Deadline to Lead-Free: Design Chain Associates, LLC and EPTAC Corporation Announce a Major Education Milestone

San Francisco, CA � May 19, 2005 � Design Chain Associates, LLC and EPTAC Corporation have educated three thousand people from over eleven hundred companies in the electronics industry throughout North America and the world on complying with environmental legislation and requirements like RoHS and WEEE. Carlos Simental, Sr. DfX Engineer of Input-Output Corporation in Houston, TX was identified as the 3000th attendee and as such will receive a free pass to a future DCA/EPTAC seminar of his choosing as well as $500 worth of free consulting services from either DCA, or EPTAC, or both.

As of August 13, 2005, many European Union (EU) member states will require electronics manufacturers to finance and take back product that is no longer in use via the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive, or WEEE (2002/96/EC). On July 1, 2006 the European Union, via the �restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment�, or RoHS, directive (2002/95/EC) will begin restricting the material content of electronic products being shipped within and into the EU. On the same date, China will also restrict material content, and six months later, on January 1, 2007, California will for certain electronic products. There are several elements and compounds affected. The most common is lead (Pb).

�Lead-Free� is not just about manufacturing; it is not just about doing business in Europe; and companies cannot wait until 2006 to get started. Materials suppliers are shipping compliant products today and competitors are preparing for the transition now.

The current series of seminars ends on June 16th in Detroit, with interim seminars in Chicago and Boston. You can sign up at http://www.pcbshows.com/leadfree. The next series will begin later this year. Stay tuned at http://www.designchainassociates.com.

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About Design Chain Associates, LLC

Design Chain Associates' consulting services help Electronics OEMs speed product time-to-market, reduce supply chain risks, and lower costs while increasing engineering and procurement efficiency. DCA offers a variety of consulting services related to RoHS and environmental compliance, including public and private seminars, product impact evaluation, personalized training, material composition acquisition, component engineering, Green BOM analysis, and competitive advantage analysis. San Francisco-based DCA has a local presence in other high-tech regions of the country such as the Austin/Houston corridor and the Boston region as well as around the globe through local associates. For more information, visit DCA on the web at http://www.designchainassociates.com.

About EPTAC Corporation

EPTAC Corporation has been providing companies with the very latest in electronics production training since 1987. With several thousand students trained and certified, EPTAC continues to offer companies training in basics such as component identification and electrostatic discharge, all the way to advanced surface mount technologies and process automation. Founded in 1987, EPTAC offers a variety of training and certification programs to individuals and companies throughout the United States and Canada. EPTAC has developed an identity in the industry as a company capable of providing quality training and professional solutions to firms involved in electronics production. The company has grown from a single training program to providing over twenty-five (25) recurring training and certification classes and seminars. The programs that EPTAC currently delivers are based on industry standards such as IPC-A-610, J-STD-001, IPC-A-600, IPC-7711 and IPC-7721. For more information, visit EPTAC on the web at http://www.eptac.com.