The holiday season is a time of consumption, a time for the latest GPS devices, cellphones, computers, video games and all sorts of other electronics to fill our festive living rooms. But a pair of reports should give us pause over the hellacious situation unfolding in China, where so-called recyclers of electronics waste melt down circuit boards in their homes, poisoning themselves and the local environment in exchange for a $100 or so a month.

The source of all the tossed PCs, toys and cellphones? All too often, Western nations, for which it is far cheaper to export the e-waste than to recycle it themselves. Not only, it seems, is China the World’s Workshop, it’s also the World’s Wasteshop.

Embarrassingly, as Salon reported in November, “the U.S. is the only industrialized nation in the world in which it is not illegal to export hazardous waste to less developed countries.” What’s more, roughly 14 million to 35 million tons (70%) of the world’s e-waste ends up in China, with the bulk of the rest shipped to India or African states, asserts a Nov. 18 report by the Associated Press. “Upwards of 90% ends up in dumps that observe no environmental standards, where shredders, open fires, acid baths and broilers are used to recover gold, silver, copper and other valuable metals while spewing toxic fumes and runoff into the nation’s skies and rivers.” Shame on us.

The repercussions are felt worldwide, even in our factories. Connecting the dots, the returning of electronics waste to China also feeds the beast of counterfeit parts that is truly cannibalizing our own attempts to provide reliable, quality products to customers.

As satirist Walt Kelly wrote four decades ago, We have met the enemy, and they are us.

We certainly should be thankful we have the wealth to buy just about anything our families want or need. But let’s also keep in mind just what happens when it comes time to dispose of last year’s holiday haul.

Speaking of hauls, ITW’s massive purchase and subsequent restructuring of Kester and Speedline Technologies has sent many people (including not a few at the respective companies) into a tizzy. Notwithstanding our exhortations to the contrary, as an industry we do tend to take the short-term view. But ITW’s track record says it sticks to the long-term path. While ITW is traditionally tight-lipped when it comes to its operations, in separate conversations during Productronica last month, representatives from both companies gave us insight into what’s happening.

Kester has been split into three business units, each its own profit/loss center. Each is product-based: pastes, materials and chemicals (bar, wire, cleaners, preforms, etc.), and semiconductor materials. No changes have been made to the existing distributor relationships, and manufacturer reps and inside customer service remain the same.

Both companies have engaged in so-called Kaizen blitzes, in which the ways of doing things are intensely scrutinized by an interdisciplinary team. In one such instance, Speedline reportedly cut the time it takes to build a printer by half, in large part by severing the distance an employee travels. Similarly, Kester streamlined the process to make paste flux, cutting the number of steps from 800 to fewer than 300, and expects it will fall further, possibly under 150, as employees gain experience with the “leaning” process.

As such, each company has begun changes to its inventory procedures. Speedline, for example, now builds to stock, instead of to order, with the idea that it can deliver a new system to a customer in a few days, instead of several weeks.

For those of us with friends at the companies, the transformations of Speedline and Kester have been painful to watch thus far. Keep in mind, however, we’ve only seen the pain, not the benefits. It would behoove us all to take a step back and give their respective managements a chance to indoctrinate the new culture, a practice that typically takes about three years, I’m told. In all likelihood, we will see two stronger, more competitive suppliers emerge.

As for Productronica itself, almost every exhibitor I spoke with indicated their pleasure with the show. Traffic was brisk, and the question on many lips is why Productronica’s biennial model has not been adopted in other regions. I’ll have a full report next month.

Until then, Circuits Assembly wishes you the best of health, happiness and success for 2008.

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