The Next Y2K Problem

By Jim Stavis

     In the cold vacuum of space nearly 7 years ago, inside the Galaxy 4 communications satellite, tiny “tin whiskers” appeared in the control processor that short-circuited the satellite’s function. Some 40 million pagers immediately stopped working across the country, millions of dollars of ATM and credit card transactions were interrupted. The $250 million satellite was effectively “lost in space”.
     The loss of Galaxy 4 was just one of the more visible consequences of a little known problem with catastrophic potential for electronic systems: metal that grows whiskers. An F-15’s radar system, pacemakers, fuse switches in air-to-air missiles, electronic relays in a nuclear power plant, and global positioning systems – all have fallen victim to this problem. One group of theorists has speculated that the problem has caused billions of dollars of losses to date.
     And the problem could get much worse. The movement towards miniaturization means that ever smaller whiskers can short out the ever smaller distances between leads and other jam packed conductive surfaces in electronic systems. Furthermore, the European Union (EU) has ordered by the middle of next year all electronic products sold must be free of lead and it is the lead that best prevents the growth of these whiskers.
     Until the new millennium the tin whisker problem actually seemed like a plague of the past. The metallurgical bug first became apparent in the late 1940’s to communications engineers who were investigating why relays in telephone switching systems were failing. The research community came up with a solution which was to add 3% lead to the tin plating used in electronic assemblies, particularly on wires and leads to make them solderable. Lead-tin alloys became standards for the industry and the tin whisker problem was solved.
     As often happens, the solution became a problem: lead became a material that became an industrial no-no and for good reason. It does a nasty number on human brain circuitry, especially in children. To reduce human exposure to lead, the government regulated it out of paint, gasoline, plumbing and other sources. The amount of lead in computers was quite small, but as electronic waste was filling our landfills, it began drawing much attention. And now the electronic industry has a problem on its hands: How to solve the whisker problem without the use of lead. To those in the electronic industry, the no-lead restriction is akin to phasing salt out of food. Lead is a trace ingredient in these products, but its whisker stopping has a technical taste that is hard to do without.
     Now there is a movement within the engineering communities, metallurgists, government officials and others who are racing against the clock to make sure that the get-the-lead-out movement does not awaken the tin whiskers giant. There is not much time to find a solution before every product with electronic circuitry poses a problem of future failure. You don’t want to go and buy a brand new HDTV only for it to fail before the warranty expires. Meanwhile the electronic industry is frantically searching for a solution.

The Changing Marketplace

By Jim Stavis

     It sometimes seems like nothing ever changes. You go along day by day, moment by moment and things appear to stay the same. And then you look at those same things after some time passes and realize how much change has really occurred. This is certainly evident in the steel marketplace. Typically, changes in this arena are slow to occur if there are changes at all. Then you look again and the price of steel has increased by 50%, the major steel mills have consolidated or gone out of business and the customer base is shifting from one industry to the next. The changes that we see are dramatic and it is critical that our methodology of doing business does not stay the same. The reality is that for most businesses change is necessary to stay competitive. Because if you are not changing, surely your competition is, and you had better change just to keep up with them. Our prescription for change is attempting to better anticipate the needs of our customers. We cannot simply react to their needs, but rather need to anticipate and prepare so that we can better serve them. This forces us to understand their businesses better and develop solutions to their supply chain problems. We need to be aware of their inventory levels, their usage rates, their production challenges, etc. There was a time not too long ago when a steel distributor’s function was limited strictly to distribution. Now the role has changed so that the distributor is a supply chain partner to the company’s operation. This redefines the role of the distributor and enhances the value to its customers. Distribution of steel is perhaps not as simple as it used to be, but that is what change is all about. It’s called progress.