Circuits Assembly articles from July 2005

Circuits Assembly archives from July 2005

Heart of sorrow.(Caveat Lector)
July 1, 2005... Ron Daniels, former editor and publisher of this magazine, died suddenly, possibly of heart failure, June 5 at home. He was one month shy of his 57th birthday. [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] Upon receiving the news that night by...

UMC Electronics.(In Brief)
July 1, 2005... UMC Electronics, a large EMS provider based in Japan, will open a second plant in China to meet growing demand. The company will install a reported 100 SMT lines. [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]

MIMOT.(In Brief)
July 1, 2005... MIMOT (mimot.com) appointed Z Tech Services (ztechservices.com) to represent the company's flexible SMT placement equipment in Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky.

Asymtek.(In Brief)
July 1, 2005... Asymtek (asymtek.com) signed a new team of distributors, Omni Create (omnicreate.kr) / Fine Solution (finesolution.net), to market its automated fluid dispensing equipment in Korea.

Manz Automation AG.(In Brief)
July 1, 2005... Manz Automation AG (manz-automation.com) moved its manufacturing and engineering operations to an expanded facility in Reutlingen, Germany. The building has a roof-mounted solar power system that generates one-third of the facility's annual...

Specialty Coating Systems.(In Brief)
July 1, 2005... Specialty Coating Systems (scscookson.com), a unit of Cookson Electronics, announced that its Parylene conformal coating services and raw materials are RoHS compliant.

ProMOS Technologies.(In Brief)
July 1, 2005... ProMOS Technologies (promos.com.tw) selected the Agilent (agilent.com) 4072B Parametric Test Solution for its 12" wafer Fab III at the Central Taiwan Science Park. ProMOS manufactures high-performance, high-density commodity DRAM memory chips...

Aegis Industrial Software Corp.(In Brief)
July 1, 2005... Aegis Industrial Software Corp. (aiscorp.com) finalized a partnership agreement with Sigmatek Trading Corp. to extend sales support for its products in Asia. Aegis will deploy a direct technical support team based in Taiwan to assist the...

Jurong High Tech.(In Brief)
July 1, 2005... Jurong High Tech (jurtech.com), a Singapore EMS provider, implemented KIC's (kicthermal.com) line of thermal process tools.

No fly zone.(Industry NEWS)
July 1, 2005... Wright-Patterson AFB, OH--Ready for lead-free airplanes? The U.S. Air Force isn't. Gearing up for the possibility of lead-free parts entering its supply chain, the USAF in May issued a memo stating, in part: "Until such time that a suitable,...

Texas Prototypes' Photonics division (texasprototypes.com) expanded optoelectronics testing capabilities to include high-reliability testing.(In Brief)
July 1, 2005... Texas Prototypes' Photonics division (texasprototypes.com) expanded optoelectronics testing capabilities to include high-reliability testing. TXP partners with the Korea Photonics Technology Institute (kopti.re.kr) in Gwangju, providing access...

LaBarge Inc.(In Brief)
July 1, 2005... LaBarge Inc. (labarge.com) has been awarded a multi-year, $24 million contract by Raytheon Missile Systems (raytheon.com) to provide cables and harnesses for the Joint Standoff Weapon system.

Ultrasonic Systems.(In Brief)
July 1, 2005... Ultrasonic Systems (ultraspray.com) appointed Surface Mount Solutions Inc. as representative for its Prism conformal coating systems in Ohio and Kentucky.

AT&S.(In Brief)
July 1, 2005... AT&S (atspcb.com), a European PCB manufacturer, began construction on a second plant in Shanghai. The new facility will triple the company's capacity in China.

Suntron Corp.(In Brief)
July 1, 2005... Suntron Corp. (suntroncorp.com) is out of compliance with Nasdaq Stock Market rules for failure to maintain a minimum market value of publicly held shares of $5 million for 30 consecutive trading days. The contract assembler faces delisting if...

The New York Stock Exchange notified EMS provider Three-Five Systems.(In Brief)
July 1, 2005... The New York Stock Exchange notified EMS provider Three-Five Systems (tfsc.com) that the company has fallen below continued listing requirements and could be delisted later this year. TFS must bring its share price and average share price above...

Fabrinet.(In Brief)
July 1, 2005... Fabrinet (fabrinet.com), an EMS company, closed on its acquisition of three JDS Uniphase (jdsu.com) manufacturing sites in Mountain Lakes and Ewing, NJ, and Fuzhou, China. The NJ sites are expected to be consolidated.

Henkel expands solder labs.(Industry NEWS)
July 1, 2005... Hertfordshire, UK -- Henkel (loctite.com) has completed a 900 sq. meter expansion to its Hemel Hempstead facility. Long a center of R&D for the company's solder products, the facility is now also home to several other Henkel businesses,...

Inventories down, more coming.(Industry NEWS)
July 1, 2005... Palo Alto, CA -- Inventory throughout the supply chain dropped in the first quarter, albeit not as quickly as sales and cost of goods sold, resulting in a moderate decrease in inventory velocity. Deutsche Bank (db.com) analysts believe...

Industry sees open stance from Congress on China.(Industry NEWS)
July 1, 2005... Washington -- U.S. Congressmen are taking a more open view to pleas by electronics manufacturers to pressure China to revalue its currency. "I think the Representatives are becoming attuned to manufacturing and our industry," Matt Holzmann,...

Celestica Inc.(People)
July 1, 2005... Celestica Inc. named Craig Muhlhauser president and executive VP of worldwide sales and business development. Muhlhauser was previously president and CEO of Exide Technologies. Marvin MaGee, former head of worldwide business development, has...

Assembleon CEO.(People)
July 1, 2005... Assembleon CEO Dr. Cor Scholten will retire at the end of June and will remain in an advisory role until year-end. He will be succeeded by Dr. Leon Husson (pictured), currently executive VP consumer businesses of Philips Semiconductors. ...

Everett Charles Technologies.(People)
July 1, 2005... Everett Charles Technologies named Patrick T. Flynn president. Previously president of ECT's Capital Equipment and Services Group and Semiconductor Test Group, Flynn succeeds David R. Van Loan, recently appointed president of Dover...

Leica Microsystems.(People)
July 1, 2005... Leica Microsystems promoted Thomas Breser to director of sales, Europe, and Maarten Kramer VP of sales, North America.

Zestron Asia Pacific.(People)
July 1, 2005... Zestron Asia Pacific named Simon Liu sales and support engineer. Liu has several years' experience in the SMT industry and will be based in Shanghai. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Michael E. Marks.(People)
July 1, 2005... Michael E. Marks will step down early next year as chief executive of Flextronics. He will be replaced by COO Michael McNamara. Marks will become chairman of the company.

OK International.(People)
July 1, 2005... OK International hired Paul Brackell as global product manager for conduction soldering and array package rework.

Sergio Medrano.(People)
July 1, 2005... Sergio Medrano has been hired as sales manager for Mexico for AIM, responsible for solder assembly materials sales.

Dell to recycle 2k PCs for U.S. Park Service.(Industry NEWS)
July 1, 2005... Round Rock, TX -- The U.S. Department of the Interior's National Park Service (nps.gov) has chosen Dell Computer to immediately remove and recycle more than 2,000 computer systems. "We are standardizing on Dell Asset Recovery Services...

Solectron buys Teradyne assembly plant.(Industry NEWS)
July 1, 2005... MILPITAS, CA -- Solectron Corp. on June 7 purchased the North Reading, MA, PCB assembly operations of Teradyne. The deal is scheduled to close on June 17; the purchase price was not disclosed, although Solectron (solectron.com) said it was not...

Cookson opens $3M China base.(Industry NEWS)
July 1, 2005... Shanghai -- Cookson Electronics (cooksonelectronics.com) has opened a technical service center and warehouse facility in the Zhong Dian Lu Ke Industrial Park in Shanghai. The $3 million facility will house more than 60 employees. ...

Foxconn to buy 2 HP plants?(Industry NEWS)
July 1, 2005... Taipei -- EMS provider Foxconn Electronics may buy two desktop PC assembly plants in Australia and India from Hewlett-Packard, an Asian news source reported. Under the agreement, Foxconn (the registered trade name of Hon Hai Precision...

Computers booting up.(Market WATCH)
July 1, 2005... [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] Computers Booting Up Trends in the U.S. electronics equipment market (shipments only). % Change Feb. March (r)...

ISM: is stronger dollar hurting production?(Market WATCH)
July 1, 2005... Tempe, AZ -- New orders and backlogs for manufacturers grew for the 24th straight month in May--the longest stretch of growth in 16 years. But the rate of growth is losing momentum, said the Institute for Supply Management (ism.ws). The PMI...

Q1 server sales up 5.3%.(Market WATCH)
July 1, 2005... Framingham, MA -- Worldwide server revenue grew 5.3% year-over-year to $12.1 billion in the first quarter, the eighth consecutive quarter of growth, reported research firm IDC (idc.com). Volume server revenue grew 15.6% year-over-year and...

Industry market snapshot.(Market WATCH)
July 1, 2005... Industry Market Snapshot Book-to-bills of various components/equipment. Jan. Feb. March April Semiconductor equipment (1) 0.80 0.77 0.78 0.80 Semiconductors (2) ...

China IC industry expanding rapidly.(Market WATCH)
July 1, 2005... New Tripoli, PA -- While IC demand will grow 32% in 2005 to $45 billion, internal IC production will reach only $9 billion despite ongoing massive semiconductor fab construction. This year China will produce 22 billion ICs, accounting for 20%...

Naka: flat U.S. PCB sales this year.(Market WATCH)
July 1, 2005... Baltimore -- North American production of printed circuit boards will be flat this year, a leading analyst predicted. According to Dr. Hayao Nakahara, production of PCBs in North American rose 11% to about $5 billion last year, but 2005's soft...

The SMT integration company.(Talking Heads)(Interview)
July 1, 2005... The Great Manufacturing Recession of 2001-03 was not a usual time to launch a company. But SMT Resource Group is not your usual company. Founded by three industry veterans who combined have more than 70 years of experience in electronics...

Selling EMS: using reps: part II of our look at sales strategies opines on the dynamics of hired guns.(Focus on Business)
July 1, 2005... Speaking, as we were last time (May 2005), on sales strategies, different sales models work best with distinct personality types. The strategic account manager is typically a stronger process manager than a super salesperson. That individual...

Need offshore PCBs? Go local: domestic PCB makers have become a dynamic source for Asian-built product.(Global Sourcing)
July 1, 2005... Ever thought about asking that board house right down the road from you--the one that has been providing your company with PCBs for years--for an offshore solution? Going offshore for bare boards, while offering great benefits, can be...

3-D packaging gets ready for prime time: among the benefits: improved RC delay and power consumption.(On the Forefront)
July 1, 2005... Driven by portable applications that require extremely small form factors, shipments of stacked die packages will exceed a billion units in 2005. With mobile phones, digital camcorders and cameras containing at least one stacked die CSP in each...

Choosing the right stencil: plastic makes its mark, but for 0.5 mm pitch laser-cut or electroformed are best.(Screen Printing)
July 1, 2005... When discussing materials deposition technology, emphasis is often placed on the screen printer's capabilities and how it will affect final product yield (rightly so, in many cases). While the equipment's performance has a tremendous impact on...

Parts and parcels: the case is growing for embedding passive devices.(Better Manufacturing)
July 1, 2005... The growth in use of tiny passive components has stimulated the world's placement machine manufacturers to develop more reliable systems capable of handling 0201 and now 01005 packages. These components are used mainly in digital, low-power...

Reducing BGA defects with AXI inspection: this study established the ideal sensitivity setting for catching BGA voids.(Process Improvement)
July 1, 2005... Ed.: For the full article and references, please see circuitsassembly.com/cms/content/view/1671/ Inspection of BGAs and detection and measurement of BGA voids has become critical as use of BGAs on assemblies has increased. How large can a...

RoHS and the supply chain: if each component can be verified, then the finished product falls into place.(RoHS Compliance)
July 1, 2005... Ed.: For the full article, please see circuitsassembly.com/cms/content/view/1669/ Let's take a look into the future: Somewhere in Europe, some youngsters in a department store are looking over the latest game boxes with wireless virtual...

The basics of boundary scan: this technique permits reuse of test data and cuts costs by eliminating ICT and functional test.(IC Testing)
July 1, 2005... Ed.: For the full article, please see circuitsassembly.com/cms/content/view/1672/ Even though most test engineers feel feel knowledgeable with the current test technologies, surveys show that there still is a lack of understanding of JTAG...

Wetting characteristics of Pb-free alloys of interest: regardless of flux, silver-containing alloys can achieve acceptable wetting at high temperatures.(Ag Solderability)
July 1, 2005... Ed.: For the full article, please see circuitsassembly.com/cms/content/view/1673/ A few Pb-free alloy candidates can be used as replacements for Pb-containing alloys. To make the most appropriate selection for a particular application,...

Optimizing stencil design for Pb-free SMT: in quantifying the impact of solder spread on typical SMT defects, the authors devised new apertures and a new test pattern.(Cover Story)
July 1, 2005... The primary goal of stencil printing is to put the proper amount of solder in the proper location repeatably. The aperture size, shape and stencil thickness determine the amount of solder deposited, while the position of the aperture determines...

Pb-free flip chip and CSP inspection: area arrays face higher thermal stress, leading to topside ball delamination. A review of the literature, and a novel solution.(Optical Inspection)
July 1, 2005... Ed.: For the full article and references, please see circuitsassembly. com/cms/content/view/1670/ [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] The extremely small component side joints of a flip chip or CSP are at greater risk of failing under...

Can existing tools survive Pb-free soldering? Most machines pass the test, but some key changes are ahead.(Countdown to Pb-Free)
July 1, 2005... Ed.: For the full article, please see circuitsassembly.com/cms/content/view/1674/ In the transition to lead-free soldering, an area of concern in assembly operations is what equipment changes, if any, will be needed for lead-free...

Quieting the noise: quality wave soldering depends on control of its many parameters.(Wave Soldering)
July 1, 2005... The wave solder process is characterized by a large number of process parameters. To understand them all and their interactions is challenging, particularly when it comes to lead-free soldering. Wave soldering has a number of sub-processes,...

An experimental methodology for process optimization: a 24-panel method for characterizing new soldering processes.(Test and Inspection)
July 1, 2005... One of the great challenges is anticipating and evaluating the interaction of lead-free materials with other process changes. In this column, we'll describe an experiment that can be used to analyze the interaction between lead-free solder, new...

O/E component testing pitfalls: inexpensive testing for expensive components is feasible, if done correctly.(Optoelectronics Assembly)
July 1, 2005... Compared to electronics, optoelectronics (or optics and photonics) technology in telecom is still evolving and at a stage similar to the Optical Vacuum Tube Era. It is not yet up to the optical transistors or the optical IC stage. This is...

Mean green corrosion: avoiding residues on ImAg boards selectively soldered with no-clean flux.(Process Doctor)
July 1, 2005... No-clean fluxes are designed to be protective and insulative of boards, but in selective soldering fluxes often fail to become fully complexed, leaving harmful conductive residues on the board. This effect can be seen on all types of board...

Spray fluxer.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
July 1, 2005... 'Plug'n Spray' reportedly achieves a uniform, well-defined flux deposit and wicking in through-holes. Works with no-clean, alcohol or water-based flux. Said to eliminate over- and under-spraying. Features air-driven nozzle with adjustable cone....

Dispenser analysis.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
July 1, 2005... Machine capability analysis (MCA) testing monitors dispense accuracy. Checks basic settings and functions of dispenser (clamping, sensors, nozzles, camera, robot, etc.). Machine capability measured by dispensing dots onto a patterned glass test...

Post-reflow AOI.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
July 1, 2005... S3088AV offers full reflow inspection of assemblies up to 400 X 350 mm. 4M sensors detect defects in paste print, component placement and solder joints. Angled camera modules ensure full-depth inspection and detect critical errors. Additional...

Soldering iron maintenance.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
July 1, 2005... Multicore TTC-LF permits soldering irons to be re-tinned, even when sponges, pads or rosin-cored solder wire are not effective. For all solder applications, the small block of Pb-free solder powder and flux is formed into a thick disk. To clean...

BGA bumping paste.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
July 1, 2005... BP-3106 solder paste produces large deposits of solder material in bumping and other applications using an SMT printer with a bumping stencil. Applies with existing equipment, increasing the BGA substrate panel size and printing speed without...

Gantry dispenser.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
July 1, 2005... XyflexPr[o.sup.+] dispensing system is said to increase speed rating by more than 30% with twice the accuracy. Features an advanced composite gantry design and linear drive system using motion control drive. Comes standalone or in-line, and is...

Low rosin no-clean flux.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
July 1, 2005... 959T alcohol-based, no-clean liquid flux is for Pb-free or SnPb wave soldering. With a typical solids content of 2.9%, the flux leaves evenly distributed residues. Contains a small percentage of rosin (0.5%), said to improve solderability, heat...

Socket adapters.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
July 1, 2005... HPS adapters, for Pro-LINE RoadRunner and PS-FlashCORE automated programming systems and FlashPAK engineering desktop programmer, have stainless steel/gold-plated spring probe contacts for accurate repeatability for insertion life up to six...

Adaptable workbench.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
July 1, 2005... Series 7000 adaptable workbench is Class 10k cleanroom compliant. Available as both a stationary and mobile workbench, can be configured with legs and/or cabinet pedestals. Accessories include storage, shelving, lights, power beams and more....

RoHS-compliant test points.(Product SPOTLIGHT)
July 1, 2005... RoHS-compliant TP-107 low-profile, surface-mount test points bond to the PCB through a unique forming process, which consists of forming the flat wire design in a spiral wrap at the mounting base. Singular loop design provides a positive,...

In case you missed it.(Technical Abstracts)
July 1, 2005... Connectors "Development of Cleanliness Specification for Single-Mode Connectors" Authors: Tatiana Berdinskikh, Ph.D., Celestica, et al. Abstract: This paper summarizes research performed by the iNEMI Fiber Optic Signal Performance...