Circuits Assembly articles from July 2008

Circuits Assembly archives from July 2008

iNEMI's place in the world.(Caveat Lector)
July 1, 2008... In the US we are primed to a seeming dearth of industry research and development, so let's not let the facts get in the way of a perfectly good moan. Let's forget, for the moment, the efforts of SEMATech, justly recognized for...

JBM Electronics.(In Brief)
July 1, 2008... EMS provider Bantam Electronics (bantamsolutions.com) has signed an agreement to manufacture JBM Electronics' (jbmelectronics.com) Gateway C120 Routers.

Microboard processing.(In Brief)
July 1, 2008... Microboard Processing's (microboard.com) Seymour, CT, manufacturing facility has achieved AS 9100 registration. The EMS firm recently achieved ISO 13485 registration as well.

Blakell Europlacer.(In Brief)
July 1, 2008... Blakell Europlacer (europlacer.com) has entered into an agreement to distribute Evest's (evest.com.tw) placement machines.

R&D Circuits.(In Brief)
July 1, 2008... R&D Circuits (rdcircuits.com) opened a support office in Singapore, and named Zhou Feng, formerly of LSI, to head the expansion. Plans call for developing applications support for regional customers.

Mara Technologies.(In Brief)
July 1, 2008... EMS firm Mara Technologies purchased four Assembleon (assembleon.com) pick-and-place machines, including an AX-501 and two MG-8Rs (ITF). The firm also procured two Assembleon screen printers.

JSK Associates.(In Brief)
July 1, 2008... Qualitek International (qualitek.com) named JSK Associates (jskrep.com) territory representative in northern California and northern Nevada, responsible for soldering materials, fluxes and JT wave solder equipment.

Finetech.(In Brief)
July 1, 2008... Finetech (finetechusa.com) opened a sales and support facility in Manchester, NH. It is the second US facility for the company, which manufactures rework and bonding equipment. Finetech's main US demo facility is located in Tempe, AZ.

SMTA.(In Brief)
July 1, 2008... The SMTA (smta.org) seeks abstracts on business; packaging; interconnection; markets; assembly; microsystems and nanosystems technology, and solar electronics for the Pan Pacific 2009 Symposium. Abstracts should be submitted by July 31, with...

Milara Inc.(In Brief)
July 1, 2008... Milara Inc. (milarasmt.com) named Premtronic Sdn (premtronic.com) as its representative in Malaysia.

Valor Computerized Systems.(In Brief)
July 1, 2008... Samsung Techwin (samsungtechwin.com) will integrate its pick-and-place interfaces into Valor Computerized Systems' (valor.com) vPlan and vManage software.

AIM Solder.(In Brief)
July 1, 2008... AIM Solder (aimsolder.com) announced the 10th anniversary of AIM-Soldadura de Mexico, the first manufacturer of solder paste, wire, bar, and liquid flux within Mexico. The company also said it will add manufacturing lines at the site this year....

World Fair.(In Brief)
July 1, 2008... World Fair (worldfair-group.com.hk) selected Valor's (valor.com) vManage software for manufacturing control and monitoring.

Sono-Tek Corp.(In Brief)
July 1, 2008... Sono-Tek Corp. (sono-tek.com) named to its representatives network SRS and Associates (stonesrs.com) for TN, MS, AL and GA; Murray A. Percival Co. (murraypercival.com) for MI, IN, OH and KY; Technical Marketing Co....

Martec.(In Brief)
July 1, 2008... Promation (pro-mation-inc.com) named Martec its sales representative in GA, AL, TN and MI.

SMTA.(In Brief)
July 1, 2008... SMTA International will take place in San Diego next year, marking the first time the trade show will be sited on the West Coast. SMTA (smta.org) has contracted to hold SMTAI Oct. 4-8, 2009 at the Town and Country Resort and Convention Center...

Best Inc.(In Brief)
July 1, 2008... BEST Inc. (solder.net), in conjunction with the SMTA Illinois chapter, will host the 2008 PCB rework symposium at its Chicago-area facility on August 14. Other technical presenters will include OK International (okinternational. com) and VJ...

Hon Hai will enter the notebook contract manufacturing market next year, the Commercial Times reported.(In Brief)
July 1, 2008... Hon Hai will enter the notebook contract manufacturing market next year, the Commercial Times reported. Hon Hai, the world's largest ODM and the parent of Foxconn (fih-foxconn.com), primarily makes connectors, desktops, MP3 players, game...

Neil MacRaild.(People)
July 1, 2008... Ovation Products named Neil MacRaild president, responsible for expanding sales channels, broadening the company's reach and bringing products to market. MacRaild has 20 years' experience in electronics assembly and semiconductor packaging, and...

Zestron America named Neil Murphy Northeast sales manager, responsible for products and services.(People)
July 1, 2008... Zestron America named Neil Murphy Northeast sales manager, responsible for products and services. He has a bachelor's from the University of Massachusetts and 28 years of sales and technical experience in electronics and semiconductor...

Chris Brown.(People)
July 1, 2008... Asymtek promoted Chris Brown to regional sales manager, United Kingdom and Ireland, responsible for new business opportunities and the region's sales distribution network. He was EFD's European business development manager for automated...

Florian Schildein.(People)
July 1, 2008... Essemtec named Florian Schildein marketing manager. He was marketing manager at a punch parts supplier, and studied public management with focus on marketing at Potsdam University.

EMS firm Axiom Manufacturing Services named Mike Jones quality manager and Simon Crewe supply chain manager..(People)
July 1, 2008... EMS firm Axiom Manufacturing Services named Mike Jones quality manager and Simon Crewe supply chain manager. Jones has a degree in electrical and electronic engineering and 25 years' experience in the sector. Crewe has 15 years' experience in...

Damian Santhanasamy.(People)
July 1, 2008... Indium promoted Damian Santhanasamy to senior technical engineer. He joined the company in January 2006 as a technical engineer for Asia-Pacific and has a degree in electrical and electronics from Institut Teknologi Negeri, Malaysia. ...

Michael W. Bivens.(People)
July 1, 2008... R&D Circuits named Michael W. Bivens to its account management team, with direct sales responsibilities in the Mountain States region.

Rich Nottenburg.(People)
July 1, 2008... Motorola promoted Dan Moloney, head of its home networks mobility business, to also oversee Motorola Labs, the company's research group. He replaces Rich Nottenburg, Motorola's chief strategy and technology officer, who resigned.

Steve Blomquist.(People)
July 1, 2008... Eurotherm named Steve Blomquist president of Eurotherm USA.

Thomas J. Smach.(People)
July 1, 2008... Flextronics promoted executive vice president of finance for worldwide operations Paul Read to CFO, replacing Thomas J. Smach, who resigned. Read has held a variety of financial roles with the company since 1995, and was the lead executive...

Ofer Shofman, president, chief executive of Valor Computerized Systems, is retiring. CFO Dan Hoz has been named acting president and CEO.(People)
July 1, 2008... Ofer Shofman, president, chief executive of Valor Computerized Systems, is retiring. CFO Dan Hoz has been named acting president and CEO. Shofman cofounded Valor 15 years ago and has been president and CEO for six years.

Dr. James F. Reilly.(People)
July 1, 2008... Photo Stencil named Dr. James F. Reilly, II vice president of research and development, a new position. He is a veteran of the US Navy and NASA, and flew Space Shuttle missions in 1998, 2001 and 2007, where he performed five spacewalks totaling...

Ronald Lindell.(People)
July 1, 2008... VJ Electronix named Ronald Lindell as director of global sales and marketing. He was previously North American and global sales manager for Teradyne's Assembly Test Division, and has 25 years' experience in electronics assembly and industrial...

Greg Hayes.(People)
July 1, 2008... Indium Corp. named Greg Hayes to Southeastern USA regional sales manager, responsible for soldering product sales. He will focus on developing, implementing and monitoring sales goals and metrics, and work with regional sales teams and...

SMTA panel talks Lean, Pb-free and the economy.(Industry NEWS)(Interview)
July 1, 2008... ANAHEIM, CA--The military and defense work that has buoyed the North American PCB industry the past five years won't last forever. But companies that focus on developing sectors--including energy--can take advantage of the inevitable landscape...

LG, Haier may bid for GE appliances unit.(Industry NEWS)
July 1, 2008... FAIRFIELD, CT--LG Electronics and Haier Group have been cited as potential buyers of General Electric's appliances unit, according to GE's CEO Jeffrey Immelt, say published reports. However, the firms aren't speaking on the record. Immelt...

US, Japan file WTO complaint against EU.(Industry NEWS)
July 1, 2008... GENEVA--The US and Japan in May filed complaints with the World Trade Organization over tariffs the European Union imposes on certain electronics devices. The EU says at least three new technology products fall outside the 1996 Information...

Optimism, new orders common at JPCA/Protec.(Industry NEWS)
July 1, 2008... TOYKO--The JPCA Show is typically not one where many orders are placed on the floor. Rather, specifications are discussed, tires on equipment are kicked, materials are introduced, and the exhibition of evolutionary progressions is the norm. And...

Semis ascend.(Market WATCH)
July 1, 2008... Trends in the U.S. electronics equipment market (shipments only). % Change Feb. Mar (r) Apr * YTD Computers and electronics products -8.8...

Manufacturing stalls again in May.(Market WATCH)
July 1, 2008... TEMPE, AZ--Economic activity in the manufacturing sector again failed to grow in May, as the PMI was 49.6%, up one point from April, says the Institute for Supply Management (ism.ws). New orders were 49.7%, up 3.2 points sequentially, while...

Industry market snapshot.(Market WATCH)
July 1, 2008... Book-to-bills of various components/equipment. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. Semiconductor equipment (1) 0.85 0.89 0.92 0.87 (r) 0.81 (P) Semiconductors (2) 3.27%...

Metals index.(Market WATCH)
July 1, 2008... Price Per Lb Date 6/11/07 3/10/08 4/7/2008 5/6/08 6/2/08 LME Cash Seller and $6.28 $8.73 $9.28 $10.99 $9.60 Settlement, Tin LME Cash Seller and...

EMS set to undergo slowdown.(Market WATCH)
July 1, 2008... EL SEGUNDO, CA--iSuppli Corp. (isuppli.com) in May trimmed its long-term forecast for global EMS revenue to 8% during the 2006 to 2013 timeframe, down from its previous outlook of 9.3% growth. The research firm cited the combined size of...

Display driver chip market heads to mature stage.(Market WATCH)
July 1, 2008... EL SEGUNDO, CA--Unit shipment growth for display drivers will slow to 15.1% in 2008, down from 26.2% in 2007, iSuppli Corp (isuppli.com) said. Annual growth will average about 11% from 2009 to 2011. iSuppli estimates 6.9 billion units were...

WSTS: global semi growth 4.7% in 2008, 5.8% in 2009.(Market WATCH)
July 1, 2008... SEATTLE--The global semiconductor market is expected to grow 4.7% to $267.7 billion this year, up from 3.2% in 2007, according to the revised forecast of the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (wsts.org). The WSTS lowered its projections by...

Kester's 'delicate balance'.(Talking Heads)(Interview)
July 1, 2008... ITW's July 2006 acquisition of Kester (kester.com) has garnered perhaps less attention than other moves the conglomerate has made of late, but it was no less significant. In May, Bill Spring, Kester's paste general manager, and Jeff King,...

What's your selling style? Opt for a positive approach and customers will vote with their feet.(Focus on Business)
July 1, 2008... Every election shows us the best and worst selling styles. Since we are likely to see this continue until November, this is a good time to discuss pros and cons of various selling styles used in EMS. Politicians and EMS service providers...

Forecasting's bitter 'secret sauce': leading indicators have been the bane of prediction models. A more rational model is proposed.(Global Sourcing)
July 1, 2008... Over its 75 years as an industry, electronics manufacturing has primarily been driven by innovation in product development. While that remains important, business issues of global supply chain management are trumping innovation in building...

The z-direction goes vertical: electronics companies across markets are hopping on PoP.(On the Forefront)
July 1, 2008... When land is limited, builders construct high-rise condos and apartments. When board real estate is limited, packages also go in the z-direction. Some of the high growth areas include stacked die CSPs and package-on-package (PoP). Next in the...

Stencil horror stories: why a 100 mm board shouldn't be processed with a 300 mm squeegee.(Screen Printing)
July 1, 2008... Saving a few dollars upfront, it seems, often takes precedence over making responsible decisions based on the overall impact on process cost. As the saying goes, many manufacturers "can't see the forest for the trees." On our visits to...

A cut above: a six-step primer on microsectioning techniques.(Tech Tips)
July 1, 2008... Microsectioning is a powerful failure analysis technique when coupled with optical or scanning electron microscopy (SEM) because it permits examination of a variety of failures that could not have been seen without this destructive analysis....

Will electronics follow the sun? Vast investment in solar technology has echoes of another mass transition: SMT.(Cover Story)
July 1, 2008... Deriving power from the sun is hardly a new concept. In fact, Thomas Edison once remarked, "I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy... what a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait 'til oil and coal run out before we tackle that."...

'Warm' manufacturing heats up: nanotechnology poses an attractive solution for lower-temp soldering.(Emerging Technologies)
July 1, 2008... Higher reflow process temperatures are causing concern among electronics manufacturers. Product reliability can be diminished by the residual stresses in PWB assemblies that these higher temperatures cause. Higher temperatures also require...

Reputation trumps recession, China: mid-tier EMS opportunities are abundant to firms that emphasize the personal touch.(Domestic Production)
July 1, 2008... While the mortgage crisis and rising energy and healthcare costs clearly are impacting the US economy, assuming all industries are equally affected is a mistake. In fact, mid-tier EMS providers are alive and well. [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN...

'Web circuits': avoiding re-spins is made easy and economical through a novel additive process.(PWB Rework)
July 1, 2008... A large networks systems company had a single prototype PCB to prove out its design change before re-spin and ordering new prototypes. However, the change required traces connected to BGA pads under the device to be brought out and new SMT pads...

A novel non-VOC conformal coating: the polyurethane pre-polymer, 100% solids material performed well in SIR and thermal shock testing.(Conformal Coatings)
July 1, 2008... Moisture-cure and 100%-solids chemistries have been used for years in a range of applications; however, previous attempts to develop moisture-cure conformal coatings have been unsuccessful. Moisture-cure coatings tend to be fast-reacting and...

Krypton: benchmarking customer satisfaction: the overall winner for small EMS firms focuses on engineering solutions.(SEA Profile)(Company overview)
July 1, 2008... A newcomer to CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY's Service Excellence Awards this year, Plano-TX-based Krypton Solutions walked away with the highest overall customer rating for EMS providers with revenues less than $20 million--a category with intense...

Products and services.(2008 BUYERS GUIDE)(Buyers guide)
July 1, 2008... The annual CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY Buyers Guide is the industry's only comprehensive source of supplier product and process information. You can find the interactive online guide at circuitsassembly.com/bg. Both the print version that follows and the...

Preventing Pb-free solder pot contamination; Brittle joints are one common result of poor maintenance.(Wave Soldering)
July 1, 2008... Monitoring the composition of the alloy in the solder pot is critical to maintain a stable wave or selective soldering process. Deviation from the original composition of specified alloy results in physical property modification, such as...

HOP-ping mad: reprofiling may be the best containment method for head-on-pillow.(Pb-Free Lessons Learned)
July 1, 2008... Head-on-pillow, ball-in-socket, ball-in-cup--whatever you call it, a defect by any other name still requires rework. In the past few months, reports of head-on-pillow (HOP) defects have increased dramatically. For those who have not yet...

How clean are plugged microvias? Not very. And the residues can affect circuit performance.(Process Doctor)
July 1, 2008... Microvia contamination from the fabrication process is not new, but is leading to a new appearance in immersion tin, silver and OSP boards. Besides microvias (holes with a 0.013" or smaller opening) with visible attacks on the metalization...

3-D automated X-ray.(PREVIEW)
July 1, 2008... YTX X3 AXI system offers 3-D inspection capability for inspection of PCBs with BGAs and other hidden solder joints. Selectively uses 2-D or 3-D technology to inspect specific regions. Is said to be suited for inline or offline applications....

Automatic flux remover.(PREVIEW)
July 1, 2008... Trident III automatic defluxing and cleanliness tester is reportedly capable of removing all flux residues, including rosin, no-clean and water-soluble. Comes with an automatic chemical injection system that adds a programmable volume of...

Nitrogen preheat selective soldering.(PREVIEW)
July 1, 2008... 350E selective soldering system is Pb-free ready and comes standard with an X, Y Z and A axis servo drive system. Includes a soldering unit that features forced hot air nitrogen pre-heat at the mini-wave nozzle. Nitrogen pre-heat reportedly...

Miniwave soldering.(PREVIEW)
July 1, 2008... GoSelective light selective soldering machine is for small and medium volumes. Is designed for standalone operation or may be integrated into an automated production line. Permits processing of assemblies up to 500 x 500 mm. Features a micro...

'Long open time' paste.(PREVIEW)
July 1, 2008... SLIC paste is said to feature extended open and idle times, consistent release from the smallest apertures (including [mu]BGA and 01005s), repeatable paste deposition control, and no to ultra-low voiding during reflow soldering. Is available in...

'All specimens' x-ray.(PREVIEW)
July 1, 2008... Vertex Series-C x-ray analyzes inner structures of any specimen. Reportedly can be tailored to any application. A range of x-ray tubes, detectors, motion hardware and mechanical components are available. Options include artifact reduction...

Benchtop robot.(PREVIEW)
July 1, 2008... BT303 is based on three or four fully programmable axes. Is adapted for semiautomatic point-to-point soldering or PLC-controlled liquid dispensing operations. Global Automation dispensing Inc., globalautomation.com Booth 117

Tabletop dispenser.(PREVIEW)
July 1, 2008... T-Max accommodates a single valve. Comes with tool-less Taper-lock valve mounting hardware, 16" x 20" work area, handheld teach pendant, reported repeatability of [+ or -]0.050 mm, and FreeFLO software package. Is for gasketing and large-volume...

Mid-size placer.(PREVIEW)
July 1, 2008... Pantera-XV SMD placement system addresses prototyping and production runs in mid-sized quantities. Is said to handle 0201s to 50 x 50 mm QFPs, and pitches to 0.4 mm. Offers up to 108 feeder slots in a footprint less than 1 sq. m. Intelligent...

Upgraded printer.(PREVIEW)
July 1, 2008... Horizon 03i system is now equipped with a redesigned gullwing cover. Runs on Instinctiv V9 and is now compatible with Cyclone understencil cleaning, HawkEye high-speed print verification tool, and HD Grid-Lok reconfigurable high density...

Flux with underfill-like protection.(PREVIEW)
July 1, 2008... Hysol FF6000 epoxy flux combines flux and underfill protection. Is reflowcurable, and formulated to provide fluxing action for Pb-free solder joint formation. When cured, is said to deliver underfill-like protection against mechanical stress....

In case you missed it.(Technical Abstracts)
July 1, 2008... Cleaning "Methods for Choosing a Saponifier or Surfactant for Printed Circuit Board and Stencil Cleaning Applications" Authors: Ken Wilson, Charles Merz and Aaron Unterborn; ken.wilson@flextronics.com. Abstract: A discussion of...