Circuits Assembly articles from July 2006

Circuits Assembly archives from July 2006

The longest hangover.(Caveat Lector)
July 1, 2006... May marked the 36th straight month that the manufacturing sector grew in the U.S. That means that for three years running we've been in expansion mode. So why aren't more people smiling? While I usually leave the commentary on the...

Disagrees on SACX performance.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2006... The article "Pb-Free Solder Assembly for Mixed-Technology Boards" (CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY, March 2006) made several inaccurate and misleading statements in relation to the performance of the patented SACX alloy. First, the author wrote, "The SAC and...

Corrections.(Correction notice)
July 1, 2006... Our June 2006 report from Nepcon China contained two errors. The Hexi machine pictured on page 35 is a wave machine, not a reflow oven. Also, ICON Technologies claims an accuracy of 15 [micro]m, not 50 [micro]m, for its i-8 printer. Finally,...

Blakell Europlacer Ltd.(In Brief)
July 1, 2006... Blakell Europlacer Ltd. (europlacer.com) will rep Dage's (dageinc.com) x-ray products in the U.K.

Finetech.(In Brief)
July 1, 2006... Finetech (finetechusa.com) moved from Phoenix to a larger facility in Tempe, AZ. The new facility for rework and micro assembly includes a demo room for hands-on training and interactive demonstrations.

Digi-Key.(In Brief)
July 1, 2006... Digi-Key (digikey.com) will distribute several of Multi-Tech's (multitech.com) embedded modem products. Digi-Key will also distribute integrated magnetic sensor and integrated motor driver products for Allegro MicroSystems (allegromicro.com).

CTS Corp.(In Brief)
July 1, 2006... CTS Corp. (ctscorp.com) will open manufacturing operations in Matamoros, Mexico, its fourth EMS factory in North America. Production will focus on electromechanical and system integration.

Texas Instruments.(In Brief)
July 1, 2006... Texas Instruments (ti.com) authorized Mouser Electronics (mouser.com) to distribute TI products in the Americas through Mouser's catalog and technical sales force.

Elcoteq.(In Brief)
July 1, 2006... EMS provider Elcoteq (elcoteq.com) moved to new, larger facilities in Manaus, Brazil and Juarez, Mexico. Elcoteq da Amazonia now has 53,820 sq. ft. and can accommodate up to 800 employees. The new 148,947 sq. ft. plant in Juarez employs roughly...

Components Bureau.(In Brief)
July 1, 2006... Components Bureau (componentsbureau.com) will represent SMT (smthk.com), a Hong Kong-based EMS provider, in the U.K.

Sanmina-SCI.(In Brief)
July 1, 2006... Sanmina-SCI selected Trovix (trovix.com) Recruit to help find and hire the best candidates more quickly, lower recruiting costs and reduce outside agency fees. Recruit is a Web-based intelligent talent matching application and tracking system.

Tyco Electronics.(In Brief)
July 1, 2006... Tyco Electronics' Global Application Tooling Division (tycoelectronics.com) designed a customized RFID inlay assembly system for Graphic Solutions International (graphic-solutionsinc.com). The equipment assembles semiconductor chips, surface...

SMS Electronics.(In Brief)
July 1, 2006... EMS provider SMS Electronics (smselec-tronics.co.uk) added an XJTAG (xjtag.com) boundary scan system to its production facility in Nottingham, England.

Polar Instruments.(In Brief)
July 1, 2006... Polar Instruments' (polarinstruments.com) Si8000 software is now available via Direct Logix (directlogix.com) products. Control Center Stackup Builder will now have direct interface capabilities to Polar's impedance field solving engine. In...

X-Tek Group.(In Brief)
July 1, 2006... X-Tek Group (xtekxray.com) selected Prodelec (prodelecgroup.com) as its distributor in Italy.

Electronic Assembly Services.(In Brief)
July 1, 2006... Electronic Assembly Services (easpcb.com) purchased a NU/ERA 16MP Pb-free, computer-controlled dual wave soldering system for its Elk Grove Village, IL, facility.

YTXP Corp.(In Brief)
July 1, 2006... YTXP Corp. acquired EMS firm Texas Prototypes Inc. (texasprototypes.com) in a reverse merger effective April 28. TXP posted a loss of $299,000 in fiscal 2005, down from a loss of $164,000 in 2004. The company reported revenue of $9.4 million...

Moventis Capital.(In Brief)
July 1, 2006... Moventis Capital will purchase EMS provider PTL Electronics Inc. for $7 million, half in cash and the rest in convertible debt and equity. PTL (ptlelectronics.com) had revenues of more than C$10 million and EBITDA of $1.5 million for the year...

P. Kay Metal.(In Brief)
July 1, 2006... A new online calculator from P. Kay Metal (pkaymetal.com) permits manufacturers to determine how much money could be saved by using the company's MS2 molten solder surfactant to eliminate dross in wave soldering operations. Manufacturers can...

Solectron opens Boston-based NPI center.(Industry NEWS)
July 1, 2006... WILMINGTON, MA -- Fine Pitch, the NPI arm of Solectron, in May hosted the grand opening of its newest facility, in suburban Boston. The 65,000 sq. ft. plant, which officially opened on Jan. 15, builds high-mix, low volume parts for Motorola,...

EMS vets behind latest EPM plant.(Industry NEWS)
July 1, 2006... MANCHESTER, NH -- Manufacturing is returning to New England, and in a small way. Small as in the modest-sized factories popping up all over the landscape of late. The newest: The 45, 000 sq. ft. plant opened here by EPM (epmglobal.com) in June....

Motorola to invest $100M in India handset factory.(Industry NEWS)
July 1, 2006... CHENNAI, INDIA -- Motorola in June said it would invest up to $100 million in a state-of-the art handset manufacturing facility here, scheduled to be operational in 2007. Motorola will initially invest $30 million on the 300-acre site,...

Changes coming to Nepcon East?(Industry NEWS)
July 1, 2006... BOSTON -- Nepcon East, the venerable Boston-based trade show for electronics manufacturing, is undergoing a change in management, a move that could lead to a very different look come next year. On May 10, Canon Communications (cancom.com)...

Suss MicroTec, IBM complete C4NP reliability tests.(Industry NEWS)
July 1, 2006... MUNICH -- Suss MicroTec (suss.com) has successfully completed initial reliability testing with IBM for 300 mm Pb-free C4NP solder bumped wafers. Suss is currently building a high-volume manufacturing C4NP tool set for IBM in preparation for...

Rising silver prices up solder costs at Henkel.(Industry NEWS)
July 1, 2006... IRVINE, CA -- Henkel (henkel.com/electronics) will raise prices for Ag-bearing solder pastes and die-attach materials, the company said in June. The new prices will be based on silver trading levels and will be indexed against London Metal...

U.S. DoC issues guide to IP rights.(Industry NEWS)
July 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- A new guide to intellectual property rights written by the U.S. Department of Commerce is now available on the DoC's Stop Fakes Website (stopfakes.gov). The DoC's STOP (Strategy Targeting Organized Piracy) initiative is...

Speedline Q1 unit sales drive revenue up.(Industry NEWS)
July 1, 2006... FRANKLIN, MA -- Speedline Technologies (speedlinetech.com) has released its financial results for fiscal 2006 first quarter, ending March 31, 2006. The company reported an 18% increase in revenue, and a 28% increase in bookings compared with...

Milara Inc.(People)
July 1, 2006... Stephen Brodeur has returned to Milara Inc. as program director for its newly annexed printer division. Brodeur was with Milara from 1999 until 2004, when he joined Laurier Inc. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

International DisplayWorks.(People)
July 1, 2006... Steve Gerisch joined International DisplayWorks as vice president of sales. He previously spent nine years with Hitachi. In addition, Brad Ferrell was promoted to VP of business development.

NSAI Inc.(People)
July 1, 2006... NSAI Inc. appointed Kevin Mullaney as chief executive. He replaces Tom Byrne, who returned to NSAI Ireland.

DiagnoSYS.(People)
July 1, 2006... DiagnoSYS promoted Andy Quick to applications engineer and hired Mike Quick as field support engineer.

Labtech.(People)
July 1, 2006... Labtech appointed Roger Burfoot as sales manager for microwave broadband components. He has 20 years' experience of sales and marketing of high-tech commercial and defense products.

Endicott Interconnect Technologies.(People)
July 1, 2006... Endicott Interconnect Technologies appointed Doug Gotelli as director of sales, Western region. Gotelli was previously regional sales manager for Tyco Electronics' Printed Circuit Group. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

SMART Group.(People)
July 1, 2006... The SMART Group elected Paul Salmon chairman, replacing Peter Marshall. Salmon, business development manager for Indium Corp., has been a member of the SMART Group Steering and Technical Committee, recently serving as vice presidenand finance...

Seika Machinery.(People)
July 1, 2006... Seika Machinery named Rick Schultz account manager of the Sayaka PCB Routers Division covering North and South America. He has more than 15 years of semiconductor and SMT experience. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Secure communications.(Market WATCH)
July 1, 2006... Trends in the U.S. electronics equipment market (shipments only). % Change Feb. March (r) April* YTD Computers and electronics products...

Manufacturing dampened in May.(Market WATCH)
July 1, 2006... TEMPE, AZ -- May completed three straight years of growth in the manufacturing sector, while the overall economy grew for the 55th consecutive month, the Institute for Supply Management (ism.ws) reported in June. The PMI manufacturing index...

Industry market snapshot.(Market WATCH)
July 1, 2006... Book-to-bills of various components/equipment. Dec. Jan. Feb. March April Semiconductor equipment (1) 0.93 0.97 1.01 1.03 1.11 Semiconductors (2) 6.8% 7.0% -2.2%...

Mobile music.(Market WATCH)
July 1, 2006... ARLINGTON, VA -- More than a fourth of consumers own MP3 player equipment for their vehicles, according to the Consumer Electronics Association (ce.org). MP3 players, cellphones, mobile and portable video navigation and factory-installed...

Europe's PWB market to grow 3.5% in '06.(Market WATCH)
July 1, 2006... BERLIN -- The global market for printed wiring boards in 2005 grew by 5.7% to $38.5 billion, according to German trade groups VdL (vdlev.org) and ZVEI (zvei.de). Japan and Southeast Asia combined for 58.3% market share, with the largest...

Flexible display sales mounting.(Market WATCH)
July 1, 2006... EL SEGUNDO, CA -- Sales of flexible displays will top $100 million within five years, from $5 million in 2006, says iSuppli Corp. (isuppli.com). The research firm in June forecast global sales would reach $339 million by 2013, a compound annual...

Servers facing commodization, IDC says.(Market WATCH)
July 1, 2006... FRAMINGHAM, MA -- Factory revenue from servers sold in Europe, the Middle East and Africa fell 4.3% year-over-year in the first quarter, according to IDC (idc.com). Sales totaled $3.8 billion, down from $4.9 billion a year ago. Shipments...

Account acquisition division of labor: interviews show variances in EMS business models.(Focus on Business)
July 1, 2006... The point when handoff occurs between sales and program management in new account acquisition varies in EMS business models. There is no perfect model for dividing up the activities associated with bidding and closing new business. Factors such...

Setting up an International Procurement hub: how one EMS company formed a purchasing office in Shenzhen.(Global Sourcing)
July 1, 2006... Late last year, SMC and its EMS partners opened an International Procurement Office in Shenzhen City, China. The IPO will eliminate the need to use a broker to source and acquire components, thus eliminating the cost of a middleman. The expense...

Commodities prices and manufacturing: will consumers, besieged by higher gas prices, continue to buy electronics?(On the Forefront)
July 1, 2006... Rising prices for materials, energy and transportation are driving up the cost of manufacturing. Metal prices have increased dramatically in the past year, and the prices for epoxy resins, die attach materials, substrates and even die attach...

No more friction: new board transport systems can aid printer throughput.(Screen Printing)
July 1, 2006... In my previous column, I talked about the importance of process audits and how critical it is to perform periodic assessments of the screen printing process. Inevitably, in the course of these audits and subsequent discussion about process...

The greening of electronics: Celestica's CTO says global environmental initiatives are laying the groundwork for a massive shift in industry thinking.(Life After Lead)
July 1, 2006... Ed.: For the complete article please visit circuitsassembly.com/cms/content/view/3513/ Until recently, the industry was sharply focused on producing the latest and greatest products--meeting consumer demand for the newest models of...

Improving hand soldering operational costs and process control: manual soldering and process control can go hand-in-hand.
July 1, 2006... With Pb-free wave and reflow mass soldering processes for the most part approved and implemented, focus is now appropriately shifting toward the peripheral soldering processes such as rework and hand soldering. To guarantee quality in a Pb-free...

Getting RoHS ready: five steps to preparing your company on a global basis.(RoHS Best Practices)
July 1, 2006... Ed.: For the complete article please visit circuitsassembly.com/cms/content/view/3515/ RoHS. Mere mention of the European Union's Restriction of Hazardous Substances acronym has caused many sleepless nights. Why? As the legislation...

Products and services.(2006 BUYERS GUIDE)(Directory)
July 1, 2006... Visit the interactive CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY Buyers Guide at circuitsassembly.com/bguide for contact information for companies listed in the Guide. See the special Suppliers Section on page 48 for more information on bolded companies. For updates,...

Special suppliers section.(2006 BUYERS GUIDE)(Directory)
July 1, 2006... ACL Staticide 1960 E. Devon Ave. Elk Grove Village, IL 60007 847-981-9212, fax 847-981-9278 aclstaticide.com Altegra 5 Great Valley Parkway, Suite 210 Malvern, PA 19355 610-539-4224, fax 610-539-4225 ...

Water logged: how to analyze and restore storm-damaged boards.(Soldering Tips)
July 1, 2006... Hurricane Katrina subjected many large and hard-to-replace circuit card assemblies to severely adverse conditions. For one particular company, thousands of boards were submerged in standing water with heavy contaminants. Even though this...

Poor hole-filling with Pb-free wave soldering? The process itself cannot compensate for poor solderability.(Wave Soldering)
July 1, 2006... When the soldering process is converted to Pb-free, one may often find solder connections where hole filling is not complete. This was not much of a problem when boards were soldered with common SnPb alloys. It sometimes occurred due to...

Easing PCB stress from bed-of-nails: model board stress prior to building the fixture.(Test and Inspection)
July 1, 2006... All bed-of-nails fixtures--whether vacuum, pneumatic or mechanical--exert forces on boards to ensure adequate electrical contact at test nodes. When board logic was relatively sparse--because components were larger and their heat dissipation...

What's next on the environmental front: new priorities must be defined and industry must proactively drive for harmonized regulatory standards.(Countdown to Pb-Free)
July 1, 2006... Ed.: For the complete article please visit circuitsassembly.com/cms/content/view/3516/ The RoHS Directive goes into effect in the EU this month. Last month's column demonstrated that industry, for the most part, is ready. However, much...

Compliance verification: the best programs detail the "who, what, where, when and how" of testing ESD technical elements.(ESD Basics)
July 1, 2006... This column deals with an important aspect of ESD control--the process of verifying that everything is working correctly. Before you can reasonably verify that your ESD control measures are working, first prepare an ESD control program plan. A...

Not-so-fine debris: left uncleaned, even staging racks can be a source of failures.(Process Doctor)
July 1, 2006... This is a short excerpt of a patient visit with the Process Doctor. This is a fictional depiction of an industry problem and customer communication and any similarities to any actual conversations are purely coincidental. Client: We are...

DEK's HawkEye post-print verification system.(Equipment Advances)
July 1, 2006... Enabled by an innovative inspection methodology, DEK's (dek.com) HawkEye post-print verification system permits 100% board inspection at the line beat rate. Rather than relying on the data-rich, quantitative routines and still-image...

Modular coating system.(SEMICON[R] West Product SPOTLIGHT)
July 1, 2006... Ultrasonic Coating Module integrates into robotic work cells or semiconductor processing systems. Features CAT 35 ILDS (integrated liquid delivery system) coating head, micro-valve control and PLC controller for integration into work cell...

AOI for die placement, wire bond.(SEMICON[R] West Product SPOTLIGHT)
July 1, 2006... Ultra 850G AOI has a granite-based stage for accuracy to 10 [micro]m. Can be configured for die placement, wire bond, paste inspection and pre- and post-reflow inspection. Electro-optics can be adapted by applying flying color, true color or...

Enhanced XRI cabinet.(SEMICON[R] West Product SPOTLIGHT)
July 1, 2006... Verifier x-ray inspection systems have an enhanced cabinet design for improved board loading and unloading access to the sample manipulator. Can handle PCBs up to 16 x 18". Portable cabinet measures 32 x 34". Provides >650X magnification from...

Solder bump inspection.(SEMICON[R] West Product SPOTLIGHT)
July 1, 2006... IBIS (Interferometric Bump Inspection System) offers production-volume solder bump inspection on chip carriers. Inspects and reports on the position, height and shape of solder bumps on the die-attach side of chip carriers. Can inspect coined...

Flip-chip placement.(SEMICON[R] West Product SPOTLIGHT)
July 1, 2006... AdVantis XS has linear motor drives and precision encoders to enable advanced packaging in commercial volumes. Features high-resolution imaging, optimized lighting and specialized component feeders with a small footprint. For current and...

In case you missed it.(Technical Abstracts)
July 1, 2006... Cleaning "Applied Research for Optimizing Process: Parameters for Cleaning Pb-Free Flux Residue" Authors: Dirk Ellis and Mike Bixenman; speed-linetech.com/docs/Applied-Research-Flux-Residue.pdf Abstract: Both cleaning equipment...