Author: Maulin Buch

Circular Economy- reclaim & reuse electronic components.

Posted on by Maulin Buch

Circular Economy - reclaim & reuse of electronic components

The global demand for electronics continues to grow. 

The International Data Corporation forecasts that the internet of things, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality will drive worldwide spending on information technology to more than $1 trillion. In the digital age, electronic products are an indispensable part of our lives. 

However, the fast pace of innovation and short product life cycles also mean that electronics often have a short user lifespan. This has led to a rise in e-waste as well as a loss of valuable resources locked inside these devices. Every year millions of tons of electronic devices end up in landfills instead of being recycled. 

Reducing this waste and finding new ways to reuse or recycle old electronics could help reduce their environmental impact while also driving business value at the same time.

Industrial digitalisation and the circular economy are two important megatrends that can help drive innovation in the electronics value chain. The global market for electronic devices is estimated to be worth more than $177 billion in 2019.  

As a result, companies operating in this sector now need to adopt new strategies to remain competitive in the digital age. One of those is adopting a circular economy approach, which involves principles such as sustainable production, reuse, and recycling of materials at every stage of their lifecycle.

By applying these principles to electronics, computers, server boards, hardware, internet of things, telecom electronics, and more, it’s possible to reduce not only waste but also recover valuable electronic components/devices that can be used over again in new products – creating a closed loop system where nothing is wasted and everything has a second life somewhere else in the supply chain.

Circular economy thinking is everywhere these days. Innovation leaders in every industry embrace circular principles to reduce waste, cut costs and boost productivity.

Component recovery, re-use & circular economy solutions

Retronix Component recovery, re-use & circular economy solutions

Manufacturing Stage: Re-integrate high-value components from fallout, end of life products, scrap – back into your supply chain.

Life Extension: Re-process, re-condition, refresh, test and verify components for aftermarket care and future sourcing.

End of Life & Re-sourcing: Recover your devices from scrap, prepare for re-use, test, validate and verify for integration in your refurbishment and manufacturing stages.

Circular Economy ethos of refurbish & re-use. This isn’t a new vision for Retronix – we have successfully been offering customers our recovery & re-use solutions for over 30 years.

Our wide range of services to the electronics industry allows us to offer a complete service for the safe recovery of parts ready for your new builds.

  • IC Tests 
  • Visual Inspection 
  • Re-reeling & Re-packing 
  • 24 Hour Post Bake

Retronix has developed a process to recover and refurbish these electronic components including BGAs, to enable reuse. This process meets the component manufacturer’s specifications of maximum reflow cycles allowed on an electronic component, adhered to extensively by both OEMs and CEMs. 

In 2021 Retronix recovered nearly 3 million components from approximately 650,000 PCBs that would otherwise have gone to scrap or landfill. We expect this number to double this year due to the ongoing supply chain disruptions, more organisations discovered Component Reclaim as a viable and valuable solution to their component sourcing issues.

CONTACT US FOR MORE INFORMATION

Cheap as Chips | A Road to Recovery for Automotive

Posted on by Maulin Buch

Cheap as Chips | A Road to Recovery for Automotive

The chip shortage is back for Year 2 and, the automotive industry continues to bear the brunt as semiconductor manufacturers continue to neglect their cheap chips. 

Nvidia Corp recently led a string of predictions from fellow chipmakers at the J.P. Morgan Tech Forum with its forecast for the chip shortage. With a consensus that there will be minimal improvement to the situation before the middle of 2022, maybe not even then.    

A somewhat alarming outlook for a sourcing issue that dates back to March 2020 but, of the endless problems thrown at companies by Covid-19, the global chip shortage appears to have been one of the most destructive. Companies should count themselves lucky to have avoided the disruption inflicted by the lack of chips which has caused backlogs for products, including vehicles, consumer electronics, and household appliances.

Legacy Semiconductors

Perhaps no other industry has been as affected by the semiconductor deficit as automotive, with carmakers large and small relying on these tiny computer chips to power everything from infotainment systems to steering wheels and much more. According to US-based consulting firm AlixPartners, shortages related to semiconductors cost the automotive industry a whopping $210 billion in revenue in 2021.

The automotive OEMs aren’t holding their breath about the situation letting up anytime soon, either. As reported by Reuters, Ford has taken the tough decision to suspend production at eight factories following a slump in share. Even Elon Musk has announced that because of the chip shortage, there will be no new Tesla models released in 2022. 

As with most things in the convoluted automotive industry, there are countless reasons why the chip shortage has been so severe. What might be surprising is a route cause to the situation is the type of chips used. Yes, while automotive technological advancements have progressed significantly over the years, cars use a lot of older, lower-tech legacy chips, which cost mere dollars to produce. 

Therefore, mature vehicle chips, which can date back to 2005, deliver a lower profit margin, and ultimately there is less incentive for chip manufacturers to invest in more capacity. Both Infineon and Apple Inc’s Tim Cook have agreed that the market for mature chips would remain tight as semiconductor makers have an incentive to focus on the newest and most expensive chips (Reuters). 

If the semiconductor giants have their way, the days of the automotive industry relying on these cheap commodity chips are numbered. In the meantime, before more factories close their doors, there need to be shorter-term solutions to this relentless chip shortage.  

Component Recovery

While currently there is a lack of capacity for legacy semiconductors, it doesn’t mean that there are no chips out there. However, these mature components might be attached to obsolete PCBs, gathering dust in storage. Retronix has a component recovery service that provides a means to safely remove chips from PCBs and return to a like-new condition. We combine our rework, re-tinning, re-balling, ICOS coplanarity testing, electrical testing, and re-packaging services, to ready components for your new builds. 

What’s more, with legacy components dating back to as early as 2005, six years before the RoHS directive, there may be a requirement to convert parts from Pb to Pb Free. Our fully automated alloy conversion system will ensure that your devices aren’t exposed to excessive heat or abrasion, meeting the stringent High Reliability standards of GEIA-STD-0006. Retronix is one of the few companies that offer a full bill of material (BOM) conversion process.

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Could chip shortage push automotive towards a more sustainable future?

Posted on by Maulin Buch

Could Chip Shortage Push Automotive Towards a More Sustainable Future?

Despite automotive only representing 10% of semiconductor demand, it has been hit the hardest by the global chip shortage. With the crisis showing no signs of letting up, could a Semiconductor Circular Economy put the brakes on the supply chain crisis?

The Impact of the Shortage on Automotive

The global semiconductor shortage has caused carnage across the automotive supply chain, so much so that the everyday consumer has now become affected. Consulting Firm AlixPartners has estimated that the supply chain crisis has cost the industry a staggering $210 billion in revenue in 2021 alone. Shocking but not entirely surprising if you look at the growing list of OEMs that have had to either halt production or shut factories completely, including Daimler, Toyota, Ford, JLR, and most recently Opel.

As would be expected, there are continuing disputes over how long the shortage will last. The year 2022 is being cited by many industry professionals as the holy grail. However, such predictions indicate that there is going to be a definitive end to the draught. The truth is that there has been an imbalance in the semiconductor supply chain for many years now, far before the recent geopolitical shifts, natural disasters, and pandemics (of course). And with the car industry now rapidly pivoting to electric vehicles, attaining a semiconductor supply chain equilibrium seems almost impossible.

A Semiconductor Circular Economy

This dire supply chain scenario has finally forced organisations to take notice of innovations that support a semiconductor circular economy in order to address the current global supply chain imbalance while mitigating future shortages (AZO). More importantly, the model would push us toward a more sustainable future within both automotive and the wider electronic industry.

While electronic goods have revolutionised our daily lives, in this tech-hungry world, we are eating through electronic devices at an alarming rate. Each year a staggering 50 million tonnes of e-waste is produced and, if current trends continue, it is forecast to reach 120 tonnes by 2050. Sadly only 20% is recycled.

Sundar Kamak, Head of Manufacturing Solutions of Ivalua Inc. discussed with Forbes the need for manufacturers to turn their attention to reusing and recycling chips from older devices and equipment, “Not only could this help ease the burden on supply chains, but it will also have a positive impact on the economy and encourage regenerative design to reduce reliance on finite resources”.

How can we Move from Linear to Circular?

For decades the semiconductor industry has relied upon a linear economy model, and therefore, the move to circular won’t exactly be ‘straight’ forward for organisations. However, as highlighted by the UN, moving to a circular approach will open doors to new markets for businesses and provide opportunities to increase market share, cut costs and risks, push innovation and align performance with public expectations.

“Successful businesses of the future will be ones that deliver excellent value with minimum resource use and environmental impacts while moving rapidly toward nature-positive solutions and net zero carbon emissions” UN.

For three decades now, Retronix have been helping businesses adopt the Circular Economy ethos of refurbish and re-use. As previously highlighted by Kamak, everyday, millions of dollars of brand new and high-value components are scrapped by manufacturers simply because they are attached to faulty/obsolete PCBs.

Retronix have developed a process to recover and refurbish these electronic components including BGA chips, to enable reuse. This process meets the component manufacturer’s specifications of maximum reflow cycles allowed on an electronic component, adhered to extensively by both OEMs and CEMs. 

In 2020 Retronix recovered nearly 3 million components from approximately 650,000 PCBs that would otherwise have gone to scrap or landfill. We expect this number to be double this year as due to the component shortage, more and more organisations discovered Component Reclaim as a viable and valuable solution to their component souring issues.

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Gray Market – Don’t get burnt by Counterfeit Chips

Posted on by Maulin Buch

The Gray Market - Don't get Burnt by Counterfeit Chips

With the electronic component shortage predicted to last until at least 2022, Retronix has not only seen a significant growth of customer requirements for our testing services. But alarmingly, the quantity of counterfeit chips and suspicious components that we are detecting has risen significantly also. During any time of shortage, we observe a spike however, the severity of this particular supply crisis has dramatically worsened the counterfeit chip problem. 

Playing with fire

The top manufacturers within the computing industry are lucky enough to receive orders directly from the chip manufacturers. However, manufacturers from other industries such as automotive, white goods, and medical electronics, source their chip stock from intermediary suppliers. Now because it is near enough impossible for these suppliers to obtain chips directly from the source, many have been exploring alternative channels. As a direct result, the gray market for semiconductors has grown, at an exponential rate.

“The gray market refers to the sale of products via distribution channels that are unintended, unofficial and unauthorised by the real vendor of the products.” Techopedia 

Dubious sellers are taking advantage of the dire situation, luring in desperate buyers with the likes of search engine ads and swindling them fake chips under the guise of genuine stock. 

The Danger of Counterfeit

According to Semiengineering, the counterfeit chip market is growing with a worldwide value of $75 billion. Hand in hand with the industry becoming more lucrative, counterfeiters are becoming more sophisticated in their techniques. However, the difference between genuine semiconductors and fakes semiconductors couldn’t be more extreme. As explained by the Semiconductor Industry Association, chip manufacturers spend billions of dollars each year developing, manufacturing, and testing products that will perform to the highest standards and reliability levels for many years.

Counterfeiters, on the other hand, will repurpose components from old electronic waste using crude and poorly controlled processes that churn out semiconductors with far higher failure rates. This inherently effects the long-term reliability of these devices and worryingly jeopardises lives since they are prone to fail at the worst possible moments, such as when car airbags need to deploy, defibrillators are used to apply shocks, or when aircraft are landing.

XIlINX Device our Test Department Detected as Compromised

XILINX device with 2D barcode rubbed off

XILINX device with 2D barcode

Don't get duped by counterfeiters

Retronix has a test department dedicated to the identification of counterfeit parts along with the best tools for this process. We also have years of experience earned from dealing with this issue for numerous customer in varying industry sectors. 

Due to the supply chain shortage, our test department has been uncovering new and inventive techniques that we have never seen. For example, we are starting to see chips with 2D Barcodes that have been laser-etched off. Suppliers will say that the 2D Barcode was only removed to conceal how the parts made it into the open market, encouraging desperate buyers to use the parts, assuring them the functionality of the devices will not be compromised. Don’t fall for it! Any device which has been visibly altered or changed should be considered compromised or counterfeit. This issue has also recently been raised by ERAI and more information can be found on a discussion on the ERAI: Counterfeit Part Avoidance, Detection, Disposition and Reporting Linkedin page.

If you have acquired components from an unverified source or are unsure about the authenticity of the parts, please get in touch with Retronix today. 

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Tin Whisker Trials & Tribulations | Finally a Micro Component Tinning Solution

Posted on by Maulin Buch

Tin Whisker Trials & Tribulations - A Solution to Micro Component Tinning

It’s a well-known fact (there are hundreds of technical papers confirming) that Tin Whisker filaments can grow uncontrollably from tin plating. The danger comes when one of these filaments peels off the tin and connects with an adjacent component causing a short.

When the EU Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive came into place, the High Reliability industry braced itself for an influx of tin whisker issues. That was back in 2011 and thankfully since several techniques and applications to tame the tin needles have been identified.

The Solder Dip Solution

The most common method to eliminate tin whiskers is to convert the plating from ‘lead-free’ (tin plating) to tin/lead plating. The process is carried out by simply dipping a component’s terminations into tin-lead solder. High Reliability industries (aerospace/defence/medical) are allowed dispensation to use tin/lead solder, as they cannot run the risk of tin whiskers long term. Unlike, commercial products such as phones/laptops that have a much shorter life cycle.

However, it’s still not that simple as the conversion process needs to conform to a standard called GEIA which strictly controls dip time and temperature, plus it must be automated. 

The problem is that 0402, 0603, and SOT chip capacitors cannot (until now) be handled in a manner that allows for automation. Such micro components are processed manually by someone picking them up with tweezers and hand dipping in a solder pot. It’s important to note that the success of solder dipping as a solution to protect against tin-whiskers directly depends on coating the exposed tin-plated surface (Electronic Design). 

The Cut Corner Solution

Despite this knowledge, many manufacturers are rejecting hand dipping, instead believing that assembling PCBs with lead paste will resolve this issue. The consequence of this workaround is that the lead solder from the paste only covers the sides of the termination but does not reach the top surface. As widely reported by NASA, this process DOES NOT protect against the risk of Tin Whiskers. 

Despite such clear evidence, the general thought process around the tinning of micro components such as capacitors and resistors is, “there is no suitable process that meets the GEIA standard, therefore it’s not a problem” so, issue a concession to bypass it. Or do the above which is a partial solution but not good enough.

The Retronix Solution

With the automated process designed exclusively by Retronix – Patent Pending – to tin micro devices such as 0402, 0603, SOT’s to GEIA standards, the industry finally has a comprehensive all-inclusive solution for tinning requirements.

  • The automated micro tinning process is carried out on our plating systems.
  • The lead-free capacitors are picked up by a specially designed tool that can hold multiple devices at a time.

The devices are moved to the fluxing station & then accurately over the solder wave. The pre-programmed automated system ensures the dip is precise & consistent.

Click HERE to learn more about our Micro Device Hot Solder Dip Process – Patent Pending. 

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Joining Scotland in Forging Ahead to Tackle Global Climate Change

Posted on by Maulin Buch

Joining Scotland in Forging Ahead to Tackle Global Climate Change

In 2019 the Scottish Government declared a climate emergency and subsequently set a landmark mandate of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 – five years before the rest of the UK. At Retronix, we are proud to be joining our home country in forging ahead to tackle global climate change.

Scotland in the Spotlight

Scotland as a country may be small-in-size but, we have some of the most ambitious emission-reducing targets on the planet. What’s more, this November, Glasgow will have the world’s attention as it hosts the United Nations Conference of Parties #COP26. With all eyes on Scotland and the expectation building up to deliver a global agreement, Retronix has a part to play as a Scottish business to become Net-Zero by 2045.

E-waste recycling boost needed ‘to enable the transition to net-zero.’

Material Focus 

Retronix have always been Green

For Retronix, this is not a new concept, and since our inception (over 25 years ago!), we have been supporting the introduction of recycled electronic components back into the supply chain. The components that we recover can be found in anything from your mobile phone or tablet, hospital ventilators to car safety systems.

In 2020 alone, Retronix recovered and/or refurbished approx. 3 million electronic components from approx. 250K computer boards that would otherwise have gone to scrap. Our environmental consultants, Redshaw Advisors, estimate that Retronix recovered approximately 6,000 tonnes of e-waste that would otherwise have gone to landfill.

Supporting Scotland's Environmental Goals

While Retronix is an international organisation, we have a strong, Scottish customer base, serving electronic companies within High Reliability, Oil & Gas, and security systems. By providing our services, we are also improving their environmental performance and carbon footprint. In turn, we are supporting other Scottish organisations in reaching their environmental targets. 

This year we were proudly certified as Operationally Carbon Neutral. Our focus for the next two years is to invest in Woodland creation and peatland restoration schemes in Scotland to not only offset our emissions but to aim for a positive impact on Scotland’s overall environmental performance. 

The core of the business supports sustainability and environmental improvements and our technology solutions support the creation of a sustainable future.

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Engineering & Development Manager Opportunity

Posted on by Maulin Buch

Engineering & Development Manager Opportunity

Retronix have an exciting, opportunity for an experienced Engineering Manager to come and join our growing team in our Head Office in Coatbridge, Glasgow.  This is a dual role encompassing hands on Engineering requirements, skills, and knowledge as well as proven R&D capability of delivering new process ideas and concepts to the market. It would suit a driven individual who is looking to join a forward thinking fast- paced company on a permanent basis. 

Retronix offers a unique set of technology solutions aimed at reducing manufacturing costs and solving technical issues faced by High Reliability, Military, Avionics and Commercial Electronics sectors.  We work in partnership with our customers, who operate throughout the electronics component supply chain, to provide technical expertise in tackling industry challenges such as component shortage, obsolescence, tin whiskers, and PCB requiring specialist rework.

Originating in the UK and USA we are a global service provider with a world class reputation as a solutions provider and technical process innovator.

Our quality and innovation are the two main reasons that our company has been – and continues to be – successful.

Some of our main customers include Thales, Leonardo, BAE, Martin Baker. 

Within this position, you will be responsible but not limited to the below tasks:

Main Duties & Responsibilities:

  • Managing a team of 3 engineers.
  • Responsible for the efficient operation of all facility equipment, machinery, and processes.
  • Manage engineering team to support factory equipment, facilities, and infrastructure including all maintenance, calibration and engineering activities required to support our AS9100D.
  • Research and recommend new technologies/equipment to improve efficiency and provide new options to our existing and potential customers.
  • Work with Internal personnel on R&D/Innovation Projects as main design contributor.
  • Organise and manage trials to support innovative ideas & concepts.
  • Plan all engineering projects using planning tools and software, produce regular reports and updates on progress to management team.
  • Produce accurate professional engineering reports to customers and internal personnel.
  • Work with external suppliers to deliver all necessary equipment, expertise and service to organisation.
  • Work with Operations Management to ensure Engineering team is organised, meeting project deadlines, and meeting business engineering requirements.
  • Managing team to interface with production manager & production supervisors to implement improvements.
  • Develop and recommend solutions to improve output rate per hour or materials yield in conjunction with the Process & Quality Engineering.
  • Design, develop and validate processes from concept through to successful commercialisation.
  • Develop process improvements for high efficiency and support equipment utilisation targets 

Knowledge and Skills: 

  • 7+ years Engineering Management Experience with a proven track record of managing resources to successfully complete projects and meet company engineering requirements.
  • PCBA or high-volume electronics products manufacturing experience an advantage.
  • Degree Qualified.
  • Knowledge of solder and Chemical composition desirable.
  • Knowledge is of electronic assembly environments is desirable.
  • Experience of AS9100 Quality Standard or similar desirable.
  • Proven ability to deliver results from R&D concepts through to process implementation.
  • Demonstratable problem solving skills.
  • Able to apply hands on engineering skill but also manage other projects from design of experiments, trials, validation and commissioning
  • Must show ability to be an innovative thinker who is willing to apply knowledge and skill into developing a concept.
  • Proficiency in MS Office, Word, PowerPoint and Excel and Project Planning Software.
  • Competent is using databases, systems.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills
  • Strong organisational skills with the ability to multi-task.

Salary- Negotiable depending on experience

Monday- Friday working hours

Immediate start

How do I apply and what is the interview process?

We would love to hear from you! To apply for this opportunity please email a copy of your CV to hrsupport@retronix.com and include your contact phone number and email address. If you are successful and proceed to the interview stage of the process, we will contact you to arrange an onsite interview with you, during which time you will have the opportunity. 

 

WANt to know more about AUTOMATED ALLOY CONVERSION?

Contact the team today to discuss your requirements

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NOW CLOSED: Planning System Development Internship

Posted on by Maulin Buch

Internship OPPORTUNITY: Planning System development - now closed

Retronix is looking for a Planning System Development Intern. 

  • Location: Coatbridge, Glasgow
  • Commences: Mid-July 2021
  • Contract Type: Temporary
  • Contract Hours: Full Time
  • Remuneration/ Pay rate: £8.80-£9.50 per hour
  • Internship Objective: To develop a Production Planning tool for a Complex Multi-Variable Operation.

An exciting opportunity for a student or recent graduate to join our Retronix team. As a student intern, you would join us for 2 months of full-time work followed by the possibility of flexible part-time working arrangement once the term restarts.  If you are seeking work experience following the completion of your studies we would love to hear from you too as we are able to offer this opportunity as a 3-4 month full-time role for the right candidate. There is potential for continued employment following this period for a candidate who is successful in their role. 

What does Retronix do?

Retronix offers a unique set of technology solutions aimed at making high reliability electronics more reliable and reducing manufacturing costs by PCB/IC Repair and recycling. Retronix HQ is in Coatbridge, Scotland which is where the internship will be based.

What does the internship opportunity mean for you? 

The successful candidate will have the opportunity to head a very exciting project with support and guidance from other members of the team. The project objective is to develop a production planning tool for a complex multi-variable operation to accommodate our growing production operation. This challenging but exciting project would be best suited to candidates studying supply chain, mathematics, statistics or computer and information science. A high degree of numeracy and computing skills is desired as this will form the foundation of the project, as it is expected to be excel based. Knowledge of functions such as “solver” would benefit candidates. 

What skills can you expect to develop?

  • You will have the opportunity to develop your leadership skills as you take lead on the project.
  • As one of the main contributors to this project, you can expect to gain valuable logical thinking and problem-solving skills as you sort and sequence variables with the ultimate goal of achieving a sophisticated yet easy-to-use tool that will manage the planning of customer orders.
  • You will gain an interesting insight into our company and production processes while developing your organisational skills as you work with many data elements such as customer orders, quantities, delivery due dates, component types, routings, capacities, manning, work hours, and machine rates during the creation of the production planning tool.
  • In addition to this, you can expect to gain/develop valuable team-working and communication skills as you spend time in our factory, speaking with experienced operators, supervisors, technicians and engineers while gathering the information required to complete the project.
  • You can also expect to develop time management skills as this will be key to ensure that the project goals are met within the allocated time period. 

Want to know more about the project? 

  • The project is expected to be excel based.
  • The end goal for the production planning tool is that it will have the ability to take all available data each day and adjust current work in progress, add new orders received and new prioritisations to create a production plan that is optimised for best customer delivery and factory utilisation.
  • While using your skills to develop the tool, logical thinking will be at the forefront as there can be several hundred orders and each order can have multiple order lines at any one time, with several hundreds of component types that would be processed thru varying production stages and yet meet on-time delivery goals.
  • The tool should ultimately provide easy-to-read management reports and highlight exceptions such as any orders delayed at a production stage beyond expected processing times thus providing the operation with alerts for action to solve and retain the committed customer delivery dates.
  • The tool would import and export data with other factory systems and would be extended to our newly opened US operation after first released in our UK headquarter operation.
  • While this is a challenging project, you are sure to be using and developing desirable employment skills at all times. While you will be required to work independently on many elements of the tool, you will receive support and guidance from team members throughout the process. 
  • We are confident that the opportunity to experience many different elements of our production process will provide an interesting opportunity for the successful candidate.

What are the working hours and pay?

We anticipate that this role would be for a minimum of 2 months on full time hours followed by a flexible working arrangement when the term restarts for those returning to University. For a graduate we would be able to offer this as a full time role for 3 – 4 months. Working hours total 38hrs per week. Anticipated working days/hours as follows: 8am – 4:30pm (Monday-Thursday) and 8am – 2pm (Friday). Remuneration/Pay rate: £8.80-£9.50 per hour.

How do I apply and what is the interview process?

We would love to hear from you! To apply for this internship please email a copy of your CV to Laura.Perkins@retronix.com and include your contact phone number and email address. If you are successful and proceed to the interview stage of the process, we will contact you to arrange an onsite interview with you, during which time you will have the opportunity to learn more about the project and ask any questions which you may have. Application closing date is the 16th of July but you may be asked to attend an interview prior to the closing date. 

 

WANt to know more about AUTOMATED ALLOY CONVERSION?

Contact the team today to discuss your requirements

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The Retronix Component Recovery Decision Tree

Posted on by Maulin Buch

Retronix Electronic Component Shortage Solutions

If you don’t already know about the current global chip shortage, you must be living under a rock. However, did you know that Retronix could have the solution to your supply chain woes?

Is any industry safe from the component shortage?

While there has been extensive coverage on the chip shortage impacting the automotive industry, the reality is that businesses in every sector are hurting. Just, when we thought that the global chip shortage couldn’t get any worse, the situation intensifies, and it now looks like millions of everyday consumers will be impacted. While small in size, the semiconductor plays an integral role in all modern-day technology. From the sought-after PlayStation, the humble toothbrush to the voice-controlled speaker that is now becoming commonplace in our homes. The tiny chip hides in so many products that feature in our day-to-day lives. 

Having been in the industry for 30 years, Retronix has experienced component shortages before but never to the extent where the everyday consumer is affected. 

Computer Chip Shortage

Reinhard Ploss, the Chief Executive of German chipmaker, Infineon, agrees that this is uncharted territory for the semiconductor industry, 

“The current situation, where all verticals are booming, I have never seen before” CNBC. 

How long will the component crisis last?

As reported in Bloomberg, the lead time for ordering and taking delivery of a computer chip topped 17 weeks in April.  According to Susquehanna Financial Group, this is the longest wait since the firm began tracking data back in 2017, putting the supply chain into the danger zone. 

As would be expected there are several disputes over how long the shortage will last. Chuck Robbins, Cisco CEO, is optimistic about the situation telling BBC, “We think we’ve got another six months to get through the short term. The providers are building out more capacity. And that’ll get better and better over the next 12 to 18 months.”

However, IBM President Jim Whitehurst isn’t as confident about the situation, sharing with the BBC that it would be years before the semiconductor supply chain returned to normal. “There’s just a big lag between from when a technology is developed and when [a fabrication plant] goes into construction and when chips come out,”. Reinhard Ploss, Infineon, shares the same bleak outlook for both this year and the next exclaiming that “We’re fighting for every wafer”.   

What is the solution?

Our Retronix Component Recovery solution doesn’t require any fighting, instead, all we ask is for you to do some component searching. Search your scrap for faulty/obsolete PCBs, your storage for old PCBs, and your supply chain. From experience, we can promise that you will be surprised by what you can uncover. We can also promise that our Retronix advance and precise component reclaim service can safely recover any high-value component that you find.

Many organisations don’t realise that the Retronix Recovery Solution even exists and in desperation flee to the grey market. Fortunately, our IC testing suite can validate the authenticity of components sieving out any nasty counterfeits from customer supply chains. 

Still unsure of how we can help? Follow our Retronix Component Recovery Decision tree to find the solution that’s right for you. 

Component Recovery Decision Tree

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Our New Retronix USA Facility

Posted on by Maulin Buch

OUR NEW RETRONIX USA FACILITY

Retronix brings 30 years of experience, technical know-how, and a full suite of component rework services to the USA. 

Retronix is proud to announce our expansion into the USA with the opening of our state-of-the-art facility. Located in Pflugerville (near Austin), Texas, the new fully operational site will offer a complete suite of our expert Retronix services.

The opening of our new Retronix facility is the direct response to increasing customer demand from the USA Market. Bringing with us 30 years of experience our site has specifically been designed to optimise our service delivery to the USA customer base.

The market now has full local access to our Retronix solutions including, Retinning, Component Reclaim, Alloy Conversion, and Reballing. Not only does this offer faster turnaround times but it promises increased security to our customers operating within the High-Reliability sector.

This is an exciting time for Retronix, and we look forward to welcoming customers old and new through our USA doors

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