EFIP. PCB trade federation appoints new chairman
EFIP
PCB trade federation appoints new chairman
Keyword EFIP
The European Federation of Interconnection and Packaging (EFIP) has announced the appointment of David C. Pratt as its first chairman.
Pratt is well qualified to head the trade body representing the European PCB and EMS (electronic manufacturing services) industries. Currently non-executive chairman of UK vision systems specialist, Kestra Ltd, and non-executive director of Simmonds Engineering, Pratt's 33 years of electronics industry experience includes senior management positions with leading printed circuit fabricator Bepi (now part of Viasystems) and giant multinational EMS provider, Solectron. He is a former chairman of both the UK's Association of Contract Electronics Manufacturers(ACEM) and the UK's Printed Circuit Interconnection Federation (PCIF).
Commenting on his appointment, which runs for two years, Pratt said: "These are exciting times for the electronics interconnection sector. With OEMs continuing to move away from vertically integrated manufacturing in favour of outsourcing their printed circuit board fabrication and assembly requirements, the European markets for these services have now reached values of $6.1bn/year and $17.0bn/year respectively. Between them, these two sectors sustain a total of 250,000 jobs. Clearly, EFIP has an important role to play, particularly when it comes to communicating with the European Commission on matters such as future legislation and R&D funding. I look forward to making a contribution."
Formed last year, EFIP has already won EC recognition as the voice of Europe's PCB and EMS industries. The Federation now sits alongside EECA, ECTEL, EUROBIT and EACEM on the European Commission DGIII's Federation Forum, which addresses issues of common concern.
But, important as negotiations with the EC decision-makers undoubtedly are, EFIP is also busy on other fronts. Exhibitions provide an example. Concerned at the high charges currently being made for stand space at European shows, EFIP has gone ahead and launched a low-cost alternative. The European PCB Convention provides suppliers of materials and equipment to the PCB fabrication industry with a focused,superb-venue exhibition for around half the cost of more broadly based shows.
