Kontron Converts Order System to RoHS

Lead-free products complying with RoHS will thereby become standard, and solutions containing lead will only be available as special customer-specific orders. At the same time, existing customers for which RoHS-compliant products cannot be delivered will be informed about redesign options. It is mainly older solutions with the ISA bus that are affected. Thanks to Kontron's one-of-a-kind PCI-to-ISA bridge that can be soldered without using lead, redesigns for ISA will still be possible. For VME, too, lead-free solutions of every commonly used performance class are available. Detailed RoHS product information, including the lead content of all products, was supplied in Kontron's July 2005 product catalog. On Kontron's website, customers will find comprehensive information regarding the issue of lead-free/RoHS: www.kontron-emea.com/leadfree; a special e-mail contact form is also provided where they can inquire about the status of the products they use, including those that are customer-specific. All system solutions will also be RoHS-compliant by June 30th, 2006. Some details still need to be worked out however, for example, in front coatings as well as in related display technology. “We are very happy to be one of the first companies in this industry to be able to provide customers with suitable solutions six months before the directives come into force. Looking back, we can say that conversion to RoHS is complex and requires much detailed work. Although 95% of the solutions could be found quickly, the remaining 5% represent a challenge that requires a certain amount of time to meet,” Norbert Hauser, Kontron's marketing vice-president, commented on the achievement of this important milestone in RoHS conversion. Immediately after the lead-free/RoHS directives were adopted in 2003, Kontron introduced an RoHS working group to ensure that all Kontron board-level products would be lead-free by January 2006. Through prompt and thorough conversion to RoHS, Kontron can provide customers with the certainty that they will be able to get their own products converted in time. For Kontron, however, conversion to lead-free production is not simply a legal requirement, but also an active contribution to a lasting, environmentally friendly business.