SURVEY ON ELECTRONIC INTERCONNECT

INDUSTRY AWARNESS OF THE REACH

REGULATION AND ITS READINESS FOR
REACH COMPLIENCE
OBJECTIVE: To measure the current status of the electronic interconnect
industry’s awareness of the REACH regulation and its readiness for REACH
compliance.

METHODOLOGY: Collecting Data and conducting the survey among the group
of respondents and analysing the effect.

DESCRIPITIVE RESEARCH:

Descriptive research, also known as statistical research, describes data and

characteristics about the population or phenomenon being studied. Descriptive
research answers the questions who, what, where, when and how. The
description is used for frequencies, averages and other statistical calculations.
Often the best approach, prior to writing descriptive research, is to conduct a
survey investigation. Qualitative research often has the aim of description and
researchers may follow-up with examinations of why the observations exist and
what the implications of the findings are. In short descriptive research deals with
everything that can be counted and studied. But there are always restrictions to
that. Your research must have an impact to the life of the people around you.
One of the survey method in descriptive research is Electronic Survey .

ELECTRONIC SURVEY:

Electronic survey is a research tool. In an electronic survey, respondents use a

text processing program to self-administer a computer-based questionnaire. As
more people have access to computers, electronic surveys may become
widespread. The electronic survey can reduce processing costs because it
automates the transformation of raw data into computer-readable form. It can
combine advantages of interviews (e.g., prompts, complex branching) with those
of paper mail surveys (e.g., standardization, anonymity). There are three types
of electronic survey:

DISK –BY-MAIL SURVEY:

Electronic surveys have taken on a variety of forms from simple email surveys to
sophisticated web survey systems. Early forms of electronic surveys existed in
the form of the disk-by-mail format (Couper & Nichols, 1998). Using this
approach, a disk that contained the survey is mailed to respondents, who are
instructed to open the file, complete the survey, and mail the disk back to the
researcher. This survey has the capability of guiding the respondent interactively
through the survey and including very complex skip patterns or rotation logic.
This approach can offer many innovative features beyond traditional mail and
telephone surveys, but it does require costs and time in terms of programming
and distribution of the survey.

E-MAIL SURVEY:

A second type of electronic survey is the e-mail survey. These surveys are
typically contained within an e-mail message or as an attached file. These
surveys are fast and require little technological skill to develop as they are
displayed in a basic-text format. Respondents are asked to reply to the email and
indicate their responses in the reply message or as part of the attached file.
These surveys may require little technological skill on the part of the respondent.
Additionally, these surveys raise concerns regarding privacy and anonymity as
the respondent’s e-mail address is generally included with his/her responses.

WEB BASED SURVEY:

A third type of electronic survey is posted on the World Wide Web (WWW).
Respondents are usually sent an e-mail message with a link to the URL address
for the survey. Web-based surveys can be designed to include a wide variety of
response options. These surveys also offer great advantages in terms of data
analysis as responses can easily be downloaded into a spreadsheet or statistical
analysis software program, but respondents may be concerned with the privacy
as their responses are transferred over the WWW. Of the three types of
electronic surveys we just discussed, these surveys require the greatest amount
of technological knowledge and skill of the researcher(s) and respondents.

It has to be determined which of the above 3 options is suitable for conducting

any survey as the technique may vary depending on the subject/topic to be
surveyed.

IPC SURVEY TO MEASURE THE STATUS OF ELECTRONIC

INTERCONNECT INDUSTRY AWARNESS OF REACH REGULATION
AND ITS READINESS FOR REACH COMPLIENCE:

IPC conducted an on-line survey from July 2 through July 9, 2008, to measure the
current status of the electronic interconnect industry’s awareness of the REACH
regulation and its readiness for REACH compliance.

ABOUT REACH:

The new European Union (EU) legislation concerning the Registration, Evaluation,
Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) took effect on June 1, 2007.
The regulation establishes new requirements for chemicals and substances
manufactured within or imported into the EU, restricting those that are deemed
to pose a high risk to environment, health and safety.

The survey link was sent to approximately 23,800 executives in North America
and Europe in the electronic interconnect supply chain, including electronics
manufacturing services (EMS) companies, printed circuit board (PCB) fabricators,
PCB laminators, and their suppliers of materials and equipment as well as
electronic end-product manufacturers. Individuals were prevented from
responding to the survey more than once, but multiple individual responses from
the same company were permitted.

A total of 749 responses were received, constituting a representative sample of

the population. At a 95 percent confidence level, the data for the total sample
has an error margin of ± 3.58 percent. Confidence intervals for various subsets
of the sample are noted in the report that follows.

The survey proportionally represented the various industry segments in the

electronic interconnect industry. A majority of respondents’ companies operate
in North America or Europe. The results of this survey reveal a distressing lack of
understanding throughout the industry on the impact and scope of REACH. It is
highly unusual for survey participants to score a 1 (none) in response to a 10-
point scale. Yet a sizeable proportion of them did in regards to REACH
understanding within their companies.

Not surprisingly, environmental, health and safety personnel have the greatest
understanding of REACH out of all the job functions that will be involved in
REACH compliance. But even in that group 28 percent have no understanding of
REACH. Among manufacturing and purchasing personnel, it is more than 40
percent. Nearly one-third of senior management personnel have no
understanding of REACH.

DEMOGRAPHICS:

The survey proportionally represented the various industry segments in the

electronic interconnect industry. A majority of respondents’ companies operate
in North America or Europe.

BY INDUSTRY SEGMENT:

Chemical suppliers are most knowledgeable about REACH, with scores averaging
in the middle of the range for most key personnel. Levels of awareness in this
industry, however, still vary widely across the spectrum. EMS companies have
the lowest level of REACH awareness.

Solder products are considered preparations under the REACH Regulation. It is

critical to the acceptance of these products in the EU that the substances in
them are identified and registered by their manufacturers or importers. Solder
manufacturers need to confirm this with their suppliers and obtain the necessary
information.

STATUS OF REACH PREPAREDNESS:

All Respondents In preparation for REACH compliance, all companies should be

identifying the substances in their products with information from their suppliers,
and passing that information on to their customers.
Currently, about 87 percent of chemical suppliers are doing this, but only about
half of the companies in the other industry segments are taking these basic
steps toward compliance.

AWARENESS OF REACH:

All Respondents The results of this survey reveal a distressing lack of

understanding throughout the industry on the impact and scope of REACH. It is
highly unusual for survey participants to score a 1 (none) in response to a 10-
point scale. Yet a sizeable proportion of them did in regards to REACH
understanding within their companies.

Not surprisingly, environmental, health and safety personnel have the greatest
understanding of REACH out of all the job functions that will be involved in
REACH compliance. But even in that group 28 percent have no understanding of
REACH. Among manufacturing and purchasing personnel, it is more than 40
percent. Nearly one-third of senior management personnel have no
understanding of REACH.