HDP User Group Releases the Pb-free Industry User Guide (GPLF)

The HDP User Group has released a comprehensive reference guide for companies wishing to implement a Pb-free board manufacturing process and to help the electronics industry transition to Lead-free (Pb-free) products and processes. The key focus of the guideline is on establishing a solder system that offers compatibility with various solders initially introduced by early adopters of Pb-free manufacturing. In addition it contains several suggestion for addressing manufacturing and process development challenges. This guide, called General Purpose Pb-free Assembly (GPLF) Guideline is available from Reports Section.  Go to Reports.

The GPLF Guideline is going to be updated on a regular basis. Interested people should therefore check later for new releases.

Ruben Bergman of HDP User Group said, “This guide is one of the first of its kind in the industry which is available in public domain. It is a result of over two year’s worth of effort and is a compilation of current best known practices for Pb-free manufacturing.”

During March 2004, the guideline was rolled out at the IPC/ JEDEC conference in San Jose, Eco-design Conference in Shanghai, as well as seminars in Hsinchu, Taiwan and Tokyo, Japan,

In January 2004, Soldertec, UK presented its annual “Lead-free Award 2003” to HDP User Group and three of the team members who played a key role in developing the guideline. The individuals awarded were Brian Smith and Thilo Sack from Celestica and Vivek Gupta from Intel.

HDP User Group has been at the forefront of addressing Pb-free technology and transition issues for several years. Some of the key accomplishments include Pb-free board process optimization, addressing Lead-free assembly limiting factors, definition of Lead-free, Board and package marking standard inputs. HDP User Group has worked cooperatively with standard bodies such as IPC and JEDEC to solve some of the challenges associated with the Pb-free process.

HDP User Group also wishes to thank the devoted work of the people named the in Soldertec award above along with Joe Smetana of Alcatel for development of GPLF Guideline.

About HDP User Group International Inc.

HDP User Group International is an international non-profit organization with a mission to resolve electronic packaging issues of common interest in the interface between users (system integrators and contract assembly manufacturers) and their supply chains. The consortium is made up of more than 25 members, most of them with a global presence. The international headquarters is situated in Scottsdale, AZ, USA and the Asian and European offices in Tokyo and Stockholm respectively.

HDP User Group focuses on issues such as reliability characterization of new packaging concepts, activities aimed at  support members becoming compliant with market and legislative environmental requirements as well as optical packaging activities. Eliminating barriers to lead-free electronics has been a major focus over the last few years. In recognition of the group's accomplishment in resolving issues leading to supply chain readiness for launch of lead-free products, HDP User Group  was granted the "Global Lead-Free Solder Award 2003" by Soldertec.

For more information, visit HDP User Group on the Internet at www.hdpug.org or contact Ruben Bergman at ruben.bergman@hdpug.se phone number
+46 8 869868 (Sweden).