Q. What is iNEMI?
A. iNEMI is the International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative. Our mission is to identify and close technology gaps, which includes the development and integration of the electronics industry supply infrastructure. We roadmap industry needs, identify technology as well as business practice gaps in the infrastructure, establish implementation projects to eliminate these gaps, and stimulate standards activities to speed the introduction of new solutions. iNEMI also works with government, universities and other funding agencies to set priorities for future industry needs and R&D initiatives.
Q. Who is part of this consortium?
A. More than 65 electronics manufacturers, suppliers, associations and consortia, government agencies and universities are members of this industry-led consortium (see members).
Q. Can any organization participate in iNEMI?
A. Any organization committed to iNEMI's mission and collaborative agenda can join the consortium.
Q. Given today's global economy, how does iNEMI ensure that its efforts are consistent with worldwide requirements?
A. iNEMI recognizes the industry's need for strong supply chains in all the major markets of the world. We are headquartered in North America and have offices in Europe and Asia. We actively recruit roadmap participants from around the world and coordinate with other organizations to create a global manufacturing supply chain roadmap for the electronics industry. We also collaborate with relevant trade associations and other regional and global industry organizations to leverage total combined resources on industry challenges. And, we work with national and international standards groups/consortia to help ensure global solutions.
Q. Where are iNEMI's offices? How large is your staff?
A. iNEMI is a "virtual consortium" with a small support staff (seven people) headquartered in Herndon, Virginia (near Washington, D.C.). Our home office is located in Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology, and we have additional offices in Shanghai, China, and Limerick, Ireland. We have no laboratories or manufacturing facilities of our own. All projects are managed by the participating organizations, and all work is done at the participants' facilities and by their respective staffs. This approach minimizes overhead costs and bureaucracy, ensures greater involvement by the member companies for maximum benefits, and guarantees that we focus on the needs of industry.
Q. Is iNEMI government-funded?
A. No. All funding comes from member companies and organizations. In some instances, iNEMI ♠ in collaboration with specific members and/or other electronics industry organizations ♠ will submit proposals to funding agencies such as NIST's Advanced Technology Program. However, any funding received goes directly to our member companies and other organizations doing the work on the project. iNEMI does not offset any of its costs from such program awards.
Q. What is iNEMI's relationship to electronics industry associations? To other consortia?
A. iNEMI's role is complementary and we work closely with all of the leading associations and industry consortia. While the associations deal with policy issues, standards ratification, professional development and trade shows, we are focused on identifying business and technology gaps and then finding the best solutions to address those gaps. We are careful to focus our efforts so that there is no duplication of activity with other organizations. Sometimes, the best solution is to "refer" a project to an existing activity in another organization or to encourage another consortium or an association to take on the challenge if it is a better fit with that organization's goals and areas of focus. Our objective is to concentrate our resources on areas that are not being addressed by any other effort and where we believe we can actually have an impact. In the area of roadmapping, we coordinate iNEMI's roadmaps with those of other industry associations and consortia that impact the electronics industry.
Q. What is iNEMI's relationship with university research programs?
A. Research universities bring important capabilities to iNEMI. There are several universities conducting research in areas that are of interest to iNEMI. Because their time horizons are generally farther into the future than industry's, they provide valuable input into the iNEMI roadmaps. In addition, universities play important roles on iNEMI project teams, often providing neutral test labs in which new technologies can be tested and proven. A number of university-based research centers use iNEMI's roadmaps and identified research priorities to guide their R&D programs in order to ensure that the work they do has relevance to industry. (Download the 2007 iNEMI Research Priorities)
Q. What is the iNEMI roadmap?
A. Every two years, iNEMI enlists the participation of professionals from OEMs and electronics manufacturing services (EMS) providers, as well as a host of technology solutions providers from the electronics manufacturing supply chain, to help anticipate future manufacturing technology needs. These individuals help identify key technology and infrastructure developments that will be required to ensure the competitiveness of electronics manufacturing companies. The final roadmap serves as an important document to guide companies, government agencies, universities and other funding organizations in setting priorities for capacity, infrastructure and R&D investments. For additional information, see Roadmapping.
Q. If the roadmap makes 10-year projections, why do you re-do it every two years?
A. The electronics industry is changing rapidly and the underlying assumptions on which projections are based are also changing. It is necessary to revisit the issues on a regular basis in order to anticipate needs and problems in a timely manner.
Q. It seems like there are a lot of electronics roadmaps being done by several different organizations. Are they all necessary? Don't they all do the same thing?
A. There are several roadmaps, created by different organizations, that anticipate what lies ahead for the electronics industry. Most of these provide detailed information about only one segment of the industry, such as semiconductors (SIA's International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors) or interconnection substrates (IPC roadmap). The iNEMI roadmap is the only one that integrates the viewpoints of all the various sectors of the industry as a whole and considers how each area will impact the others, plus anticipates the effects on electronics manufacturing overall. Through the National Electronics Roadmapping Coordinating Committee, iNEMI and other roadmapping organizations have agreed to synchronize timelines to assure consistency in how far into the future each roadmap projects (10 years), agree on and refine product sector definitions, identify common elements, facilitate cross-functional groups, and coordinate roadmapping schedules.
Q. Is the iNEMI roadmap created completely by iNEMI members?
A. No. Participation in the roadmapping process is open to all companies or organizations that are part of (or service) the electronics industry, regardless of whether they are iNEMI members. In fact, iNEMI encourages as broad participation as possible in order to ensure an accurate view of the future. We also actively recruit participants from leading companies and industry organizations in Europe and Asia.
Q. Once you create a roadmap, then what do you do?
A. The iNEMI roadmap is used by many companies to help guide their deployment and R&D projects. It is also used by government agencies to set priorities for technology funding and by universities to determine focus areas for future research projects. Based on roadmap findings, iNEMI conducts a thorough gap analysis and undertakes projects with its member companies to close identified gaps. To do this, we first identify major areas of focus based on industry need, participation and ability to make a business impact. Gap analyses are done on these areas based on the major challenges and opportunities identified by the roadmap. Next, we create five-year plans for the focus areas that identify the projects and activities deemed necessary to close the gaps. These plans become the basis for the formation of iNEMI projects.
Q. What is the iNEMI Technical Plan and where does it come from?
A. The iNEMI Technical Plan is developed by the Technology Integration Groups (TIGs) and the iNEMI Technical Committee. This plan outlines the needs and drivers of the implementation projects, conveying the strategy, structure and status of each. The Technical Plan also identifies research priorities, based on roadmap findings and gap analysis meetings. These priorities are published as a separate document to serve as a resource to all who are tasked with directing R&D (both funding and execution) for the electronics manufacturing industry. (Download the 2007 iNEMI Research Priorities)
Q. What projects does iNEMI currently have?
A. Projects are organized within the iNEMI Technology Integration Groups (TIGs). TIG participation is limited to iNEMI members. We currently have seven TIGs: Board Assembly, Board & Systems Manufacturing Test, Environmentally Conscious Electronics, Medical, Optoelectronics, Substrates, and Thermal Management. For additional information, see Projects.
Q. Who determines iNEMI policies and focus?
A. The iNEMI Board of Directors defines the policy, strategy and direction of the consortium. They also have operational authority (including responsibility for the staff) and review performance of all projects and programs. Currently, the Board is made up of 10 voting directors who are executives from a cross-section of member companies (OEMs, EMS providers and suppliers). Directors are elected by the iNEMI Council of Members and typically serve three-year terms. The iNEMI Technical Committee facilitates and coordinates all iNEMI technical activities and is comprised of OEM, EMS and supplier representatives as well as individuals from government agencies, universities and industry associations. The Technical Committee reports to the Board, and the co-chairs are ex-officio members of the Board. For additional information, see iNEMI Organization.
Q. What is iNEMI's intellectual property policy?
A. iNEMI has a comprehensive agreement that covers the handling of intellectual property. While this agreement allows for a number of alternatives for shared IP ownership, the vast majority of projects see IP retained by individual member companies. iNEMI's IP policy also creates the structure for the protection of member companies' confidential information as part of its deployment projects. Since our interest is in seeing solutions deployed in the marketplace, we retain no IP rights to any IP resulting from iNEMI projects. Rather, we rely on member companies to freely market the products and capabilities that result from collaborative efforts.
Q. How does iNEMI accelerate technology deployment?
A. iNEMI brings together all segments of industry (OEMs, EMS providers, materials suppliers, equipment manufacturers and software vendors) to tackle hindrances to technology deployment. These include evaluation and characterization of new materials and processes, demonstration of reliability, definition of user needs, plus development of industry infrastructure and standards. For example, implementation of an emerging technology may require new equipment or new materials. By working closely with one or more vendors, OEMs and EMS providers can define requirements and help guide development of the equipment or material so that the final product meets their production needs, allowing them to effectively integrate the new technology into their processes. iNEMI allows companies to collaborate in a pre-competitive environment, eliminating costly duplication of efforts and focusing participants' combined efforts on more rapidly implementing technologies through the sharing of information.
Q. How does iNEMI help develop industry infrastructure?
A. Often, industry is faced with a "chicken and egg" situation. Suppliers are hesitant to make the significant investments that are necessary to develop the capabilities for implementing a new technology until they are sure they have customers. And OEMs/EMS providers are reluctant to commit to suppliers who have not proven their production capabilities and do not have the capacity to quickly ramp to volume production. By bringing together a number of OEMs, EMS providers and suppliers, we help industry move beyond this impasse. Suppliers are able to develop capabilities based on what OEMs tell them they need, and OEMs have access to suppliers with proven capabilities.
Q. How does iNEMI help disseminate business practices?
A. As with technology, iNEMI has the ability to bring together diverse sets of organizations from across the supply chain to discuss business practices, identify issues to be resolved and work collaboratively toward developing industry-standard solutions that will provide a larger customer base. This environment allows organizations to gain better visibility into where efforts should be focused in order to leverage their own internal sources for greatest results. It also gives participants the ability to take advantage of future capabilities with greater confidence that solutions providers will support the chosen approach.
Q. How does iNEMI stimulate development of standards?
A. As part of our roadmapping and deployment activities, iNEMI regularly identifies areas where standards are needed and leverages the diversity of its members to develop consensus on solutions that address the needs of industry. Although iNEMI is not a standards-making body, we work closely with organizations such as IPC, EIA/JEDEC, RosettaNet, IEEE and others to formalize the standards created through iNEMI projects. For additional information, see Standards.
Q. What does iNEMI accomplish technologically? How?
A. iNEMI focuses on accelerating manufacturing technology from development to manufacturing deployment by establishing implementation projects between users and suppliers, as discussed above. In addition, we identify key research and development activities which need to be accomplished in a coordinated fashion. iNEMI is working with government and non-government organizations (for example, IPC, SIA, NCMS, NIST, ITRI) to establish linkages that will ensure coordination of technology.
Q. Would this happen without iNEMI?
A. The technology accomplishments would, at best, happen significantly more slowly without the iNEMI projects and the iNEMI linkages. In addition, our focus on creating solutions that meet the broad needs of industry helps ensure more relevant performance at lower cost.