Printed Circuit Design & Manufacture articles from August 2003

Printed Circuit Design & Manufacture archives from August 2003

Electronics holds their own. (Market Watch).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... ELECTRONICS HOLD THEIR OWN Trends in the U.S. electronics equipment market (shipments only). % CHANGE MARCH APRIL Computers/electronics...

June swoon for U.S. manufacturing. (Market Watch).
August 1, 2003... TEMPE, AZ -- Despite continued recession in the manufacturing sector the mood among U.S. purchasing executives is turning upbeat, according to the Institute for Supply Management (ism.ws). While economic activity in manufacturing failed to...

No boom in June. (Market Watch).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... No Boom in June FEB. MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE PMI 50.5 46.2 45.4 49.4 49.8 New orders 52.3 46.2 45.2 51.9 52.2 Production...

Q1 EDA sales buck seasonal trend. (Market Watch).(electronic design automation tools)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... SAN JOSE -- Sales of electronic design automation tools dropped 6% in the first quarter, according to the EDA Consortium (edac.org). Sales rose sequentially, however, bucking a historical trend. EDA Consortium chairman Wally Rhines called the...

Stacked die CSPs piling up gains. (Market Watch).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... AUSTIN, TEXAS -- Driven by growth in mobile phones, shipments of stacked packages are expected to grow at a dramatic rate of more than 50% this year. According to TechSearch International (techsearchinc.com), mobile phone makers are opting...

N.A. PCB sales up slightly Q2. (Market Watch).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... PALO ALTO, CA -- Is the North American industry finally leveling? FabFile's second quarter census says so. The number of facilities in the U.S. and Canada is 595, down from 604 sequentially, the firm said. Yet sales totaled $5.2 billion, up...

Industry market snapshot. (Market Watch).(Book-to-bills of semiconductors, semiconductor equipment and PCBs in North America)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
August 1, 2003... INDUSTRY MARKET SNAPSHOT Book-to-bills of various components/equipment. FEB. MARCH APRIL MAY Semiconductor equipment (1) 0.98 0.91 0.90 0.89 Semiconductors (2)...

Boardtalk: PCD&M readers give their views. (Around The World / Design).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... "What does a North American PCB shop need to know most about when working with an Asian PCB manufacturer?" Straightforward communication. Many times, the U.S. shop tries to be too nice and courteous in their request for service; these good...

Douthitt a hit with Ciposa.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Ciposa S.A. (ciposa.com) a manufacturer of vision inspection equipment, named Douthitt Corp. (douthittcorp.com), a maker of exposure equipment, as its representative in North America.

Drive on.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Circuit World (circtwrld.com) has achieved certification to SAE AS9000, the aerospace basic quality system standard. The certification reflects the company's ability to meet a demanding set of criteria for quality management.

Amkor loves Cookson.(Amkor Technologies Korea, Cookson Electronics)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Cookson Electronics (cookson.com) received the 2002 Best Supplier Award from Amkor Technologies Korea (amkor.com), an annual recognition of outstanding performance. Cookson tallied the top scores possible for quality, delivery, cost and...

Black days ahead.(Interconnect Technologies promotes George H. Black to president)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... George H. Black has been promoted to president of Interconnect Technologies (littoninterconnect.com), the PCB manufacturing arm of Northrop Grumman, replacing Robert J. Schutz, who retired after 27 years with the company. Black, a 25-year...

2 for China.(Westwind Air Bearings Ltd opens sales office in Shenzhen)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Westwind Air Bearings Ltd. (westwind-airbearings.com) has opened a sales and service office in Shenzhen, its second in China. England-based West-wind opened a facility in Suzhou last year.

More capacity.(for CST Group)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... CST Group (cstgrouppcb.com) is opening a multilayer plant in Venturina, Italy. The 18,000 [m.sup.2] facility is said to have an annual capacity of 350,000 [m.sup.2].

Mentor acquires DDE. (Around The World / Design).(Mentor Graphics, DDE-EDA A/S)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... WILSONVILLE, OR -- Mentor Graphics (mentor.com) has acquired PCB layout software vendor DDE-EDA A/S (dde-eda.com), a Herlev, Denmark-based company whose tools include the Supermax ECAD PCB design suite. The deal, which was finalized at the end...

Altium adds DXP technology to P-CAD tools. (Around The World / Design).
August 1, 2003... SYDNEY -- Altium Ltd. (altium.com) has added CAM and simulation technologies enhancements as part of a major upgrade to its PCB software line released in June. The new release, 2002 Service Pack 1, for P-CAD PCB layout tools, adds a Design...

Ansoft, Synopsys get 'in-Sync'. (Around The World / Design).(Ansoft Corp. has joined Synopsys' in-Sync program)
August 1, 2003... PITTSBURGH -- Ansoft Corp. (ansoft.com) has joined Synopsys' in-Sync program, a move that will shore up interoperability between Synopsys' lines of chip packaging and circuit simulation software and Ansoft's PCB analysis tools. ...

ACT now.(Advanced Circuit Technology passes U.S. government qualifications)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Advanced Circuit Technology (act-flex.com) has passed a series of U.S. government qualifications for designing and fabricating rigid-flex PCBs and expects to become certified as a supplier to the Department of Defense later this year. ACT...

Merix hub.(Merix Corp opens sales office in China)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Merix Corp. (merix.com) has opened a sales support and customer service office in Suzhou, China, and inked a deal with YCH Group Pte. Ltd. (ych.com) to support its inventory hub. The office is Merix's first in China. John Cavanaugh, director of...

Going ape.(Bud Hambleton back at helm of Gorilla Circuits)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Bud Hambleton, the original owner of what has come to be known as Gorilla Circuits (gorillacircuits.com), is back at the helm of the company and several executives under the prior management have exited. Gorilla, known as Teltec prior to a name...

Sticky matters.(Arlon Inc acquires MOX-Tape line from Flexfab Horizons International)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Arlon Inc. (arlonmed .com) has purchased the MOX-Tape line of of unreinforced and reinforced silicone, self-fusing tapes from Flexfab Horizons International (flexfab.com). The deal includes inventory and related equipment, which will be moved...

Free DfM by 10.(Advanced Circuits provides free design rules checks for boards up to 10 layers)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Advanced Circuits (freeDFM.com) is providing free design rules checks for boards up to 10 layers. The DfM checks are performed via the Internet and take only minutes.

'Ex'cellent move?(Esterline Technologies to sell substantially all assets of Excellon Automation)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Esterline Technologies entered into an agreement on June 28 to sell substantially all the assets of its money-losing Excellon Automation (excellon.com) subsidiary to a private party. Details of the agreement were not disclosed and the sale is...

IBM sheds SLC.(Kyocera Corp to acquire IBM Japan's laminated high-density PCB business)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Kyocera Corp. will acquire IBM Japan's laminated high-density PCB business in Yasu. The facility makes chip carriers using a patented process known as SLC, or surface laminar circuitry.

DuPont names Insulectro U.S. distributor for PCB materials: Insulectro to cease carrying eternal line. (Around The World / Manufacturing).
August 1, 2003... RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC -- DuPont Electronic Technologies in June named Insulectro distributor of its PCB laminates and other materials in the U.S. The deal covers DuPont's Riston photopolymer dry-film resists, ImageMaster phototools, Vacrel...

Canadian bakin': Circuit World, MPC in action. (Around The World / Manufacturing).(Circuit World acquires Firan Technology Group)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... TORONTO AND CALGARY -- Merger talk was cooking in Canada last month as a pair of PCB companies changed hands. In one deal, Circuit World (circtwrld.com) acquired Firan Technology Group in a stock swap deal, creating a PCB company with combined...

Arista continues buying ways. (Around The World / Manufacturing).(Arista Beaver Brook Circuits purchases Epec Inc)
August 1, 2003... NEW BEDFORD, MA -- Arista Beaver Brook Circuits (acipcb.com) has purchased Epec Inc. (epecpcb.com), one of the oldest PCB companies in the U.S. Arista president Ed McMahon declined an interview request, telling PCD&M, "Being as focused as...

Tough quarter earnings reports. (Around The World / Manufacturing).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... TOUGH QUARTER Earnings Reports REVENUES (1) COMPANY Q1 2003 Q1 2002 Aspocomp (2) 41.1 44.3 AT&S (2) 72.3 70.4 Camtek 5.8 4.7...

Capacity cuts continue: Multek, The Burean Shutter N.A. PCB operations. (Around The World / Manufacturing).(The Bureau Electronics Group)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... MINNEAPOLIS -- As first reported by pcdandm.com in June, The Bureau Electronics Group, the PCB manufacturing arm of The Bureau of Engraving, is closing its plant in northeast Minneapolis. Also, Multek (multek.com), the PCB arm of...

Close shave: consortia to standardize on Tin Whisker test. (Around The World / Manufacturing).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... TOKYO -- Calling the work "important for implementation of lead-free technology," a group of national consortia are taking steps to develop a standard test protocol for tin whiskers. The test method would predict the susceptibility of component...

Events. (Happenings).(Brief Article)(Calendar)
August 1, 2003... AUG. 18 TDR Training Seminar Portland, OR. Contact: TDA Systems; tdasystems.com SEPTMBER 8-11 Conference on the Commercialization of Micro and Nano Systems Amsterdam. Contact: University of Twente;...

Electropac Canada (electropac.com) has installed a DP-1500-2X dual-sided photoimageable ink coater from Circuit Automation (circuitautomation.com). (It's A Deal).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Electropac Canada (electropac.com) has installed a DP-1500-2X dual-sided photoimageable ink coater from Circuit Automation (circuitautomation.com). Also, Electropac Canada in Montreal and Electropac Ltd. in St. Catharine's, Ontario, have passed...

Introbotics Corp. will install a CI 1000 robotic tester. (It's A Deal).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Introbotics Corp. will install a CI 1000 robotic tester at the Hong Kong-based test lab of Conductor Analysis Technologies Inc. (CAT) and Microtek Labs (thetestlab.com).

Zero Defects Inc. (zdefects.com) and Seica America (seica.com) sold a Seica S20BBT bare-board tester. (It's A Deal).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... * Zero Defects Inc. (zdefects.com) and Seica America (seica.com) sold a Seica S20BBT bare-board tester to Evenstar Inc.

AsusTeK Computer (asus.com) has selected SpecctraQuest design and analysis software. (It's A Deal).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... * AsusTeK Computer (asus.com) has selected SpecctraQuest design and analysis software from Cadence Design Systems (cadence.com) for PCB motherboard designs.

Circuit World Corp. (circtwrld.com) has licensed Nortel Networks'. (It's A Deal).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Circuit World Corp. (circtwrld.com) has licensed Nortel Networks' (nortelnetworks.com) PCB Channel Routing technology and software.

Alcatel (alcatel.com) has standardized on the eMPower PCB assembly and test tool from Tecnomatix Unicam (tecnomatix.com). (It's A Deal).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Alcatel (alcatel.com) has standardized on the eMPower PCB assembly and test tool from Tecnomatix Unicam (tecnomatix.com). Alcatel purchased licenses for eM-Assembly Expert, eM-Test Expert, eM-View Expert and eM-Document Expert. Also, ISB...

Viking Test Services (vikingtest.com) sold an Emma ELX6146 high-speed flying probe tester to Garner Osborne Circuits (gocpcb.co.uk). (It's A Deal).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Viking Test Services (vikingtest.com) sold an Emma ELX6146 high-speed flying probe tester to Garner Osborne Circuits (gocpcb.co.uk). Leicester Circuits (leicester circuits.co.uk) also purchased an Emma tester, its second.

Teradyne. (Faces).(promotes Michael A. Bradley to president)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Teradyne (teradyne.com) promoted Michael A. Bradley to president. Bradley was president of the Semiconductor Test division and was previously Teradyne's CFO. He is a member of SEMI's North American Advisory Board and has a bachelor's from...

Rogers Corp. (Faces).(promotes Gary Clinton)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Rogers Corp. (rogers-corp.com) promoted Gary Clinton to product manager for its RO4000 high-frequency materials, responsible for managing global capacity and pricing and new product development. Clinton is a Six Sigma black belt and has a...

Eltek Ltd. (Faces).(names Jim Barry national sales manager)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Eltek Ltd. (eltek.co.il) named Jim Barry national sales manager, responsible for North American sales and managing its U.S. rep firms. Barry has 20 years of sales experience with Hadco, Teledyne and Parlex.

Mentor Graphics Corp. (Faces).(promotes Joseph Sawicki)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Mentor Graphics Corp. (mentor.com) promoted Joseph Sawicki to vice president and general manager, Design-to-Silicon division. Sawicki was general manager of Mentor's Physical Verification division and has 13 years experience in application...

W. L. Gore & Associates. (Faces).(promotes Russell Shaller)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... W. L. Gore & Associates (gore.com/electronics) promoted Russell Shaller (pictured) to division manager, Electronic Products Division. He was general manager for Gore Photonics, and was business manager for Gore's specialty electronic products...

Polyclad Laminates. (Faces).(promotes Erik Bergum)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Polyclad Laminates (polyclad.com) promoted Erik Bergum to vice president, sales--Polyclad Europe, responsible for sales and technical service of laminates, prepregs and resin-coated foils, and Enthone chemical processes. Bergum was vice...

Lazer-Tech. (Faces).(promotes Damon DeSilva)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Lazer-Tech (lazer-tech.com) promoted Damon DeSilva to manufacturing manager, responsible for overseeing manufacturing operations at the facility in Scarborough, Ontario. DeSilva is an 18-year veteran of the PCB industry.

Neltec. (Faces).(appoints Mark Carlson business director)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Mark Carlson has joined Neltec (parknelco.com) as business director of global RF microwave materials, responsible for global marketing and sales of RF/microwave printed circuit materials. Carlson has held sales and marketing management...

Making it: odds be damned, there are always those who find ways to succeed. Here are a few of their stories. (Power Selling).
August 1, 2003... LOOK AROUND, AND you'll find people who are making a difference. Like the inventor who has devised a way to cut plating chemistry use to 15% of the norm. The same person can show us how to make money selling $15 boards. Or the innovator...

Embracing those in our employ: does a company's differentiation lie in its products, or its workers? (ROI).
August 1, 2003... HERE'S A SCARY thought: The sole differentiator between one company and the next--regardless of location or size--is the people they employ. Like it or not, our success depends on our employees. It's people who sell product and people who...

Achieving design collaboration: driving design intent through the PCB layout process is a highly collaborative activity between experts in performance and functionality and the layout staff--and their tools. A look at the tools and processes that make for happy relationships. (Cover Story).
August 1, 2003... Time was, component placement and signal routing was performed by a single person and consumed most of the design time. Thanks to advancements in design automation technologies such as constraint-driven design and shape-based autorouting, these...

Bouncing out ground bounce: ground bounce is a side effect of shorter rise times and increased bus widths. By knowing the physical origin and what to adjust, you can keep it to acceptable levels. (Quieting Crosstalk).
August 1, 2003... Let's start with a quick definition of ground bounce. Ground bounce is a transient voltage generated between two different points on the same ground path, such as a package lead, a connector pin or different locations on the ground plane of a...

Routing differential pairs: while some argue that differential pairs work just fine if they are not coupled, the layout tradeoffs say that routing traces closely is prudent. (Differential Signaling).
August 1, 2003... The traditional data interface methodology known as parallel starts to run out of speed at 200 MHz and data bandwidth because of the sheer number of pins/signals required to move the volumes of data. The savior is the rapidly adopted interface...

What causes reflections? In an ideal world signals would propagate down a line with no distortion. But this is no ideal world. (No Myths Allowed).
August 1, 2003... WE HAVE ALL heard that a signal will reflect whenever it sees a change in impedance. After all, this is the source of all the signal quality problems related to signal propagation on one net. It is because of this fundamental property of...

Conductive layer issues: why you must do more than just "view" your manufacturing data. (CAM Works).
August 1, 2003... IN MAY WE began an in-depth look at why validation of design data is imperative prior to manufacturing. This month, we continue looking at the subject with a detailed discussion on conductive layers. Conductive layer problems account for a...

Voids, part 3: how to prevent voids during electroless copper deposition. (The Plating Rack).
August 1, 2003... WE HAVE ALREADY devoted two columns to voids. But there is more, much more! And until voids are eradicated from the face of the earth, or at the least, from our circuit boards, we will talk about them. This month, we look at voids as they can...

New angles on X-ray inspection: X-ray systems can be used in-line to identify errors prior to drilling and electrical test and trimming. (PCB Process Control).
August 1, 2003... Until a few years ago electrical testing and visual inspection were deemed sufficient for quality control of bare-board PCB manufacturing, with x-ray inspection reserved only for inspection of assembled boards. X-ray's advantage has always been...

High-speed hole measurement. (Off the shelf: machines materials tools systems software).
August 1, 2003... Hole-AOI measures drilled hole position, diameter and roughness. Detects PCB and film shrinkage and expansion rates. Said to be capable of measuring hundreds of thousands of holes per minute at 5 [micro]m accuracy. Novel analysis software...

Low DK dielectric. (Off the shelf: machines materials tools systems software).
August 1, 2003... Microlam 630 low-loss dielectric consists of BT resin with a toughening matrix. Is said to provide CAF reliability, is planar and is buried via filling capable. Reportedly has a dielectric constant of 2.6, loss tangent of 0.004, and is stable...

Team design tool. (Off the shelf: machines materials tools systems software).
August 1, 2003... TeamPCB is a design environment that permits designers to work on the same PCB layout simultaneously. Designs can be partitioned into separate sections so a designer can work on one section while viewing other designers' sections. ASCII...

Verification/editing tool. (Others Of Note).
August 1, 2003... CAMtastic DXP verification and editing tool performs bi-directional data transfer between design and manufacturing. Features advanced panelization, new DRCs, and NC drill and route capabilities. Locates and fixes 18 common design flaws...

High-frequency modeling. (Others Of Note).
August 1, 2003... ApsimSPAR modeling tool converts S, Y or Z parameters into Spice subcircuits for time or frequency domain simulation. Accounts for interconnect imperfections due to loss or dispersion, ApsimSPICE nonlinear simulator calculates frequency effects...

Collaboration software. (Others Of Note).
August 1, 2003... AutoVue integrates with Open Text's Livelink CADManager. Is said to provide full access to all XREFS and reference files managed by CADManager, with users able to save AutoCAD documents to the Livelink repository, and view and mark them up with...

Package, PCB TDR tool. (Others Of Note).
August 1, 2003... IConnect 3.0TDR software has an interconnect link simulator that uses complete TDR/T and S-parameter network descriptions as part of the simulation, to predict and display eye diagram degradation and signal integrity bit errors. Performs...

LED monitoring IC. (Others Of Note).
August 1, 2003... ZXSC400 voltage mode boost converter IC enables current in an LED chain to be set and monitored by a single resistor. Fits with up to four LEDS in 3 x 2 mm leaded package. In 1.8-8 V range, for use with portable equipment batteries. WHO:...

Front-end tool suite. (Others Of Note).
August 1, 2003... ValueFab, for contract manufacturers and board fabricators, and ValueIntegrator, for OEMs, make up an automated front-end engineering software suite. Integrates internal engineering process and design-through-manufacturing process cycles. Said...

Partners profit. (Our Line).
August 1, 2003... I was putting the finishing touches on the latest edition of the Printed Circuit Board Basics when, while digging up a reference from a past printing, I came across it: a list of the top 10 non-captive North American board shops in 1994. What a...