (WHMA).

The direct flight time from Chicago to San Jose is roughly four hours when all is right in the world. And when you live in Chicago, “all is right in the world” means that there isn’t a blizzard in April and that all flights haven’t been cancelled. A day late and several plane changes later, I arrived to find a problem with my hotel room: I didn’t have one.

Fortunately, the hotel was very accommodating, and things got considerably better after that.

The WHMA serves American manufacturers of wiring harnesses, electronic cable assembles, and they had asked me to deliver a keynote presentation on RoHS. “Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About RoHS, But Were Afraid To Ask” gave an overview of green laws around the world, including the United States, and addressed ways to meet the challenges presented by these changes.

It was a small, but enthusiastic audience, most of whom were unfamiliar with how RoHS impacted them. They are not alone. According to research we at Newark conducted last fall, fully 30 percent of the design engineers and purchasing agents surveyed did not think that they were impacted.

The fact is that anyone who buys or uses electronics — whether or not they are exempt from RoHS or trade in Europe or China — must deal with a record number of leaded components becoming obsolete, plus the growing environmental movement in this country.

I’ll get off my soapbox, as most of the readers of this blog are all too aware of the challenges. If you’d like to check out my presentation, it is available at www.newark.com/rohs under Step 1.

This blog post was contributed by Jeff Shafer, senior VP of product at Newark. At Newark, Jeff leads product management, product data, pricing and customer segment strategy, and was instrumental in developing and implementing RoHS compliance initiatives for the company, customers and suppliers.