Circuits Assembly articles from December 2004

Circuits Assembly archives from December 2004

No lead, and hold the extras.(Caveat Lector)
December 1, 2004... Will the conversion to lead-free products have a near-term increase on the total number of pieces built for a certain part number? That's the question I asked component vendors, OEMs and EMS companies last month. Why would it? Only because...

Building on its ODM capabilities.(In Brief)
December 1, 2004... Building on its ODM capabilities, Flextronics (flextronics.com) will buy Agilent Technologies' (agilent.com) camera module business. Terms of the agreement, expected to close at the end of 2004, were not disclosed.

V.J. Electronix (vjelectronix.com).(In Brief)
December 1, 2004... V.J. Electronix (vjelectronix.com), an x-ray inspection technology and rework systems provider, opened a new office at 1735 Enterprise Dr., Buford, GA. The company now has six U.S. facilities.

Celeritek (celeritek.com) shareholders approved the sale of the company's defense electronics business to a subsidiary of Teledyne Technologies (teledyne.com) for $33 million in cash.(In Brief)
December 1, 2004... Celeritek (celeritek.com) shareholders approved the sale of the company's defense electronics business to a subsidiary of Teledyne Technologies (teledyne.com) for $33 million in cash. Teledyne intends to relocate the business from Santa Clara,...

Kulicke & Soffa Industries (kns.com) opened a state-of-the-art probe card manufacturing facility in Hsin Chu, Taiwan, a move designed to boost its vertical probe card market presence.(In Brief)
December 1, 2004... Kulicke & Soffa Industries (kns.com) opened a state-of-the-art probe card manufacturing facility in Hsin Chu, Taiwan, a move designed to boost its vertical probe card market presence. The 2,400 [m.sup.2] factory will build enhanced cantilever...

EV Group (evgroup.com), a wafer-bonding and lithography equipment suppler, and Datacon Technology AG (datacon.at), a flip-chip and die bonding equipment supplier, will develop and market advanced-chip-to-wafer (AC2W) technology.(In Brief)
December 1, 2004... EV Group (evgroup.com), a wafer-bonding and lithography equipment suppler, and Datacon Technology AG (datacon.at), a flip-chip and die bonding equipment supplier, will develop and market advanced-chip-to-wafer (AC2W) technology. AC2W technology...

Nu Visions Manufacturing (nvems.com) has opened a CEM plant for PCB and electro-mechanical assembly in Tijuana, Mexico.(In Brief)
December 1, 2004... Nu Visions Manufacturing (nvems.com) has opened a CEM plant for PCB and electro-mechanical assembly in Tijuana, Mexico. The facility, located on a 670-acre site in Tijuana Industrial Park, is equipped with SMT and through-hole manufacturing...

Trade groups take up currency fight.(Industry NEWS)
December 1, 2004... Washington -- Discrepancies in the valuation of Chinese currencies remains a hot-button issue for U.S. manufacturers. Backed in spirit by several trade groups, the nation's largest workers union in September filed an action against China,...

Elcoteq da Amazonia, a Brazilian subsidiary of Elcoteq Network Corp.(In Brief)
December 1, 2004... Elcoteq da Amazonia, a Brazilian subsidiary of Elcoteq Network Corp. (elcoteq.com), will manufacture Vitelcom Mobile Technology's (vitelcom.es) CDMA mobile phones on a turnkey, assemble-to-order (ATO) basis. Manufacturing began in Manaus,...

Universal Instruments' (uic.com) SMT Laboratory offers a new Process Audit service to quickly optimize SMT and advanced packaging assembly.(In Brief)
December 1, 2004... Universal Instruments' (uic.com) SMT Laboratory offers a new Process Audit service to quickly optimize SMT and advanced packaging assembly. Each audit is performed as a consultative process, and the structure includes a review of the results...

Canada-based EMS provider Creation Technologies (creationtech.com) has established a Southern U.S. facility by acquiring Second Source Systems (Richardson, TX).(In Brief)
December 1, 2004... Canada-based EMS provider Creation TEchnologies (creationtech.com) has established a Southern U.S. facility by acquiring Second Source Systems (Richardson, TX). The current facility will be moved to a 40,000 sq. ft. location in Plano, TX, in...

Pepperl+Fuchs (am.pepperl-fuchs.com) has acquired Omnitron (omnitron-ag.de).(In Brief)
December 1, 2004... Pepperl+Fuchs (am.pepperl-fuchs.com) has acquired Omnitron (omnitron-ag.de), a supplier of of data matrix 2-D optical coding readers for product identification or online data recording.

EMS company Micro Dynamics (microdynamics.com) has sold a majority interest to CHB Capital Partners (chbcapital.com).(In Brief)
December 1, 2004... EMS company Micro Dynamics (microdynamics.com) has sold a majority interest to CHB Capital Partners (chbcapital.com), a private equity group. Wells Fargo Bank has also provided new financing.

The Z8 Encore!, eZ80Acclaim! and Crimzon LP32300 microcontroller (MCU) families from ZiLOG (zilog.com).(In Brief)
December 1, 2004... The Z8 Encore!, eZ80Acclaim! and Crimzon LP32300 microcontroller (MCU) families from ZiLOG (zilog.com) will receive programming support from BP Microsystems (bpmicro.com).

KIC (kicthermal.com) will partner with Tamura Corp. (Tamura-HA.com).(In Brief)
December 1, 2004... KIC (kicthermal.com) will partner with Tamura Corp. (Tamura-HA.com), which will sell KIC products together with its lead-free ready reflow ovens and wave solder machines.

Digi-Key Corp. (digikey.com) entered a distribution agreement with Silicon Laboratories Inc.(In Brief)
December 1, 2004... Dig-Key Corp. (digikey.com) entered a distribution agreement with Silicon Laboratories Inc. (silabs.com) to distribute Silicon Laboratories' analog-intensive, 8-bit microcontroller product portfolio as well as wire-line, networking and...

New report shows Japan PCB trends.(Industry NEWS)
December 1, 2004... Tokyo -- While Europe and the U.S. garner most of the headlines over the migration of production to southeast Asia, Japan has not been immune. Japanese makers are moving advanced technology substrates offshore at a quickening pace, according to...

Economists differ on electronics outlook.(Industry NEWS)
December 1, 2004... Scottsdale, AZ -- A pair of economists who track the electronics industry offered in October differing opinions on what's in store for the recovering sector. The outlook for capital spending is "generally favorable" due to higher demand...

Cookson Group.(People)
December 1, 2004... Cookson Group promoted Steve Corbett to chief executive of its Electronics division, replacing Ray Sharpe, who left the company last summer. Corbett was chief executive of Enthone, Cookson's chemistries division, since 2002. Also, Mike Murphy...

Solectron Corp.(People)
December 1, 2004... Solectron Corp. named Matti Virtanen senior VP and president of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He joined the company Oct. 4. Virtanen has experience at Nokia, Hewlett-Packard and Compaq.

The Electronics Group.(People)
December 1, 2004... The Electronics Group at the National Physical Laboratory has named Ling Zou test service manager. Zou joined NPL as a research scientist in June 1997. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Perfect Commerce Inc.(People)
December 1, 2004... Perfect Commerce Inc., a provider of on-demand SRM, appointed Daniel Rawlings as executive VP of worldwide sales and marketing and Sam Kaddah as VP of systems architecture and IT engineering. Rawlings has experience at Ariba, Peoplesoft, Lawson...

Three-Five Systems.(People)
December 1, 2004... Three-Five Systems named David K. McQuiggan as senior VP of the company's Platform Display business. McQuiggan was CEO at Densitron Technologies, a designer and manufacturer of embedded computing products and information display systems.

Samuel Sher.(People)
December 1, 2004... Samuel Sher is the new vice president of sales and marketing at Bliss Industries. Most recently, Sher was a sales and marketing consultant to technology-based companies in Silicon Valley.

New standards on RoHS.(Industry NEWS)
December 1, 2004... Washington -- Although focused internally on meeting requirements of the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive, OEMs are just coming to grips with the ability of their suppliers to comply with the pending rules. The wakeup call: a...

CAMX still seeking end-user push.(Industry NEWS)
December 1, 2004... Griffin, GA -- The new CAMX standards for factory-level data exchange were the focus of a two-day workshop sponsored by IPC (ipc.org), the trade group that helped author the specs. The seminar took place Oct. 20-21 at NACOM, a tier-one...

Talking defense.(Market WATCH)
December 1, 2004... Talking Defense Trends in the U.S. electronics equipment market (shipments only) % Change July Aug. Sept. * YTD Computers and electronics 3.0 1.6 -3.5...

October manufacturing rejects seasonality.(Market WATCH)
December 1, 2004... Tempe, AZ -- The rate of growth in the manufacturing sector ignored historical seasonality in October, dropping for the third straight month. New orders upticked, but production dropped sharply. The electronics industry appears to be slowing,...

Industry market snapshot.(Market WATCH)
December 1, 2004... Industry Market Snapshot Book-to-bills of various components/equipment June July August Sept. Semiconductor equipment (1) 1.07 1.04 1.01 0.96 Semiconductors (2) ...

SIA: flat semi sales in 2005.(Market WATCH)
December 1, 2004... San Jose -- Record semiconductor sales of $214 billion in 2004 will be followed by flatness next year, the Semiconductor Industry Association (sia-online.org) said Nov. 3. In its annual forecast, SIA projects sales will grow 6.3% in 2006 and...

Driving ahead.(Market WATCH)
December 1, 2004... Reno, NV -- Will automotive drive our future? After outpacing the overall IC market through the recession (the sector fell just 1% in 2002), semiconductors for automotive applications are expected to reach $13 billion to $15 billion next year,...

Strike up the broadband.(Market WATCH)
December 1, 2004... Cambridge, MA -- Broadband Internet access is soaring in the U.S., according to the latest data from Forrester Research (forrester.com). The number of households with Internet access is forecast to grow from 68 million in 2003 to 83.7 million...

SSD: the other surface finish: with lead-free and via-in-pad designs, solid solder deposit may finally find its niche.(On the Forefront)
December 1, 2004... "There's a time for us, a special place for us..." Steven Sondheim, West Side Story Many assemblers are not familiar with a concept called solid solder deposit. Solid solder deposit (SSD) is a method whereby solder material is...

Siemens: getting 'lean'.(Talking Heads)
December 1, 2004... Just 18 months ago Tilo Brandis was named president of what is now Siemens Logistics and Assembly Systems (siplace.com). Though only 36 at the time, Brandis had already successfully run a pair of sub-divisions within the Siemens Transportation...

The ODM challenge: becoming leaders in design innovation; as they make the jump to ODM status, EMS firms must take control of IP.(EMS Insight)
December 1, 2004... The list of electronics manufacturing services companies entering the original design manufacturer market is long and growing longer: Flextronics, Sanmina-SCI, Celestica, Elcoteq, GES, USI, IMI and Pemstar, to name a few. As the EMS...

Pb-free manufacturability and test control: a process for determining the sweet spot between electrical contact and mechanical deformation for lead-free solders.(Process Evaluation)
December 1, 2004... A few years back, lead-free initiatives were pushed aside as a passing fad. How times have changed. Many Japanese companies have converted to lead-free, and a number of European and U.S. companies are in transition. Many design managers waited...

Can odd-form automation increase returns? Still placing odd-form parts by hand? How to determine ROI of end-of-line automation.(Line Automation)
December 1, 2004... Like so many phrases, return on investment is overused, yet engineers accustomed to dealing with SMT, VOC, PTH and ICT now utter ROI as part of their everyday language. But do we know what ROI really measures in the manufacturing arena? Do we...

Assessing solder joint reliability in Pb-free assemblies: research finds bulk alloy properties are not a meaningful predictor of reliability.(Cover Story)
December 1, 2004... There has been much discussion about the merits of lead-free alloys, with their physical and electrical properties being examined--and sometimes disputed--in great detail. Whatever the end-user's preference, one truth remains: the reliability...

Throughput vs. cycle time in evaluating paste printing: is the best indicator of performance machine cycle time, or first-pass yield?(Screen Printing)
December 1, 2004... Electronics manufacturers often use the terms "cycle time" and "throughput" interchangeably. In fact, they are specific and distinct factors in measuring performance. Cycle time is the speed at which the basic functions of a machine can...

Defect management for electronics assembly.(Assembly Insider: Special Advertising Section)(Advertisement)
December 1, 2004... Drill-down analysis tracks yields, trends, and defect types. * Quick Data Entry * Customizable Inspection Forms * Comprehensive Data Analysis * Data Access Security * Multi-User Support * Easy to Learn ...

Circuits Assembly's service excellence awards.(Assembly Insider: Special Advertising Section)(Advertisement)
December 1, 2004... HOW DO YOUR CUSTOMERS RATE YOUR SERVICE? Enter the 2005 Circuits Assembly Service Excellence Awards and find out your customers' honest opinions about your products and customer service. On October 1st, Circuits Assembly will begin...

News and resources for PCB industry professionals.(PCB Update: Special Advertising Section)(Advertisement)
December 1, 2004... PCB UPdate is a semimonthly e-mail newsletter from UP Media Group, which provides subscribers with the terrific editorial content and expertise of UPMG's two industry magazines: Printed Circuit Design & Manufacture and Circuits Assembly....

Enabling quick response manufacturing: still using your pick-and-place for debugging? Tools for surviving a zero-forecast world.(Process Control)
December 1, 2004... Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) enables organizations to meet customer demand quickly, permitting businesses to continually evaluate and react to competitive pressures. QRM eliminates non-value added activities and waste through continual...

Programming for mixed-vendor lines: intelligent, centralized machine part data management cuts human error.(Parts Management)
December 1, 2004... Creating part data libraries for placement machines is a daunting task that can be time-consuming, error-prone and labor intensive. Coupled with a multi-vendor line, in which each machine is programmed by different software (each with its own...

Spray fluxer.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
December 1, 2004... Optima spray fluxer is said to improve flux deposition and through-hole penetration while eliminating post-wave flux residue. Reportedly sprays a precise, rectangular pattern and maintains head speed and position control. Setup parameters are...

User interface upgrade.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
December 1, 2004... Instinctiv user interface acts as the portal to technical support services via the Internet and now comes on the Micron-class Galaxy and Europa platforms. Displays machine and process data in an easily digestible form. Features advanced...

Pb-free paste.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
December 1, 2004... Alpha OM-325 lead-free solder is said to simplify the transition to fine feature printing in lead-free processes. Reportedly offers print transfer efficiency, self-alignment properties with small components (0402 or 01005), joint cosmetics...

High-mix pick-and-place.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
December 1, 2004... FLX2010 SMD pick-and-place has 190 feeders and can place 5,000 cph. Places 0201s and 0.3-mm components, condensators up to 15 mm, large connectors and 50-mm BGAs. Features laser and vision centering systems. Feeder management system...

Assembly engineering tool.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
December 1, 2004... Trilogy 7.3 features line balancer, to specify which machines participate in balancing, and global panel fiducial capability. Permits user-defined labels to be added to components, prevents empty feeder slots from having parts assigned and has...

Chip tube carts.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
December 1, 2004... Chip tube carts are ergonomically designed for storage and positioning. Steel construction, with four bin rows that can be subdivided on 0.50" centers. Using available slide-in dividers, rows can be configured in various sizes. Presentation...

3-gantry pick-and-place.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
December 1, 2004... Siplace HF/3 reportedly places parts at up to 40,000 cph with accuracy of 30 [micro]m at 4 sigma, and has 180 feeder inputs and a component range from 0201s to 8" connectors. Has a three-gantry parallel placement, for speed and flexibility....

2-sided thermal printer.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
December 1, 2004... T612M-DS double-sided thermal transfer printer can simultaneously print on the front and back of the marker. Can process all TMS System SIX heat-shrinkable markers, from 2.4 to 57.2 mm. Rated for heavy-duty cycles, incorporates a 300-dpi...

Water-soluble Pb-free solder.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
December 1, 2004... Indium3.1 water-soluble Pb-free solder paste is formulated for fine-pitch applications. Said to exhibit excellent wetting under both air and nitrogen reflow atmosphere. Features a wide reflow window, slump resistance, low voiding and low...

Humidity-resistant solder.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
December 1, 2004... Multicore MP218, a halide-free, no-clean solder paste, is pintestable; said to exhibit high resistance to humidity. After 24 hrs. at 75% RH, achieves a high degree of coalescence upon reflow and slump resistance. High tack life results in low...

Remote diagnostics software.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
December 1, 2004... RemoteTech diagnostics permits remote diagnoses of equipment and application problems. Improves troubleshooting and problem-solving over the Internet and telephone, minimizing field service visits and cutting mean time to repair. Provides...

Combination tester.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
December 1, 2004... HAL Combi combination tester performs all standard electrical safety tests, permits full traceability of test results and records via internal data memory storage. Performs earth ground, AC/DC hi pot and insulation testing. Tests can be applied...

Desktop AOI verification.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
December 1, 2004... ScanPoint DT desktop inspection tool is for traditional, first-article and statistical quality verification. Inspects for solder paste deposition, placement errors and solder faults. Uses dual lighting to optimize image quality. Windows based....

Stencil cutter.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
December 1, 2004... LS 800F cuts one to 10 holes/sec. (or 36,000 apertures/hr.), reportedly without heat damage, burrs or oxidation. Uses a fiber laser source for thin, precision stencils and masks. Fiber lasers have high pulse-to-pulse stability and are compact,...

Pb-free wave solder flux.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
December 1, 2004... 270WR VOC-free, no-clean liquid flux fits a variety of process parameters and applications, including Pb-free wave soldering with tin-silver-copper, tin-silver, tin-copper and other alloys. Reportedly offers a broad activation range, good...

Stainless steel conveyor.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
December 1, 2004... Fully rated for product washdown, conveyor has side frames built in 304 polished stainless steel. Can be wet-cleaned after production runs. Corrosion-resistant construction said to reduce wear and tear and extend conveyor component life. Offers...

Handheld adhesive dispenser.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
December 1, 2004... Mixpac handheld cartridge dispenser for two-component adhesives consists of a manual or pneumatic dispensing gun, cartridge and static mixer. Can accommodate volumetric ratios such as system 50, system 200 and system 400. Molded of durable...

Transparent encapsulant.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
December 1, 2004... OptiClear low modulus, one-component liquid encapsulant protects light-dependent devices without interfering with their light reception features. Transparent and UV or thermally curable, encapsulates electronic components in digital cameras,...

High-speed SOC tester.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
December 1, 2004... 93000 SOC series for functional, at-speed tester is for high-pin-count devices (PC chipsets up to 3.6 Gb/s). Digital card offers per-pin scalability from 800 Mb/s to 3.6 Gb/s. Each pin offers both single-ended and differential I/O test...

Coating for squeegees.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
December 1, 2004... Squeegees now available with the entire blade coated with Permalex. Reportedly reduces solder paste sticking. Infuses the blade with a polymer lubricant, developed through a multi-step metallurgical bonding process. Said to reduce stencil...

'All fluids' dispensing valve.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
December 1, 2004... TS5622VU-DVD dispenses low- to medium-viscosity fluids, delivers consistent deposits at high speed over a range of shot and bead sizes, and reduces turbulence to counteract air bubbles. Reportedly accurate to a fraction of a microliter....

JTAG/boundary scan software.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
December 1, 2004... Cascon v. 4.1.2 integrated boundary scan development environment now interfaces with external software components. Fully integrated application programming extends test coverage of other test platforms and integrates execution, debug and...

ESD for wheels/floors.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
December 1, 2004... Caster Cleaner said to reduce ESD risks caused by ungrounded carts. Enhances wheel performance by continually cleaning the wheel, reducing the build-up of dirt, wax and residue. Extends life of floor finishes. Provides electrical path from...

Color vision sensors.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
December 1, 2004... In-Sight 5100C color vision sensors verify the position of color LEDs at electrical testers. In-Sight 5101 high-resolution (1024 X 768) industrial-grade vision sensor is for gauging applications that inspect small objects, or capturing images...

One-step hand cleaning.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
December 1, 2004... GlobalTech saturated disposable wipes remove dirt, oil, grease and common contaminants from hands, tools and other surfaces. Have a chelating agent, to remove lead and toxic metal residues from skin and other surfaces. Waterless,...

Inspection software update.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
December 1, 2004... Graphical User Interface (FGUI) software version 2.2 offers real-time background subtraction. Background subtraction reduces shading in x-ray imagery that limits image contrast. New capabilities include an AVI recorder, 16-bit image processing,...

Design and simulation software.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
December 1, 2004... Multisim 8 optimizes repetitive capture tasks, and is said to provide almost 50% time savings over previous version. Includes real Virtual Instruments from Tektronix, allowing circuit validation and optimization during schematic entry. An...

Passive thick film attenuator.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
December 1, 2004... IMA303 surface-mount, thick film "T" pad attenuator is suited for RF and microwave applications. Operational to 4 GHz, available from 1 to 20 dB in 1-dB steps. Power handling on input is 2W. Comprised of a 0.145" X 0.122" X 0.020" alumina...

Getting grounded: higher performance devices renew the need for proper ESD control.(ESD Association)
December 1, 2004... The ability of devices to withstand ESD events is again becoming an issue. While design engineers during the 1980s and '90s made devices less sensitive, the demand for performance and the scaling of devices is causing a reverse in the withstand...

Understanding specific area cleanliness: leave no residues behind.(Process Doctor)
December 1, 2004... OEM and EMS firms are encountering important issues involving circuit- and system-level performance as it relates to specific area cleanliness. Specific area cleanliness is the amount of contamination on the surface, below the component, in the...