Circuits Assembly articles from February 2007

Circuits Assembly archives from February 2007

A tale of two schools.(Caveat Lector)(Company overview)
February 1, 2007... Apple Computer, I mean, Apple Inc.'s flashy entrance into the telecom market last month reminds us of the divide between the electronics industry's haves and have-nots. After rolling out what is for now called the "iPhone" (Cisco holds a...

Electronics equipment demand to uptick in 2007.(Industry NEWS)
February 1, 2007... EL SEGUNDO, CA -- Sales of electronics equipment will maintain growth rates this year, as global revenue will rise 6.7% to $1.47 trillion in 2007, iSuppli (isuppli.com) predicts. The research firm estimates sales rose 6.6% last year. Data...

Haier to take stake in Founder PC Group.(Industry NEWS)
February 1, 2007... QINGDAO, CHINA -- Home appliance manufacturer Haier Group (haier.com), one of China's largest OEMs (see next story), will purchase PC maker Founder Group (founder.com), a deal that will make Haier the second-largest seller of PCs in China. ...

Final EPA TRI rule eases reporting burden.(Industry NEWS)
February 1, 2007... WASHINGTON, DC -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Dec. 18 announced its final Toxic Release Inventory Rule, in which the department reduced the reporting burden for companies that use small amounts of TRI chemicals, especially those...

Report: China's OEMs narrowing sales gap.(Industry NEWS)
February 1, 2007... EL SEGUNDO, CA -- Foreign-owned MNCs have dominated the China market, but their share is on the wane. In 2005, international OEMs made up about 41% of electronics production, while domestic firms accounted for 23% in 2005, iSuppli Corp....

AIT issued patterned leadframe patent.(Industry NEWS)
February 1, 2007... SINGAPORE -- Advanced Interconnect Technologies (aithome.com) has been granted a U.S. patent covering a process for manufacturing and using partially patterned leadframes with near-chip scale packaging lead-counts. U.S. Patent no....

Sanmina-SCI's financial woes continue.(Industry NEWS)
February 1, 2007... SAN JOSE -- EMS giant Sanmina-SCI's (sanminasci.com) problems continued in the September quarter as earnings fell by $20 million on a 1.8% drop in revenue, to $2.71 billion. The company reported a net loss of $28.1 million, down from a loss of...

TTI to be sold to famous investment group.(Industry NEWS)
February 1, 2007... FORT WORTH, TX -- Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the investment fund of uber-billionaire Warren Buffett, will buy component distributor TTI Inc. (ttinc.com). Terms were not disclosed and the deal is expected to close during this quarter. The...

Report: Foxconn adding China headquarters.(Industry NEWS)
February 1, 2007... SHANGHAI -- Foxconn (foxconn.com) has purchased a 10,000 sq. meter plot and will build its national headquarters there, Taiwan's Commercial Times reported in January. Also, the company's global research and development center in Tucheng,...

PCB Design Conference East issues call for abstracts.(Industry NEWS)
February 1, 2007... ATLANTA -- UP Media Group seeks abstracts for PCB Design Conference East 2007, to be held Oct. 21-26 outside Research Triangle Park, NC. The five-day conference program (pcbeast.com) focuses on PCB design, engineering and manufacturing. The...

EMS costs rising in China.(Industry NEWS)
February 1, 2007... ALAMEDA, CA -- The cost of manufacturing in China rose sharply last year, says analyst Charlie Barn-hart of Technology Forecasters (techforecasters.com). Barnhart, who develops case studies on procurement strategies, says a number of...

IPC purges Government Relations committee.(Industry NEWS)
February 1, 2007... BANNOCKBURN, IL -- After nearly 15 years and plenty of promise but few successes, IPC (ipc.org) in December disbanded its Government Relations committee. The committee has been a focal point for years, having acted as the trade group's...

$1B park in Vietnam next up for Foxconn.(Industry NEWS)
February 1, 2007... HANOI -- Foxconn (foxconn.com), the world's largest contract manufacturer, will invest up to $1 billion toward a large industrial park in Vietnam, according to published reports. "Vietnam has become a very efficient country for production...

Jabil completing Taiwan Green Point buy.(Industry NEWS)
February 1, 2007... ST. PETERSBURG, FL -- Jabil Circuit (jabil.com) is finalizing a previously announced deal to acquire handset case maker Taiwan Green Point Enterprises Co. Ltd. for $871 million, the companies said Jan. 15. As of Jan. 12, Jabil had acquired...

Digi-Key.(In Brief)
February 1, 2007... Digi-Key (digikey.com) has signed a global agreement to distribute Excelsys Technologies' (excelsys.com) switch-mode power supplies. Terms were not disclosed.

Innov-X.(In Brief)
February 1, 2007... Innov-X (innov-x-sys.com) received a $27 million investment from Summit Partners (summitpartners.com). Innov-X develops portable x-ray fluorescence technology for elemental analysis. The firm has offices in North America, Europe and Asia.

Sparton Corp.(In Brief)
February 1, 2007... EMS provider Sparton Corp. (sparton.com) will close its cable wire harness assembly manufacturing operations in Deming, NM, by March 31, the company said, citing competitive issues. The current business climate, offshore pricing pressures and...

Asymtek.(In Brief)
February 1, 2007... Asymtek (asymtek.com) has sold its 1,000th Century series conformal coating unit. Siemens A & D purchased a Century C-740 for its Erlangen, Germany, plant.

Indium Corp.(In Brief)
February 1, 2007... Indium Corp. (indium.com) named BarTron Inc. as its sales representative in Michigan. Mike Roberts and Bob Papp run BarTron.

SolderStar.(In Brief)
February 1, 2007... Thermal profiling vendor SolderStar (sol-derstar.co.uk) will build an office in Suzhou, China, its first dedicated office in Asia. Josan Wu, area sales manager for Asia, will head the facility. About 30% of SolderStar's sales come from Asia.

Printed Circuits Corp.(In Brief)
February 1, 2007... Printed Circuits Corp. (pcc-i.com) installed a Mydata (mydata.com) MY9e placement machine.

Valor Computerized Systems.(In Brief)
February 1, 2007... Valor Computerized Systems (valor.com) is rebranding to better reflect its technology and end-to-end services. The effort includes a new visual identity. "Valor has grown from a company focused on the PCB fabrication market to an end-to-end...

Taiyo Kasei.(In Brief)
February 1, 2007... Taiyo Kasei, a Japan-based mid-sized EMS company, will reportedly close its China operations this year because of insufficient orders.

Benchmark Electronics.(In Brief)
February 1, 2007... Benchmark Electronics (bench.com) in January completed its purchase of Pemstar Inc. Benchmark, the world's 8th largest EMS company, paid 0.16 of a Benchmark share for each Pemstar share.

P. Kay Metal.(In Brief)
February 1, 2007... P. Kay Metal (pkaymetal.com) opened its first Asia office in Shenzhen, China. Dr. Erik Severin, regional manager, Asia, will oversee the site. He received a Ph.D. in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology in 1999, with a focus on...

Isola Group.(In Brief)
February 1, 2007... Isola Group (isola-group.com) in December completed a multimillion-dollar upgrade to its Ridgeway, SC, facility, increasing laminate production capacity by 33%.

Robotic Process Systems.(In Brief)
February 1, 2007... Robotic Process Systems (rpsautomation.com) received orders for three OPUSes and a Harmony-SPX selective solder system from automotive displays and controls EMS firm II Stanley (iistanleybc.com).

Ibiden.(In Brief)
February 1, 2007... Ibiden (ibiden.com), the world's largest PCB fabricator, has reportedly completed construction on a second cellphone PCB plant in Beijing.

Jabil Circuit.(In Brief)
February 1, 2007... Jabil Circuit's (jabil.com) Brugge, Belgium production facility was liquidated in January. The EMS firm leased the 116,000 sq. ft. facility, which also formerly housed a design center.

Japan Aviation Electronics.(In Brief)
February 1, 2007... Japan Aviation Electronics (jae-connector.com) will invest 15 billion yen to build an automobile connector factory in the Philippines.

Omron.(In Brief)
February 1, 2007... Omron (omron.com) will transfer certain auto electronics parts manufacturing to China from the U.S. to reduce costs, and will reduce headcount by 100, to 350.

Vitronics Soltec.(In Brief)
February 1, 2007... Vitronics Soltec (vitronics-soltec.com) has entered a technology partnership with KIC Inc. (kicthermal.com) that will add process management and traceability to Vitronics' XPM line of soldering equipment. KIC technology will improve process...

Inovaxe.(In Brief)
February 1, 2007... SCM solution provider Inovaxe (inovaxe.com) appointed Horizon Sales (horizonsales.com) as Midwest manufacturing representative, covering Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky.

EU RoHS Directive.(In Brief)
February 1, 2007... The EU RoHS Directive has approved an exemption for lead in compliant pin (press fit) terminations.

Pentagon EMS.(In Brief)
February 1, 2007... Pentagon EMS (pentagon-ems.com) has completed U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) registration.

Asustek Computer.(In Brief)
February 1, 2007... Asustek Computer (asustek) told DigiTimes the company could split its ODM and OEM production within three years. Asustek builds and markets motherboards, notebook PCs, servers, handsets and LCD TVs under the Asus brand. Sales from Asus...

YESTech.(In Brief)
February 1, 2007... YESTech (yestech.com) has sold its 500th AOI system. Panasonic (panasonic.com) purchased the system for its Reynosa, Mexico, plant. Panasonic first purchased YESTech's AOI in 2005.

Chinese Ministry (MII) China RoHS.(In Brief)
February 1, 2007... A transcript of the October 2006 American Electronics Association-sponsored Chinese Ministry (MII) China RoHS sessions is available at aeanet.org/GovernmentAffairs/gamm_ChinaRoHS_WorkshopFAQs.asp.

Endicott Interconnect Technologies.(People)
February 1, 2007... Endicott Interconnect Technologies named Warren Dannelly director of sales, global accounts, responsible for future growth in the commercial, defense and aerospace markets. He has a bachelor's in engineering and 27 years' experience with...

Placement system OEM Blakell Europlacer Ltd.(People)
February 1, 2007... Placement system OEM Blakell Europlacer Ltd. named Richard Everden to its UK sales team with responsibility for north England and Scotland, responsible for sales of the Saki AOI line, which Blakell distributes. Dave Betts has been named to...

Bosch Rexroth.(People)
February 1, 2007... Bosch Rexroth promoted Berend Bracht (pictured) to president and chief executive, superseding Wolfgang Dangel, who has led the U.S. subsidiary since April 2003. Bracht had been CEO of Bosch Rexroth China since 2004, and also previously headed...

Indium Corp.(People)
February 1, 2007... Indium Corp. named Tim Jensen product manager for advanced assembly materials, responsible for market development, product release, supply chain and branding. He was Pb-Free Programs program manager and senior technical support engineer for...

Vision Engineering.(People)
February 1, 2007... Vision Engineering named Jeffrey Bronson western regional manager, Michael Curtis district manager for the Mountain states, Bob Riemer district manager for the Pacific Northwest, and Raymond Mark district manager for the Upper Midwest, Bronson,...

Newark InOne.(People)
February 1, 2007... Components distributor Newark InOne named DeWight Wallace president, effective March 1, succeeding Paul Tall-entire who returns to the U.K. to become president of Farnell InOne. Wallace was general manager of MCM Electronics. All the companies...

Benchmark Electronics.(People)
February 1, 2007... Benchmark Electronics promoted Gayla J. Delly to president and Donald F. Adam to chief financial officer. Delly replaces Cary Fu, who remains CEO. Delly has been with the company since 1996 and CFO since May 2001. Adam has worked at Benchmark...

AkroMetrix LLC.(People)
February 1, 2007... AkroMetrix LLC named Dr. William M. Beckenbaugh vice president, operations. Beckenbaugh was CTO at Sceptor Industries, and previously held top technology and executive positions at Hadco, Sanmina-SCI, Motorola and Konarka Technologies. He has a...

Correction.(Correction notice)
February 1, 2007... In the December issue, Sony Manufacturing Systems' URL was misidentified. The correct URL is sonysms.com. We regret the error.

Un-PC.(Market WATCH)
February 1, 2007... Trends in the U.S. electronics equipment market (shipments only). % Change Sept. Oct. (r) Nov.* YTD Computers and electronics...

New orders and production growing, deliveries slowing.(Market WATCH)
February 1, 2007... TEMPE, AZ -- The manufacturing sector expanded in December, reversing a one-month decline, while the overall economy grew for the 62nd consecutive month, says ISM (ism.ws). The PMI indicator of manufacturing activity returned to growth, hitting...

Industry market snapshot.(Market WATCH)
February 1, 2007... Book-to-bills of various components/equipment. July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Semiconductor equipment (1) 1.06 1.00 1.00 0.95 0.97 Semiconductors (2) 11.5% 11.6% 9.3%...

IC inventories in check, SIA says.(Market WATCH)
February 1, 2007... SAN JOSE -- Semiconductors stock levels are consistent with demand and 2007 looks to be a good year, the Semiconductor Industry Association (sia-online.org) said in January. "Inventories are in line with current demand in most major...

iSuppli: IC sales to rise 10.6% this year.(Market WATCH)
February 1, 2007... EL SEGUNDO, CA -- The good news: 2007 will represent the peak year for the semiconductor industry's present growth cycle, with double-digit growth expected. The bad news: Due to changing business dynamics, growth will amount to "only"...

Metals index.(Market WATCH)
February 1, 2007... Price Price Price Price per lb. per lb. per lb. per lb. Date 10/2/06 11/6/06 12/4/06 1/8/07 LME Cash Seller and $4.13 $4.65 $4.92 $4.91...

Heading East.(Talking Heads)(Interview)
February 1, 2007... The opening of CTS Corp.'s operations in the Czech Republic last May was the culmination of intensive research into Eastern Europe. The company (ctscorp.com), which supplies everything from automotive sensors to electronics manufacturing...

Confessions of a rookie manufacturing engineer: how a simple question forever altered my perspective.(My View)
February 1, 2007... In 1985, fresh out of graduate school, I worked as a manufacturing engineer for GE Aerospace. One day, my manager asked me an important question that shaped how I performed my job in electronics manufacturing. It was a Friday afternoon....

Process mapping and design: a detailed process map can help reduce everything from cycle time to defects to process steps.(Focus on Business)
February 1, 2007... One of the great contributions that manufacturing management has made to the management of services are the techniques associated to mapping processes. Process mapping is helpful both for the design and reengineering of manufacturing and...

All you really want to know about XRF: XRF is an effective means for validating the presence of certain restricted elements.(Better Manufacturing)
February 1, 2007... "Well, you don't know what we can find... You don't know what we can see..." --Steppenwolf One of the most daunting and frustrating aspects of RoHS and Pb-free has been the intermixing of SnPb and Pb-free materials and components....

Lessons from Asia: while data on emerging technology are always welcome, most want the nuts-and-bolts.(Screen Printing)
February 1, 2007... I recently returned from five weeks' travel in China and India conducting process seminars. This trip was about my tenth to Asia during the past six years to teach. Previous journeys included Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Korea and...

Organic and printed electronics: the next big thing? New printing processes promise high throughput at low costs.(iNEMI 2007 Roadmap)
February 1, 2007... The revolutionary concept of using graphic arts printing processes to manufacture electronic components such as wireless hardware (RFID), displays and ICs has been pursued since 2000 in corporate, government and university laboratories and by...

Microvia-in-pad: possible outcomes and solutions; The features that enable portable technology can cause assembly process predicaments.
February 1, 2007... When it comes to personal electronics, the smaller and lighter, the better, right? Consumers are willing to pay a premium for devices that lessen the weight they carry on their commute, morning jog or long-distance travel. And once the device...

The PCB design outsource proposition: is outsourcing the right solution for your company?(Outsourcing Design)(Company overview)
February 1, 2007... The drive to control costs by outsourcing tasks deemed "non-core" competencies presents many challenges tto electronics manufacturers. One function that is increasingly being targeted for outsourcing is printed circuit board design. Many...

A novel low melting point Pb-free solder: a SnBiX solder showed a melting point of about 186[degrees]C and cut the material cost.
February 1, 2007... Many organizations, such as iNEMI, the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences, Improved Design life and Environmentally Aware manufacture by Lead-free Soldering (IDEALS) and the Japan Electronic Industry Development Association (JEIDA) have...

Factors affecting voiding in Pb-free solder joints: voiding is sensitive to a particular flux constituent, and copper pad finishes more susceptible than AuNi or immersion Ag.(Solder Joint Reliability)
February 1, 2007... Concerns have been raised that Pb-free solder joints show higher overall levels of voiding than corresponding SnPb joints. With the widespread availability of x-ray inspection equipment, voids are easily observed. Moreover, there is widespread...

A mixed technology reliability assessment: using a mix of lead and Pb-free components, the authors found failure similar mechanisms for SAC and SnPb eutectic solder.
February 1, 2007... Availability of Pb-free components necessitated mixed technology, combining lead and Pb-free components. At Dade Behring, our intent was to provide early data that would reflect the impact on performance and reliability. This testing would help...

Extending tip life in Pb-free hand soldering: improved heater control and tip profiles eliminate overshoot, improve thermal transfer to the joint and reduce idle temperature.
February 1, 2007... Soldering iron tips continually erode during normal use. Pb-free solder alloys--and their associated fluxes--accelerate these mechanisms, leading to higher replacement rates. This increases the cost of ownership of a soldering iron, through...

Mathematical modeling of solder paste stenciling for process control: a DoE for characterizing solder paste stencil printing and measuring paste bricks by 3-D AOI is described.(Optimizing Paste Deposits)
February 1, 2007... It has been generally recognized that a significant proportion of SMT defects can be attributed to the solder paste stenciling process. Improved printing equipment makes it possible to exercise more control over various stencil print...

Pb-free wave solder design guidelines: it's best to review every aspect, from pad design to lead length.(Pb-Free DfM)
February 1, 2007... During the past 50 years, wave soldering with SnPb has become well understood, and guidelines for product design were developed to help maximize yields from the process. Now that environmental directives are curtailing lead use, many soldering...

Conformal coating and board cleanliness: ensuring product cleanliness and durability in any application.(Harsh Environment Reliability)
February 1, 2007... Technology advances and the use of smaller components and denser layouts, combined with diverse environmental conditions, renew the importance of circuit board cleanliness and conformal coating. Most circuit boards requiring conformal...

When to use underfill with BGAs: some non-underfilled parts pass high-rel thermal cycle tests.(Tech Tips)
February 1, 2007... Criteria for using an underfill depend on the environment and stress the BGA device will experience. When exposed to thermal cycling, a BGA or flip chip will expand or contract differently than the substrate on which it is mounted because of...

Blowholes in Pb-free wave soldering: even for humidity-soaked boards, the culprit is barrel cracking.
February 1, 2007... Blowholes in through-hole joints are the result of barrel cracking in combination with outgassing humidity from the board material. Because of the higher process temperatures required for Pb-free soldering, the risk of barrel cracking...

Wave soldering myths, Part 2: peel-off is more critical than ever; care must be taken to attain the best possible setup.(Pb-Free Lessons Learned)
February 1, 2007... Last month we reviewed some of the rumors surrounding the wave solder process's transition to Pb-free alloys--the ones that weren't true. This month we look at some of the buzz on the subject that is true, or at least partially true, depending...

Hard lessons of RoHS; Environmental legislation should do one thing: improve the environment.(RoHS Revisited)
February 1, 2007... As I write, 284 letters have been sent to the EU in support of exemption request 15 under round 6 of stakeholder public consultation. That proposal dates to last May, when I requested all lead in solder for the purposes of electrical...

Cover your shorts: dendritic growth--metallic short circuits--can be eliminated.(Process Doctor)
February 1, 2007... A failure mechanism that shows up for investigation every month is metallic short (dendrite) formation around contaminated areas, bias voltage and a fluid media (requirements for a corrosion cell). The combined conditions are present on the...

Vitronics' XPM3 reflow soldering system.(Equipment Advances)
February 1, 2007... The XPM3 reflow soldering system has the same footprint as its predecessor, the XPM2, but features superior heat transfer, improved cooling, increased uptime, lower cost of ownership, and a new software platform including integrated profiling...

Parallel AOI/AXI 3-D inspection.(Product PREVIEW)
February 1, 2007... The X7056 features parallel AOI and automatic 3-D x-ray inspection with top and bottom optical views. Microfocus x-ray tube has a reported resolution of 15 [micro]m per pixel. Iterative Easy3D software yields highly accurate image quality....

20-feeder MSD cabinet.(Product PREVIEW)
February 1, 2007... The DXU-580AF feeder cabinet stores moisture-sensitive components and may be placed on each line. The ergonomic system holds up to 20 feeders, depending on reel size, and uses a sliding shelf to ease installation and removal. Height and angle...

'80,000 cph' placement.(Product PREVIEW)
February 1, 2007... The MX pick-and-place machine includes cascading modularity with placement rates up to 80,000 cph, 216 feeder slots per segment, and full-range component capability. Also features double placement areas in each module, multilevel transport...

Offline programmable coater.(Product PREVIEW)
February 1, 2007... Prism Selective Coating system comes with enhanced software, offline programming capability and increased speed and throughput. Includes 90[degrees] pneumatic rotate of the coating head for faster cycles times. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...

Pb-free water-soluble paste.(Product PREVIEW)
February 1, 2007... Indium3.2 Pb-free water-soluble solder paste increases finished goods reliability with a unique chemistry that enhances the cleanability of the flux residues after high-temperature Pb-free reflow, without sacrificing stencil life and robust...

WEEE/RoHS analysis tool.(Product PREVIEW)
February 1, 2007... LeadHound II desktop XRF features a RoHS/WEEE pass/fail mode that automatically tests both plastics and metals in as few as 15 sec. Detects restricted elements, in a safe working environment, providing the ppm or percentage of each element...

Semiaqueous flux cleaner.(Product PREVIEW)
February 1, 2007... Alpha AutoClean 40 semiaqueous cleaner is formulated for efficient removal of pre- and post-soldering flux residues from flux spray equipment, ovens, pallets, carriers, jigs and assemblies. Mildly alkaline (pH value of [ILLUSTRATION...

'45 [micro]m accuracy' pick-and-place.(Product PREVIEW)
February 1, 2007... The SI-G200 cellular mounter model reportedly offers high mounting speed and precision and supports two optional interchangeable rotary heads. Equipped with eight nozzles and incorporates a wide range of mounting capability (0603 to 50mm x...

High-speed wire bonder.(Product PREVIEW)
February 1, 2007... BondJet BJ915 heavy wire bonder reportedly offers high speed and accuracy, and a work area of 15 x 19.6". Highlights are said to include bonding speeds reported as fast as 450 ms/wire (300 [micro]m diameter 8 mm loop length wire) and 10...

Pre-production process control.(Product PREVIEW)
February 1, 2007... ScanINSPECT VPI process control tool qualifies each step of assembly and fabrication before production. Standalone, coupling a high-resolution, color flatbed scanner with a NIST-certified glass calibration plate. Verifies all process components...