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WASHINGTON, DC – The National Association of Manufacturers unveiled a comprehensive strategy for US competitiveness. The Manufacturing Strategy for Jobs and a Competitive America prompts political leaders to consider what it will take for manufacturers in the US to succeed in the global marketplace.
The strategy explains what is at stake for manufacturing in the US and provides a roadmap for policies that will enable manufacturing to create jobs and compete.
It sets out the following goals: The US will be the best country in the world to headquarter a company. The NAM wants companies based in the US; the US will be the best country in the world to innovate, performing the bulk of a company’s global research and development, and the US will be a great place to manufacture, both to meet the needs of the American market and serve as an export platform for the world.
The NAM urges manufacturers to call on members of Congress, candidates for office and opinion leaders to join in supporting and publicly endorsing the strategy; advocates for manufacturing should seek to implement the strategy, the association says.
The Manufacturing Strategy for Jobs and a Competitive America is the first phase of the NAM’s campaign. In the coming weeks, the NAM will announce the creation of manufacturing councils at the state and district levels. These councils will be a platform to educate candidates, policymakers, employees and the general public about how to keep manufacturing competitive.
MENLO PARK, CA -- Product cost is fast receding as the most important factor in the OEM-EMS relationship, asserts a recent survey of electronics OEMs.
BUCKS, UK – Smart Group is offering a range of smart-e-webinars to complement its existing training, workshop and seminar program.
Webinars will be presented by professional engineers, with each session lasting 60 to 90 minutes.
The inaugural smart-e-webinar will be presented July 29 by Peter Grundy and Bob Willis, Smart Group Technical Committee members. It will cover the firm’s four EU funded projects: ship inspectors, TestPep, µBGA spheres, and chip check.
Future webinars will cover component technology; printed circuit board manufacture; stencil printing; reflow soldering; wave soldering; hand soldering and desoldering; cleaning, conformal coating; solder joint and design reliability, and the introduction and manufacture using alternative energy.
Each student will receive a certificate of participation.
To suggest topics or present a webinar, contact technical@smartgroup.org.
For more information, visit www.smartgroup.org/diary.
ARLINGTON, VA — Consumer confidence in consumer electronics moved up sharply in June as confidence in the overall economy dropped to its lowest point since July 2008, according to the latest figures released today from the Consumer Electronics Association and CNET.
PITTSBURGH — The National Labor Committee is releasing a 30-page report documenting what it calls illegal and harsh sweatshop conditions at Jabil Circuit's factory in Guangzhou, China, where over 6,000 workers — many of them allegedly illegal temporary workers — manufacture products for HP, Whirlpool, IBM, Intel and Cisco.
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BANNOCKBURN, IL – IEEE members will soon vote on two proposed standards that set criteria for environmentally preferable electronic equipment, and a competing trade group is expressing concerns over the ramifications.
The proposed standards in question, 1680.2 Draft Standard for Environmental Assessment of Imaging Equipment and 1680.3 Draft Standard for the Environmental Assessment of Televisions, will have a broad impact, setting virtual standards for “environmental” electronics throughout the supply chain, as well as establishing precedent for future IEEE EPEAT standards, says IPC.
The criteria cover all aspects of the product, from the chemicals contained to how they are disposed.
IPC is concerned that both standards expand on current RoHS Directive and REACH requirements by eliminating exemptions and removing SVHCs from products; both contain criteria to remove all halogens, including TBBPA; both include a criterion for manufacturers to inventory more than 100 substances in their products; neither requires any assessment of whether restricted substances will or can be replaced with substances better for human health and the environment, and both include a total of 115 criteria.
If passed, the standards will become de facto regulations as a result of President Obama’s Executive Order 13514 Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance that requires all government procurement to be certified to EPEAT.
The last day to join the balloting group is Aug. 15, and IEEE members can join the balloting group at https://development.standards.ieee.org/my-site/home.
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