The International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative is the convergence of two efforts to recapture American leadership in electronics manufacturing. In 1993, the American Electronics Association (AEA) conducted a study of the U.S. electronics manufacturing infrastructure. The study was led by Mauro Walker, then senior vice president and director of manufacturing at Motorola, Inc. Based on the results of this study, AEA recommended that the federal government create a national initiative in electronics manufacturing to focus on strategic electronic components and electronics manufacturing systems.
The second effort originated with the National Science and Technology Council's Electronics Subcommittee, chaired by Lance Glasser, then director of the Electronics Technology Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
In 1994, Walker and Glasser teamed to begin the creation of iNEMI. Over a 10-month period, they met with representatives of government and executives from many of the industry's largest electronics manufacturers and suppliers of materials, components and subassemblies. Based on these discussions, iNEMI's founders decided to focus their efforts on electronic systems manufacturing, emphasizing future information products that connect to information networks.
Walker and Glasser formed the National Electronics Manufacturing Framework Committee - a group of 200 individuals from industry, government, and academia - to study the challenges facing the nation in electronics manufacturing, and to develop technology roadmaps and policy options with which to address these challenges. The AEA and the Electronic Industries Association (EIA, now the Electronic Industries Alliance) published the committee's roadmaps in December 1994. Many industry associations participated in the planning process, including the AEA, EIA, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Institute for Interconnecting and Packaging Electronic Circuits (IPC, now IPC- Association Connecting Electronics Industries), the National Association of Manufacturers, Semiconductor Equipment Materials International (SEMI), and the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).
By the spring of 1995, executives from industry, government, and academia had developed an organizational structure and technical plan for ongoing activities and formed the International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative(iNEMI) consortium. Walker was elected to chair the new organization's Board of Directors. iNEMI was created as an industry initiative with government participation, rather than a federal initiative with industry participation. The group handed off most of the policy aspects to the appropriate electronics industry associations, and approved a preliminary management organization. It was also decided to expand iNEMI's mission to include all of North America. In the fall of 2003, the Board of Directors, recognizing the global nature of its members as well as the industry, further expanded the organization's scope to encompass the global electronics manufacturing supply chain.
iNEMI maintains a small central staff based in Herndon, Virginia. All collaborative work is carried out at member company facilities and other industry or academic venues. iNEMI continues to roadmap industry needs, identifying the key technology and infrastructure developments required to assure leadership of the global electronics manufacturing supply chain. Based on roadmap findings, the organization conducts a thorough gap analysis and undertakes initiatives to close identified gaps. These initiatives fall into four key areas: accelerated deployment of new technologies, dissemination of efficient business practices, stimulation of standards, and development of industry infrastructure.