UK firms are not ready for 1 July RoHS deadline

A survey of 263 UK design engineers, buyers and MRO engineers has revealed that just 12% are fully RoHS-compliant in readiness for the 1 July deadline. The survey, conducted by Farnell InOne also found that 37% were "close to being compliant" and that a further 28% have only just started to become compliant.

"It is clear that as the deadline approaches rapidly, the majority of design engineers are still not completely ready and are going to need a lot of support and hand-holding in the run-up to 1st July and beyond," says Gary Nevison, Farnell InOne`s head of product market strategy, Europe and Asia.

The research shows that distributors are playing a vital role in helping customers to meet the July deadline, with 46% of those surveyed saying they were approaching distributors for RoHS support. Less than half this proportion (22%) are approaching manufacturers directly. Only 9% are relying on the government for RoHS support and even fewer (8%) on environmental bodies.

The research also revealed that 53% considered on-line technical help and support services to be "extremely" or "very" important, and that 39% considered telephone technical help and support services to be important.