Project objectives

The scientific and technical objectives are:

1. To develop flexible circuit material processes and design techniques to ensure product manufacture, performance and reliability are not compromised by the introduction of lead-free assembly in July 2006.
2. To develop predictive techniques for lifetime assessment, including modelling and virtual qualification techniques, to enable confidence in product performance and reduced design and testing time.
3. To undertake comprehensive testing to generate information on failure modes/criteria to enable predictive model validation.
4. To provide specific recommendations on the use and maintenance of lead-free flexible current assemblies.

The economic objectives of the project are:

• To provide the European flexible circuits industry, worth >0.4 billion, with a lead-free solution to enable it to operate successfully and retain jobs after RoHS lead ban is enforced on 1st July 2006.
• To increase the market share of the SME partners by at least 20% through the development of new substrate materials and lead-free processes capable of supporting the current and next generation of products.
• To provide proven performance, design guidelines and life prediction tools allow manufacturers of flexible circuits to develop and promote lead free assembly processes thereby increasing turnover and employment.
• To support IPR generation and wealth creation, and provide value added support and risk reduction to potential users of flexible circuits for new and innovative products (e.g. medical devices, automotive systems and information devices).

The societal objectives of the project are:

• To significantly contribute to the 100% reduction in lead containing landfill waste from electronic products.
• To improve working conditions by complete elimination of processes which expose workers to lead fumes.
• To develop processes that will avoid risk of increased exposure to new source of fumes from PCB laminates as a result of the higher temperature required for lead-free processes.
• To increase or retain employment in the EU flexible circuit manufacturing industry as a result of improved competitiveness against Asian and USA organisations.