“Major manufacturers and distributors in the electronics industry are well prepared to meet the requirements of the European Union’s RoHS and WEEE directives. But many of the small- to medium-size component suppliers are falling short in getting up to compliance. “Across the board large companies are more prepared than small companies. The large companies are prepared, so they don’t have to act immediately,” says Eric Karofsky, senior analyst at AMR Research. “The large companies always understand risk better. They have better planning capabilities and more capacity to spend time assessing risk.” He notes that large companies view regulations as risk factors and they have a institutional capacity to assess risk and plan mitigation strategies well in advance of regulation deadlines. Not so with small companies. “Companies like Motorola and HP are well under way in understanding what is necessary to comply,” says Karofsky. “Most of the small- to medium-size businesses are behind the times.”” Source: designnews.com