Circuits Assembly articles from May 2006

Circuits Assembly archives from May 2006

8Telecom: ringing up prosperity.(Caveat Lector)
May 1, 2006... How often does a company with no electronics contracting experience--heck, no electronics manufacturing experience--open a plant and within three months land as customers some of the largest telecom companies in the world? [ILLUSTRATION...

An open letter of thanks.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2006... One year ago Speedline disclosed to the industry a new concept in printing a PCB called the Accela. That date also marked the end of a period that called for a substantial demonstration of integrity on behalf of a host of personnel in our...

Tomorrow is here.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2006... Interesting piece [Caveat Lector, March 2006]. In the last paragraph you mentioned "tomorrow it might be stricter environmental laws that will choke our business." Tomorrow is here and you document it every issue on the cover. Lead-free is...

CEMS: it's all about soldering.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2006... In response to Phil Zarrow's column on reflow profiling ["Reflow Profiling: Do it Right," February 2006], Amen! As a product engineer, I am the interface between design engineers and our contract manufacturers. I can't understand the reluctance...

Indium Corp.(In Brief)
May 1, 2006... Indium Corp. (indium.com) has begun manufacturing wave solder fluxes in its Milton Keynes, England, facility for European customers.

Sanmina-SCI Corp.(In Brief)
May 1, 2006... Sanmina-SCI Corp.'s Kunshan, China facility (sanmina.com) passed the registration audit for ISO/TS 16949, an automotive certification.

Fabrinet.(In Brief)
May 1, 2006... EMS provider Fabrinet (fabrinet.com) received TL 9000QMS certification for manufacturing electronics assemblies and optical devices for telecom equipment at its campuses near Bangkok.

SMC and Note AB.(In Brief)
May 1, 2006... EMS providers SMC (smcems.com) and Note AB (note.se) established a joint international procurement office in Shenzhen, where they source custom build-to-print products such as PCBs, cables, wiring harnesses, metals and plastics, and other...

Siemens Automation and Drives.(In Brief)
May 1, 2006... Siemens Automation and Drives (automation.siemens.com) acquired the die bonder activities of F & K Delvotec Bondtechnik GmbH. Siemens will integrate the business with its Electronics Assembly Systems division.

Asymtek.(In Brief)
May 1, 2006... Asymtek (asymtek.com) opened a customer applications lab in Guangzhou, China, and an office in Beijing.

EMA Design Automation.(In Brief)
May 1, 2006... EMA Design Automation (ema-eda.com) and Ageus Solutions (ageussolutions.com) will provide environmental compliance solutions from design through manufacturing. EMA's Engineering Data Management solution will now supply the mechanical portion of...

Total Electronics.(In Brief)
May 1, 2006... Total Electronics (totalems.com) has opened a new facility in Reynosa, Mexico. The 20,000 sq. ft. expandable facility contains three SMT lines and several mixed technology lines, and receives warehousing/logistics support from McAllen, TX.

Digi-Key.(In Brief)
May 1, 2006... Digi-Key (digikey.com) will operate as Helicomm's (helicomm.com) distributor for its line of Zig-Bee compliant wireless products, including IP-link embedded modules, M2M terminals and EZ-Net development kits.

Dow Corning.(In Brief)
May 1, 2006... Collaborating with suppliers in China, Dow Corning (dowcorning.com) has developed environmentally friendly silicon-based materials for China's electronics manufacturers.

Practical Components.(In Brief)
May 1, 2006... Practical Components (practicalcomponents.com) appointed NPF DiPaul (dipaul.ru) as its distributor throughout the Russian Federation.

Finetech.(In Brief)
May 1, 2006... Finetech (finetechusa.com) named Hattas and Assoc. (hattasandassociates.com) and Technology Plus as partner representatives for Illinois and Wisconsin.

Blakell Europlacer International.(In Brief)
May 1, 2006... Blakell Europlacer International (europlacer.com) appointed PCI--Prime Group as its distributor for India. The company also named RTS Engineering as distributor for Russia and Ukraine.

Fuji Machine Mfg. Co.(In Brief)
May 1, 2006... Fuji Machine Mfg. Co. (fuji.co.jp) and Cogiscan (cogiscan.com) will jointly develop and market RFID Smart Feeder technology for Fuji XP-series machines.

SMTA.(In Brief)
May 1, 2006... The SMTA officially formed its first chapter in China. Executive committee members were inaugurated in April in a ceremony in Shanghai.

Hover-Davis.(In Brief)
May 1, 2006... Hover-Davis (hoverdavis.com) named Wilson Industries as sales representative for eastern Pennsylvania, downstate New York, Long Island and Delaware.

Denso Corp.(In Brief)
May 1, 2006... Denso Corp. (globaldenso.com) established a new company in Tianjin, China, to aid production for automotive manufacturers there. Tianjin Poong Sung Electronics Co., Ltd. will produce instrument clusters, beginning production at the end of 2006....

EPIC Technologies.(In Brief)
May 1, 2006... EMS provider EPIC Technologies (epictech.com) completed a rapid deployment of Camstar's (camstar.com) Medical Device Suite to control production for the electronic top housing of a new transdermal drug delivery device. EPIC jointly developed...

Router Solutions Inc. and Sony TiMMS.(In Brief)
May 1, 2006... Router Solutions Inc. (rsi-inc.com) and Sony TiMMS (sonytimms.com) announced a cross-licensing and distribution agreement. RSI provides ECAD data translation and Sony TiMMS has over 15 years experience in PCB assembly solutions.

A.C.E Production Technologies.(In Brief)
May 1, 2006... A.C.E Production Technologies (ace-protech.com) recently installed dual KISS-101 Pb-free compatible selective soldering systems at Governors America Corp. (governors-america.com), a supplier of electronic engine controls.

Speedprint Technology Ltd.(In Brief)
May 1, 2006... Speedprint Technology Ltd. (speedprint-tech.com), a division of Blakell Europlacer Group, appointed A-Tek LLC (atekllc.com) as distributor for its printers in continental America.

Kato Denki.(In Brief)
May 1, 2006... Kato Denki (kato-denki.com) will increase its manufacturing capacity of nonlead IC packages by 50% to 15 million units per month this quarter.

Lucent in hand, is Thales next for Alcatel?(Industry NEWS)
May 1, 2006... MURRAY HILL, NJ -- In April, Alcatel (alcatel.com) unveiled a planned merger with its smaller U.S. rival Lucent Technologies (lucent.com) for $13.4 billion. Together, the pair would have total revenue of $25 billion, roughly matching current...

Nam Tai Shenzhen expansion on schedule.(Industry NEWS)
May 1, 2006... VANCOUVER -- Nam Tai Electronics (namtai.com) has reaffirmed its timetable for construction of new manufacturing facilities in Shenzhen by the end of 2006. The EMS company recently acquired approximately 1.3 million sq. ft. of property in...

Nexlogic relocates to larger plant.(Industry NEWS)
May 1, 2006... SAN JOSE -- Nexlogic Technologies (nexlogic.com) has relocated its PCB design, assembly, fabrication and procurement to a 30,000 sq. ft. facility in San Jose. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The new space is nearly three times larger than...

Solectron rebounds, but analyst warns of trouble.(Industry NEWS)
May 1, 2006... SAN JOSE -- Solectron Corp. (solectron.com) reported a second-quarter profit of $30.4 million, reversing a loss of $2.2 million last year. Revenue fell 10.8% to $2.46 billion from $2.76 billion a year ago. For the quarter, the gross profit...

Microsoft ramps Xbox production, delays Vista.(Industry NEWS)
May 1, 2006... SEATTLE -- Microsoft has delayed--again--the launch of its Windows Vista operating system, pushing out the next generation software for PC consumers to January 2007. Business customers will get in the door a couple months earlier, in November....

Electronic Systems' explains RoHS strategy at seminar.(Industry NEWS)
May 1, 2006... SIOUX FALLS, SD -- Electronic Systems Inc. (electronicsi.com) recently shared lessons learned from its RoHS compliant processes at a workshop for executives and engineers. About 70 persons from two dozen electronics companies attended the...

Sparton to buy medical products OEM.(Industry NEWS)
May 1, 2006... JACKSON, MI -- Electronics manufacturing services provider Sparton Corp. (sparton.com) has signed a letter of intent to acquire Astro Instrumentation, a maker of medical test equipment. Astro is privately owned and had 2005 sales of $33.6...

Nokia exec pushes converged devices.(Industry NEWS)
May 1, 2006... CUPERTINO, CA -- Will cellphones make Apple's iPod obsolete? A Nokia exec says it's inevitable. Anssi Vanjoki, head of Nokia's (nokia.com) multimedia unit, said in March that single-application media devices like the iPod will give way to...

Automated Production Equipment.(People)
May 1, 2006... William (Bill) Scheu, president of Automated Production Equipment (A.P.E.), died in March of a heart attack. Scheu is survived by his wife, Barbara, sons Casey and Ian, and four grandchildren.

Ametek.(People)
May 1, 2006... Ametek promoted Alan Devenish to vice president and general manager, Materials Analysis Division. Devenish was previously division VP of the EDAX Business Unit.

Landrex Technologies.(People)
May 1, 2006... Landrex Technologies hired Lyle Sherwood as sales and marketing manager for North America and Europe. He has spent more than 20 years in the SMT industry, including 10 years developing and implementing machine vision technologies.

YESTech.(People)
May 1, 2006... YESTech named Giancarlo De La Garza as Latin America sales manager. He joined the company in 2004 as sales applications engineer.

DEK Northern Europe.(People)
May 1, 2006... Jim Williams was appointed area general manager for DEK Northern Europe, based in the company's Weymouth headquarters. He was sales director for semiconductor processing equipment at Oxford Instruments. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Panasonic Factory Solutions Co.(People)
May 1, 2006... Panasonic Factory Solutions Co. of America named M. Faisal Pandit director of solutions. His prior experience includes equity analysis with Morgan Stanley, project management with Unix and eight years at Panasonic as a group manager.

Essemtec USA.(People)
May 1, 2006... Essemtec USA hired Jeff Stong as technical manager. Stong has 22 years of microelectronics and SMT experience, and is an SMTA chapter officer. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

On the defense.(Market WATCH)
May 1, 2006... Trends in the U.S. electronics equipment market (shipments only). % Change Dec. Jan (r) Feb.* YTD Computers and electronics products ...

March PMI shows continued strength.(Market WATCH)
May 1, 2006... TEMPE, AZ -- The PMI index of U.S. manufacturing slipped in March but remained well above the benchmark for growth. Overall, the sector grew for the 34th straight month, according to the latest Institute for Supply Management (ism.ws) poll. ...

Industry market snapshot.(Market WATCH)
May 1, 2006... Book-to-bills of various components/equipment. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Semiconductor equipment (1) 0.95 0.93 0.93 0.97 1.01 Semiconductors (2) 6.75% 7.2% 6.8%...

2006 promising for IC sales.(Market WATCH)
May 1, 2006... SARATOGA, CA -- Revenues and unit sales of ICs worldwide in 2005 grew 7.8% and 10.6%, respectively, and 2006 is expected to be even more robust, said Advanced Forecasting, a semiconductor forecasting firm. "Our forecast showed an upward turning...

Home is where the gear is.(Market WATCH)
May 1, 2006... NORWALK, CT -- Sales of digital home entertainment gear will reach $411 billion by 2010, an AAGR of almost 20% over the $166 billion posted in 2005, said BCC Research (bccresearch.com). Hubs and nodes (media PCs, digital audio and video...

India's EMS sector on the rise.(Market WATCH)
May 1, 2006... BANGALORE -- India's embryonic EMS sector is preparing for a breakout, based on recent forecasts from various market watchers. The Indian EMS industry will be worth $4 billion by 2010, growing over 30% annually, says the Electronics Component...

'You have to be prepared to change'.(Talking Heads)(Interview)
May 1, 2006... In February, Electronic Systems Inc. (electronicsi.com) captured Service Excellence Awards for responsiveness and value for the price. The Sioux Falls, SD-based EMS company has a history of success in the SEAs, but vice chairman Leo Reynolds...

What backgrounds build the best program manager? Six execs give their takes on the "face" of the EMS company.(Focus on Business)
May 1, 2006... One of the most difficult people to replace in an EMS company is a program manager. This month, we interviewed representatives at several EMS companies to learn what skills they consider important in program management. Because different EMS...

Will flip chip supply crack under demand? Limited capacity is driving longer delivery times and higher prices.(On the Forefront)
May 1, 2006... This past year saw unprecedented growth in shipments of flip chips. With stronger-than-expected sales of PCs, shipments of CPUs and chipsets with flip chip increased dramatically. The long-awaited shift of graphics chips from wire bond to flip...

Upfront evaluation pays big dividends: mom was right; it's easier to clean up as you go along.(Screen Printing)
May 1, 2006... No one wants to stop playing to clean up their toys, but we all remember our parents' sage advice: "If you just take the time to pick up as you go along, tidying up won't be such an overwhelming task." Mom was right. The same holds true...

Whither analytical x-ray: from RoHS to BGAs, the technology fills an inspection void.(Better Manufacturing)
May 1, 2006... Over the past few years, the use of x-ray to analyze solder joint structures has not only accelerated but has offered a wholly new view on joint inspection. (While the use of x-ray in electronics is a relatively recent phenomenon, the...

Small firms, big ideas: we are reminded that inspiration is not the domain of the biggest companies.(Apex Recap)
May 1, 2006... Another Apex has come and gone, and what have we learned? That the industry is busier today than it was a year ago. That most--but not all--companies expect another solid year in 2006. That the buzz over Pb-free shows no sign of abating....

Service winners go the extra mile.(Apex Recap)
May 1, 2006... A number of companies that go the extra mile were honored at CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY'S Service Excellence Awards ceremony during Apex. In the EMS category, the overall winners were Elcoteq (for companies with revenues over $500 million); Reptron...

AXI test on fine-pitch components using Pb-free and SnPb solder: in this analysis, Pb-free and SnPb TVs showed less than a 10% difference using a common test vehicle design.(AXI Comparison)
May 1, 2006... Ed.: For the complete article please visit circuitsassembly.com/cms/content/view/3195. Automated x-ray inspection (AXI) can detect most solder-related defects, including shorts, excess solder, misalignment, voids, insufficient solder,...

Running Pb-free reflow profiles without nitrogen: TGA/DSC data show paste can be used in extended reflow profiles with reduced [DELTA]Ts even at fast printing speeds.
May 1, 2006... The widespread use of SnAgCu-based solder paste drives manufacturing toward reflow profiles considerably longer than those used for Pb-bearing products. This is due to the minimized process window that results from higher reflow temperatures,...

A comparison of convection and condensation Pb-free reflow soldering: convection runs at faster cycle times, while condensation is superior for heavier PCBs.(Pb-Free Reflow)
May 1, 2006... Ed: For the full article please see circuitsassembly.com/cms/content/view/3204. Within a range of 3.0 to 4.7% silver and 0.5 to 3.0% copper, the SnAgCu alloy demonstrates a narrow melting temperature range of 216[degrees] to...

A fixture for characterizing underfill: this inexpensive and adaptable non-proprietary hardware aids visibility.(Underfill Characterization)
May 1, 2006... Underfill can improve the reliability of BGAs during exposure to thermal cycle or vibration. The development of the best material and processing is often hampered by visibility: you cannot see what you are doing. Flow fronts, voids, mixing,...

BGA repair for mixed assemblies: arm yourself with knowledge of the material construction.(Soldering Tips)
May 1, 2006... Just as the industry is becoming familiar with BGA assembly technology, another challenge in the form of Pb-free solders has presented itself. Companies are phasing in Pb-free technologies at different times and using different metallurgies,...

Avoiding solder spikes: shorter leads will prevent solder from being trapped in 'oxide envelopes.'.(Wave Soldering)
May 1, 2006... After dip or wave soldering, solder spikes or solder flags can often form on longer leads (e.g., those that protrude more then 2 mm on the solder side of the PCB). If the protruding leads have a relatively large surface area, such as with...

China's evolving RoHS legal regime: the new law goes into effect March 1, 2007 (maybe), and could be even broader than Europe's version.(Countdown to Pb-Free)
May 1, 2006... Ed.: For a more in-depth discussion, details about development of the legislation and background on rulemaking in China, please visit circuitsassembly.com/cms/content/view/3206. China's Management Methods for Controlling Pollution by...

Europlacer's adaptive positioning software.(Equipment Advances)
May 1, 2006... 3DPS adaptive positioning software and contact sensor system is used on placement machines to optimize pick and place of components with turret heads fitted with accurate contact sensors. This permits the machine to know precisely when it...

JTAG flying probe.(Product PREVIEW)
May 1, 2006... Second-generation Flying Prober Condor 500 has drive technology via linear motors, for high speed and high accuracy. Reportedly 30% faster and 25% less expensive than previous version. Comes with a "Soft Landing" tool and optional integrated...

Benchtop selective soldering.(Product PREVIEW)
May 1, 2006... TR300 is a PC-programmable table robot for automatic selective and point-to-point soldering. Said to offer precise, flexible automated soldering. Each process is optimized through customizable parameters via Windows on this benchtop system. ...

Selective soldering system.(Product PREVIEW)
May 1, 2006... Juki 400 offers batch or inline selective soldering of conventional components after reflow. Three-stage in-line system can be customized with options. Multiple solder pots run leaded and Pb-free without changing hardware. Includes up to four...

Flexible pick-and-place.(Product PREVIEW)
May 1, 2006... FLX2010-LCV flexible pick-and-place system for high-mix production offers intelligent feeders, large feeder capacity, and offline programming and job planning. Starts at 5,000 cph, with 150 feeders inline; can expand to 15,000 cph with over 470...

Tabletop laser soldering.(Product PREVIEW)
May 1, 2006... EFD's auger valve and UltraTT tabletop dispensing robot applies solder paste and reflows pin-in-hole and SMT assemblies. Laser reflow of paste combines the precise, rapid deposition of dispensable solder paste with the high-speed, noncontact,...

Pb-free SMT rework.(Product PREVIEW)
May 1, 2006... Intruder Vision series SMT Pb-free rework machines feature an open nozzle design that projects low-velocity, high-volume air with power to spare, and reflows as the convection oven used in the original manufacture. These low-maintenance systems...

In case you missed it.(Technical Abstracts)
May 1, 2006... Adhesives "Measuring the Effect on Isotropic Electrically Conductive Adhesive Reliability of Substrate and Component Finishes" Authors: Martin Wickham, Ling Chunxian Zou and Dr. Christopher Hunt; npl.co.uk/ei/publications/ ...