Celestica boss: RoHS costs will reach $20 billion

The CEO of one of the major global contract manufacturers says electronics manufacturers will have to break out the checkbook to comply with the July 1, 2006 RoHS deadline.

In an article in Electronic Business – a sister publication to Design News – Celestica CEO Steve Delaney says, “The industry-wide affects of RoHS include the increased cost of equipment, training, component unit cost, materials pricing, inventory and write-offs, and the risk of poor execution due to complex product transitions.” That’s without mentioning the cost of managing compliance, which includes gathering materials composition declarations and possible testing for compliance.

Delaney believes the overall cost for RoHS compliance will reach $20 billion over the coming decade. He notes that Celestica alone has already spend millions to comply with RoHS. Early estimates of compliance were put at 1 to 2 percent of cost of goods sold. Recent estimates, however, have been placed the costs closer to 3 to 5 percent.

Original text is here