Printed Circuit Design & Manufacture articles from August 2005

Printed Circuit Design & Manufacture archives from August 2005

Kilby's spirit lives on.(OUR LINE)
August 1, 2005... JACK S. Kilby died recently, at 81. Some of you may not recognize the name, but without him most of us would be doing something different. Or at least quite a bit differently. Kilby joined Texas Instruments in May 1958. He had a wild idea in...

Component bucking forecasts.(MARKET WATCH)
August 1, 2005... COMPONENTS BUCKING FORECASTS Trends in the U.S. electronics equipment market (shipments only). % CHANGE MARCH APRIL (r) MAY * YTD ...

Orders, production rebounded in June.(MARKET WATCH)
August 1, 2005... TEMPE, AZ -- The manufacturing sector grew for the 25th straight month in June, boosted by spikes in new orders and production. Manufacturing rebounded from three months of slowing growth, according to the latest Institute for Supply Management...

Equipment slowdown ahead?(MARKET WATCH)
August 1, 2005... LOS ALTOS, CA -- Slowing GDP gains will have a domino effect on electronics equipment demand, with replacement cycles losing momentum, according to a June research report. Demand for everything from PCs to handsets to autos will suffer,...

Chip substrate shortage seen.(MARKET WATCH)
August 1, 2005... AUSTIN, TX -- A May 1 fire that destroyed part of ASE's Chung-Li, Taiwan assembly and test capacity and decimated its flip-chip substrate production line will heap further pressure on an already tenuous supply of laminate substrates for...

Industry market snapshot.(MARKET WATCH)
August 1, 2005... INDUSTRY MARKET SNAPSHOT Book-to-bills of various components/equipment FEB. MARCH APRIL MAY Semiconductor equipment (1) 0.77 0.78 0.81 0.85 Semiconductors (2) ...

Fuba files bankruptcy, restructuring plan.(DOWN, NOT OUT)
August 1, 2005... DRESDEN, GERMANY -- Fuba Printed Circuits GmbH, one of the largest European PCB manufacturers, has filed a petition for insolvency in self-administration. The firm also submitted a restructuring plan intended to save more than 600 of the 870...

New tool eases lead-free parts selection.(THE LEAD FREE ZONE)
August 1, 2005... ROCHESTER, NY -- EMA, a distributor of CAD and CAM software, thinks it has an answer for designers who are grappling with selecting compliant components for lead-free manufacturing: Incorporate RoHS content into the schematic. EMA's...

RJR Circuits ranked in Top 50 of CO minority firms.(AROUND THE WORLD)
August 1, 2005... DENVER -- RJR Circuits Inc. has been named one of the Top 50 minority-owned companies in Colorado for 2005. Colorado Biz magazine ranked the private Denver PCB shop 21st among minority-owned Colorado businesses. RJR Circuits reported gross...

Electronics workbench opens Tokyo office.(AROUND THE WORLD)
August 1, 2005... TORONTO -- Electronics Workbench Corp. has opened a direct sales and technical support office in Tokyo. The company's Japanese operations offer sales and support in Japanese, and numerous local events are planned to educate and support the...

May book-to-bill ratios split.(AROUND THE WORLD)
August 1, 2005... BANNOCKBURN, IL -- The North American rigid PCB industry had a book-to-bill ratio of 1.04 for May 2005, while the North American flex book-to-bill hovered below parity at 0.98. IPC reported that both rigid and flex rose from April, when rigid...

Events.(Happenings)(Calendar)
August 1, 2005... EVENTS SEPTEMBER 11-16 EOS/ESD Symposium Anaheim, CA Contact: www.esda.org 13-15 Implementing Lean Manufacturing and Beyond Kansas City, KS Contact www.lean.org/Events 25-29 ...

Avnet Inc.(IT'S A DEAL)
August 1, 2005... Avnet Inc. has completed the acquisition of semiconductor distributor Memec for $663 million. Announced in April, the acquisition will be immediately accretive to earnings, excluding integration charges.

Zero Defects has chosen Northwest Circuit Sales as its representative for Washington and Oregon.(IT'S A DEAL)
August 1, 2005... Zero Defects has chosen Northwest Circuit Sales as its representative for Washington and Oregon. Based in Tigard, OR, Northwest Circuit Sales is headed by Brian Carlson, who has experience in bare boards and assembly.

GSI Lumonics Inc. has changed its name to GSI Group Inc.(IT'S A DEAL)
August 1, 2005... GSI Lumonics Inc. has changed its name to GSI Group Inc. The company also announced a new trading symbol on the Nasdaq stock exchange, GSIG. GSI Group will be led by the same management team.

Sechang International of Incheon, South Korea has signed an agreement to blend products for RBP Chemical Technology.(IT'S A DEAL)
August 1, 2005... Sechang International of Incheon, South Korea has signed an agreement to blend products for RBP Chemical Technology. The agreement calls for Sechang to blend products for use in the PCB industry for RBP's existing customers in Korea, a move...

3M has selected Tapco Circuit Supply as its national industrial business and stocking distributor.(IT'S A DEAL)
August 1, 2005... 3M has selected Tapco Circuit Supply as its national industrial business and stocking distributor in the U.S. Tapco will sell and distribute 3M's industrial business products to the PCB fabrication market.

Christopher Associates Inc. inked an agreement to represent Electrolube's product range in the Americas.(IT'S A DEAL)
August 1, 2005... Christopher Associates Inc. inked an agreement to represent Electrolube's product range in the Americas. Electrolube is a UK-based electrochemical manufacturer, and Christopher Associates is a Santa Ana, CA-based supplier for the fab and...

The Oxnard, PA-based power supply manufacturer Condor D.C. Power Supplies has opened its European office in North Devon, England.(IT'S A DEAL)
August 1, 2005... The Oxnard, PA-based power supply manufacturer Condor D.C. Power Supplies has opened its European office in North Devon, England. The office will serve the European continent, providing sales, application and engineering design services, and...

Ad van der Kruijs, a member of RUWEL's board of directors, has retired.(FACES)
August 1, 2005... Ad van der Kruijs, a member of RUWEL's board of directors, has retired. Van der Krujis spent more than 10 years at RUWEL, leading departments that included technology, production, R&D and environment.

Gene H. Weiner & Associates.(FACES)
August 1, 2005... Gene H. Weiner & Associates has appointed Mark C. Hehl as a senior associate of the Danbury, CT consultancy. An authority on improving business in China, Hehl will make his China workshops available to Weiner's clients. Hehl holds a BSEE from...

Elektrobit Group Plc.(FACES)
August 1, 2005... Juha Hulkko has been appointed CEO of Elektrobit Group Plc. One of the founders and a major shareholder, Hulkko has acted as chairman of the board since 2002. The Elektrobit executive board has been restructured, with Jukka Harju appointed COO....

I'm telling you for the last time! It's been fun, but it's time to move on.(POWER SELLING)
August 1, 2005... THIS COLUMN FIRST appeared in this astute periodical (then called PC FAB) in July of 1999. In the ensuing years we have laughed, cried, gotten angry, taken a few jabs at one another and overall had a lot of fun together. This column, my 75th,...

Keep it simple, stupid! Lead-free compliance doesn't have to be complicated. in fact, the less complex it can be, the better it will be for everyone in the supply chain.(ROI)
August 1, 2005... THE FINAL COUNTDOWN has begun. We are on our way to a bright new, environmentally better tomorrow! The implementation deadline for the RoHS Directive is less than a year away. Can't you feel the excitement? Is your pulse racing? Or maybe...

Is the supply chain ready for RoHS? Common materials and the availability of RoHS-compliant versions.(COUNTDOWN TO LEAD-FREE)
August 1, 2005... Ed: For the full article, please see www.pcdandm.com. MANUFACTURERS HAVE MADE significant investments in new processes that will eliminate substances banned under the EU's RoHS Directive. But they must also be assured of a strong supply...

Trending toward profitability: there's money to be made through efficient PCB design. But you'll have to extract every spare second and dollar to do so.(GUEST COLUMNIST)
August 1, 2005... THE FIRST DECADE of the new millennium delivers no real surprises in PCB design trends: boards are more complex, speeds are sizzling, digital content is growing, differential signals are exploding and no one wants to pay more. Nor are there any...

DDR SDRAM characteristic impedance and PCB design: how much impedance variation can a DDR SDRAM interface tolerate before going out of spec?(Cover Story)
August 1, 2005... As clock speeds increase and rise times decrease, the importance of maintaining good signal integrity in electronic products has assumed increasing importance and visibility. This is particularly true of the ubiquitous products incorporating...

Ask the expert.
August 1, 2005... Featured Arlon Expert Vince Weis, Applications Engineer Q: We are trying to design reduced-cost polyimide flex-rigid products for applications requiring bend to fit but that don't necessarily need to undergo dynamic flexure. Do you have any...

The impact of lead-free on design and fabrication.(LEAD-FREE)
August 1, 2005... The advent of lead-free manufacturing is impacting PCB design and fabrication, but its effect on design is minimal. Fortunately for designers, in general, the design rules for lead-free soldering are similar to those for tin-lead soldering....

The way I see it: two industry veterans discuss the current PCB market from both sides of the sales desk.(INNER VIEW)(Interview)
August 1, 2005... Not long ago, I sat down with Steve Williams, the printed circuit board commodity manager for Plexus Corp. and an old friend of mine. It was a rainy night, but the pub was warm, the beer cold and the food delicious Italian. It was a great night...

Diode laser.(off the SHELF)
August 1, 2005... NLight has released a near-infrared diode laser that reportedly emits 3W of continuous-wave power from a single 100-micron broad area emitter. This high-brightness, 808 nm, multimode diode laser is said to be an ideal pump source for solid...

RF cable connectors.(off the SHELF)
August 1, 2005... Samtec's SMA Series is available with straight and right angle terminations and feature compact semi-precision connectors. They use .085" and .141" semi-rigid cables and standard flexible cables. The MCX Series is available as jacks and plugs...

Connector system.(off the SHELF)
August 1, 2005... The high-density PowerMod connector family, offered in 3 to 30 circuits, is available for straight PCB, right angle PCB, panel or cable mountings. It is rated for 30 amps and has mechanical polarized UL94V-O housings for proper circuit mating....

SMT module.(OTHERS OF NOTE)
August 1, 2005... BivarOpto has released a surface-mount RGB-based device for optimized control of color and brightness. The tri-chip RGB design is made of a singleAllnGaP and two InGaN/SIC chip dies, featuring peak wavelengths of 625, 568 and 430 nm...

Lead-Free guide.(OTHERS OF NOTE)
August 1, 2005... The Polyclad Lead-Free Material Selection Guide is said to provide comprehensive solutions for selecting lead-free capable laminate base materials, while defining a "best practice" methodology to be used in determining selection criteria for...

Filter array.(OTHERS OF NOTE)
August 1, 2005... The EM6D-100L is a 12-pin DFN package, 6line low pass filter array with integrated TVS diodes. Is reportedly designed to suppress unwanted EMI/RFI signals and provide ESD protection for high-speed data interfaces. A cutoff frequency of 150 MHz...

PWM controllers.(OTHERS OF NOTE)
August 1, 2005... Pulse Width Modulator (PWM) Controllers feature integrated EMI reduction technology for tow noise switched mode power supply (SMPS) converter and inverter applications. This family of controllers is designed to replace the184X/384X series PWM...

Line gage.(OTHERS OF NOTE)
August 1, 2005... The precision line gage PLG100 was designed for high repeatability optical measurement of track and via geometry. With a reported resolution of 0.75 microns and accuracy of 1.5 microns, the PLG100 is said to be perfect for measuring....

Voltage reference device.(OTHERS OF NOTE)
August 1, 2005... The REF32xx is a 4 ppm/[degrees]C temperature drift, voltage reference family. The group features high output current of [+ or -]10 mA and is reportedly stable with any capacitive load. Other features include low quiescent current of 100 uA,...

It's a wonder anything ever works: signal integrity would be so much simpler without those pesky interconnects ruining our signals.(NO MYTHS ALLOWED)
August 1, 2005... SIGNAL INTEGRITY RELATES to all the effects that cause signals at the output terminals of drivers to be imperfect when received at the input terminals of receivers. The terminals can be internal gates on the same chip with connections on the...