PALO ALTO, CA – The aerospace and defense industry, although exempt from RoHS, now faces the challenge of electronic device obsolescence, according to Frost & Sullivan. Some assemblers are accustomed to procuring devices that contain lead that meet military specifications. However, some of the new commercial off-the-shelf products will not meet this requirement, thus forcing participants in the military market to go back to the drawing board, the firm states.

The RoHS directive has forced companies to change their methods of designing and manufacturing products. Lead-free legislation resulted in the development of new production strategies and the modification of existing machinery so that products perform to the expected level with the support of the revised production materials and processes, continues the research firm.

“Even though the suppliers of these components insist on manufacturing leaded parts for military purposes, they will have to get fine-tuned to the rapidly changing technology and to the rise in prices of these parts, as they cater to a significantly small market,” notes Frost research analyst Ashwin T. Ananthakrishnan.

The trend of lead-free conversion is expected to become steady in the long term, the company notes. With the rising demand from various end-user industries, the increasing preference of Mexico as a manufacturing hub, adoption of lead-free substances and adherence to environmental regulations, the electronic manufacturing scenario looks promising in the North American region, the firm says.