Trouble in Your Tank: Yield Improvement and Reliability
Dan's Biz Bookshelf: 'The Sale'
The Marketing Minute: Wired for Trust
IPC Welcomes Language in Senate Defense Appropriations Bill Supporting R&D on Lead-Free Electronics
October 21, 2021 | IPCEstimated reading time: 1 minute
The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee this week released their fiscal year 2022 defense appropriations bill, which for the first time included language supporting further research and development (R&D) into the issues surrounding lead-free electronics in mission-critical applications.
IPC and its allies have called for a five-year, $40 million investment in a public-private R&D program to support the transition of various aerospace, defense, and high-performance (ADHP) electronics to lead-free technologies. To date, Congress has provided a combined $15 million for this purpose in FY20 and FY21.
The U.S. House version of the FY22 defense appropriations bill, which was approved by the House Appropriations Committee in August, included $7.5 million for this purpose. The new Senate language makes it more likely that such funds will be allocated as the legislation is finalized.
“The gap between commercial and defense electronics has grown as lead-free has become the norm in commercial technologies,” said Chris Mitchell, IPC vice president of global government relations. “Today’s defense electronics are now 15 to 20 years behind the commercial market in terms of the underlying technologies used, creating risks to supply chain resiliency and defense readiness. With lead-based electronics becoming more difficult and expensive for the Defense Department to procure, the transition to lead-free is imperative.
“We salute the leadership of Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) on this issue, and we call on Congress to ensure that at least $7.5 million for lead-free R&D is included in the final bill.”
IPC and its partners in the Pb-Free Electronics Risk Management (PERM) Council and the U.S. Partnership for Assured Electronics believe a sustained investment in lead-free R&D will yield more than $100 million in annual defense savings and improve military readiness and overall innovation. Participants in the R&D program include Purdue University, the University of Maryland, Auburn University, Binghamton University, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon Technologies, Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Boeing, Plexus, and many others.
Share on:
Suggested Items
Tax Policy Update from IPC: The House Tax Bill, and What It Means for Electronics Manufacturers
05/20/2025 | IPCOn May 13, the House Ways and Means Committee advanced a major tax package that includes several provisions supported by IPC. These provisions—including restoring bonus depreciation, immediate R&D expensing, and strengthening the pass-through deduction—were identified by IPC members as key tools that would help them invest, grow, and compete more effectively.
Trouble in Your Tank: Yield Improvement and Reliability
05/22/2025 | Michael Carano -- Column: Trouble in Your TankThere’s a simple rule of business in manufacturing: “It is all about yields.” Higher yields for your products allow for increased profits and satisfied customers. When there are lower yields, overall cost to manufacture increases, and the additional time and strain on the factory floor affect the entire operation. Lower yields are often the result of “process drift,” when critical process parameters and specialized plating additives fall outside their acceptable ranges.
Recognizing IPC Scholarships, Awards, and Opportunities
05/21/2025 | Charlene Gunter du Plessis, IPC Education FoundationThere was no better way to end our year in 2024 than by recognizing hard-working and driven students and educators for their involvement and interests in the electronics manufacturing industry. Through the IPC Scholarship and Awards program, we can help students invest in their future and reward their hardworking and dedicated accomplishments.
IPC Report Recaps Imperatives in Global Chip Race
05/19/2025 | IPCWith funding awards under the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act currently under review, IPC just shared a new Industry Intelligence Report focused on the issues and players involved.
IPC-CFX, 2.0: Expanding the Digital Backbone of Electronics Manufacturing
05/21/2025 | Chris Jorgensen, IPCSince its initial release in March 2019, IPC Connected Factory Exchange (CFX), the global standard for plug-and-play, machine-to-machine, and machine-to-system communication serving as the backbone for digital manufacturing, has seen continuous enhancement through multiple version updates. In 2024, the standard matured as adoption spread, with a global committee of EMS, OEM, machine vendors, and software solution providers twice releasing version updates to build on the standard's base framework and enhance its usability in industry.