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SMART Reaches South Africa
July 12, 2007 |Estimated reading time: 1 minute
HIGH WYCOMBE, U.K. SMART Group, a technical trade association for England and Ireland, will form SMART Group SA, dedicated to promoting South African electronics assembly with SMT and related technologies. It aims to develop an interactive EMS community through seminars, conferences, and published technical papers. South Africa boasts the necessary infrastructure, lower-labor-cost workforce, and enthusiasm to develop into an EMS destination, said Keith Bryant, European sales manager for Dage U.K. and SMART member, who added that the interest in technical knowledge from S.A. manufacturers is high.
The South Africa branch was formulated during a series of South African lead-free seminars that SMART supported, wherein attendees voiced desire for a technical association that offered access to technical presentations, industry networking, and non-commercial seminars and workshops. South Africa's EMS business can develop and advance through education, training, and interconnectivity of member companies and the SMT/assembly industry, according to SMART. "South Africa's contract and subsidiary electronics manufacturing firms find that performing fine-pitch, lead-free, RoHS-/WEEE-compliant manufacturing is key to building the locale as an international electronics production base," explained Bryant. South African EMS is growing quickly, though it remains behind other low-cost bases such as China and Eastern Europe. The "thirst for knowledge" in S.A. is impressive and the sense of community is also strong, Bryant adds.
The SMART association has created an organization Website for the SA group, and plans seminars and workshops in the near future. During Week 44 (last week of October and first of November), SMART plans a seminar near Johannesburg, covering cost-effective design and manufacture. A workshop on fine-pitch and BGA rework-and-repair, as well as reflow profiling, will be co-located. These workshops will then be repeated in the Cape Town area allowing attendees to visit regional shows.
Beyond Ireland, this is SMART's first international reach. A steering committee will be chaired by Steve Eglinton, with vice chair Rion Fullard. Dennis Walden will chair the group's technical committee, with vice chain Robert Steltman. Bryant presided over the meeting that led to SMART SA's formation, and called the group a method of widening SMART's remit and recognizing a developing locale for the industry outside of the U.K.