CircuiTree articles from April 2004

CircuiTree archives from April 2004

What is a 'protectionist'?(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2004... In a recent column by Mr. Dan Feinberg ["Fein-Lines," February 2004, page 20], he referred to the USPCA as a protectionist organization. I am not sure if I disagree with Dan because I am not sure of his use of the word "protectionist." If...

For most OEMs, it's price, then quality.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2004... I read Mike Freda's letter with interest [March, page 3, Letters: 'Before Bashing Asia or OEMs, Look in the Mirror'] and agree with some of his points. However, when I reiterate Andy Grove's words, I am only repeating Intel's own philosophy,...

Clarification.(Correction Notice)
April 1, 2004... In February, we published a letter written by John Ling critical of IPC's international activities ["With Friends Like IPC, Who Needs Enemies?" page 3]. Ling is also the editor of EIPC's SpeedNews.

Value selling.(Columns)
April 1, 2004... I don't believe PCB companies adequately understand the evolving industry structure and its impact on their survival, let alone prospects for growth. Each month CircuiTree offers our readers articles and columns found exclusively on our...

Exiting gracefully.(Columns)
April 1, 2004... Why outside investments are so important: because the ability for the exiting owner to generate income from other investments relieves much of the pressure and expands the options for the family to keep the business and be successful.

The 'Three Rs' of PWB manufacturing.(Articles)(printed wiring boards)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... As PWB designs continue to keep pace with the electronics market demand for smaller, faster, more complex and higher reliability products, our "Three Rs" have become a prerequisite to cost- and quality-effective PWB manufacturing--Resolution,...

DesignCon 2004.(Articles)
April 1, 2004... A review of the exhibition and technical conference.

Uyemura International hosts successful technical seminar.(Web Spotlight)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Uyemura International Corp. (UIC) was pleased with the turnout for its December technical seminar in Toronto. On behalf of EMX (Richmond Hill, Ontario), its long-time reps in this important market, a full-day seminar covering the technical...

Living in an (Electronic) Materials world.(TheWayWeSeeIt)
April 1, 2004... In late February, the consensus among PWB manufacturers and their suppliers clearly indicated the electronics market is stabilizing. Simply put, we can all breathe again. The most recent figures available before going to press in March revealed...

Thailand: a growing power; Move over Singapore. In terms of volume. Thailand's printed circuit industry is becoming the most important PWB producing country in South East Asia.(printed wiring board)
April 1, 2004... When this author visited Thailand for the first time about fifteen years ago, its infrastructure was terrible. It could take hours to make a simple telephone call. In fact, many firms employed so-called "dialers" whose sole function was to keep...

Licensed to innovate.(Fein-Lines, printed wiring board industry)
April 1, 2004... As many of you know, I am usually a strong proponent of "Do It Yourself" (DIY). From a political standpoint I urge friends and colleagues to take action, to take part in the political process themselves. In other areas I practice DIY. For...

Christopher Group.(People)(appointed William J. Boyle to its technical staff)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Santa Ana, CA -- The Christopher Group (Santa Ana, CA) added William J. Boyle to its technical staff. Boyle, a graduate of The Catholic University of America in electrical engineering, was most recently employed as an applications engineer...

Data Circuit Systems.(People)(hired Steve Smith )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... San Jose, CA -- Data Circuit Systems hired Steve Smith to its manufacturing and engineering team. Steve's career in printed circuit fabrication spans over 30 years and includes engineering and operational management responsibilities. He made...

Aspocomp Group.(People)(appointed Maija-Liisa Friman as president and CEO)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Aspocomp Group Oyj announced that it appointed Maija-Liisa Friman the new president and CEO. Friman will take on her new role by May 1, 2004. Until then, the duties of CEO will be performed by Pertti Vuorinen, CFO and Deputy CEO of Aspocomp.

DownStream Technologies.(People)(appointed Kenneth Tepper as Principal)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Bolton, MA -- DownStream Technologies LLC appointed Kenneth Tepper as Principal. Tepper's responsibilities will include overseeing DownStream's R & D and manufacturing organizations, as well some additional day-to-day operations. Prior to...

Enthone PWB Chemistry.(People)(Enthone Inc. appointed Mark A. Dingley )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... West Haven, CT -- Enthone Inc. appointed Mark A. Dingley Vice President and General Manager, Enthone[R] PWB Chemistry. In his new role, Dingley will have profit and loss responsibilities for the global PWB chemistry business. He will be...

DEK.(People)
April 1, 2004... San Jose, CA -- DEK announced representative changes in the Pacific Northwest and Southern California regions. DEK's offerings have expanded over the last two years and this growth has resulted in the need for a change in representation in a...

Executive explanations: Bob Ferguson.(Shipley Company changed its name to Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials)(Interview)
April 1, 2004... In February, Shipley Company changed its name to Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials. Led by General Manager of North America's PWB Operations Bob Ferguson, the PWB business also assumed a new name: Circuit Board Technologies. CircuiTree caught...

Polyclad enters into exclusive sales agreement with LG Chem.(Cookson Electronics Ltd.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Franklin, NH -- Cookson Electronics Ltd. (Hong Kong) announced an exclusive sales agreement with LG Chem, Ltd. (Seoul, Korea). Under terms of the agreement, LG Chem will gain the rights to distribute and sell Polyclad[R] laminate, prepreg and...

Keeping warm in Maine.(EnvironmentallySpeaking)(proposed bill against brominated flame-retardants usage)
April 1, 2004... While we should have faith in our elected officials, sometimes it seems like they have tossed all common sense out the window. Such is the case with a recently proposed bill in Maine, SD 1790, "An Act To Reduce Contamination of Breast Milk and...

Automatic markers linked to electrical test: what's wrong with this picture?(circuit boards testing)
April 1, 2004... Why do we meticulously monitor every aspect of manufacturing in the PCB industry, but when it comes to the final step to indicate whether or not the board has passed electrical test, we "rubber stamp" it by hand, hoping that it got sorted into...

Fine lines in high yield (Part CIII): power & circuitry on one metal layer (Part A).(TechTalk)(electronics)
April 1, 2004... To reduce layer count and cost as well as for improved electrical performance, designers and fabricators have looked for ways to put power (high current capacity grids or tracks) on the same metal layer as control (logic) circuits (and ground...

Winter conference: the smiles are back; Think the downturn stopped technological innovation? Think again. Europe's PCB community gathered in Cannes to discuss the latest solutions in HDI, imaging, laminates, and final finishes.(printed circuit boards, high definition interconnection)
April 1, 2004... In high season, Cannes is the glamorous South-of-France holiday playground of the rich and famous. In mid-February 2004, it was characterized by a few elderly residents, swathed in many layers of warm clothing, exercising their poodles on the...

The USPCA wants you!(USPCA)(United States Printed Circuit Alliance)
April 1, 2004... There is strength and benefit in numbers. America's competitors from Japan, Taiwan, India, Europe, Hong Kong and China believe this strongly, and each has a dedicated and independent printed circuit association representing their best...

Wise Software Solutions announces next generation in software maintenance.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Newberg, OR -- Wise Software Solutions Inc., a provider of PC-based CAM software and services, announced the next generation in software maintenance by introducing on-line training via WebEx. While on-line training is not something new to the...

A century of columns.(FlexibleThinking)(flexible circuits)(Column)
April 1, 2004... No, not one hundred years of columns, but hard as it is to believe, according to the records, this is the 100th "Flexible Thinking" column. Eight years and four months (and perhaps 75,000 or so words later) this humble missive has crossed a...

Advanced West celebrates 'sweet 16'.(Suppliers)(sixteenth anniversary )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... On Feb. 28, 2004, Advanced West Inc. celebrated its sixteenth anniversary as a supplier of rebuilt machines to the printed circuit board industry. According to president Brain Solo, the company's "success may be attributed to trying to maintain...

TKK, Enthone strengthen EEJA precious metal plating process business.(Suppliers)(Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K. (TKK) and Enthone Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Tokyo -- Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K. (TKK) and Enthone Inc. (Enthone) strengthened their precious metal plating process business throughout Asia. The agreement includes strengthening their customer driven partnerships in Korea, Taiwan, China,...

Atotech inaugurates Taiwan Technology Center.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Taipei -- Atotech inaugurated an Advanced Technology Center at the company's plant complex in the Kuangin Industry Zone in northern Taiwan's Taoyuan County. The company currently operates R & D centers in Germany, the U.S. and Japan. The...

Taconic's Irish plant upgrades to ISO 9001:2000 certification.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Mullingar, Ireland -- Taconic International Ltd. received certification of its quality management system to the ISO 9001:2000 quality standard. The certification was received following an independent review of Taconic's quality management...

Camtek receives order for multiple Pegasus, AOI systems.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Israel -- Camtek Ltd. received an order for multiple Pegasus systems from a Taiwanese-based global provider of semiconductor manufacturing services. The order, valued at approximately $2.2 million, followed an extensive evaluation against...

Gould Electronics hikes prices.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Eastlake, OH -- Gould Electronics said it is increasing prices on all of its copper foil products. "These double digit increases are necessary to offset higher raw material and energy costs. Over the last six months, copper metal has increased...

Seica looks to the West.(Suppliers)(opened a sales and support office in Santa Clara)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Methuen, MA -- SEICA Inc. opened a sales and support office in Santa Clara, Calif. Having set up an office near Boston in 2003 to serve North America's East coast, the new West coast office will provide local support for new and existing...

GSI Lumonics launches new web site.(Suppliers)(www.gsilumonics.com)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Billerica, MA -- GSI Lumonics Inc. launched its improved Web site, www.gsilumonics.com. Organized around the company's core product offerings--components, lasers, and laser-based advanced manufacturing systems--the redesigned site offers...

Merix gets Orbotech's VIP treatment.(Suppliers)(for Spiron-8800 VIP[TM] AOI systems)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Yavne, Israel -- Orbotech Ltd. received a major order from Merix Corp. for Spiron-8800 VIP[TM] AOI systems used in the manufacturer's expanded, multi-plant PCB operation in Oregon. With this order, Merix will have the largest installed base of...

Park Electrochemical pulls plug on Dielektra.(Suppliers)(ending its financial support of Dielektra GmbH)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Lake Success, NY -- Park Electrochemical Corp. is ending its financial support of Dielektra GmbH, Park's wholly owned subsidiary (Cologne, Germany), which supplies electronic materials to European PCB manufacturers. Park believes it will not be...

Viking Test Services posts more orders.(Suppliers)(from Garner Osborne Circuits and Cambridge Circuits)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Viking Test Services announced that Garner Osborne Circuits (Newbury, UK) ordered its second high speed Emma test system. In other news, Leicester Circuits UK Ltd. ordered an MJL7161D direct legend printer. This will be the first installation...

Highly Accelerated Thermal Shock (HATS).(BetweentheConductors)
April 1, 2004... Over the past 30 years, the printed circuit manufacturing business has undergone a transition from predominately captive facilities owned by large vertically integrated corporations to independent fabricators that served the commodity market....

Commercial applications for digital printing technologies on PCBS.(Printed Circuit Boards)
April 1, 2004... The PCB industry is gearing up for the digital printing age. While photoimaging and screen-printing are established techniques, their high tooling costs and time-consuming procedures have some fabricators looking for alternatives. The article...

Six principles of automation.(HappyThoughts, printed circuit boards)
April 1, 2004... We hear a lot about outsourcing to less developed nations because of their lower labor costs, but we can compete! The science of automation is one of those emerging technologies that can make us more competitive. However, the benefits will be...

DDi unveils SMV[TM] Technology.(Products)(Dynamic Details Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Anaheim, CA -- DDi Corp. unveiled Stacked MicroVia (SMV[TM]) Technology, a technology that reduces layer count and improves performance of PCBs currently using standard and fine pitch (compact) devices. SMV Technology can be utilized for...

Purex announces the Labyrinth.(Products)
April 1, 2004... Purex announced it has patented the Labyrinth, a filtration system designed to protect against hazardous dust and fume generated from some lasers used in the manufacture or marking of boards. According to Purex, the new filtration system...

Park Electrochemical releases N4000-12 enhanced epoxy materials system.(Products)
April 1, 2004... Lake Success, NY -- Park Electrochemical Corp. introduced its new N4000-12 enhanced epoxy dielectric substrate materials. The N4000-12 series of laminate and prepreg materials were introduced to support high speed digital and RF applications in...

Christopher Group announces new verification repair station and upgrades.(Products)
April 1, 2004... Santa Ana, CA -- Christopher Group Inc. introduced the Univer universal verification/repair station. Compatible with virtually all electrical test systems, it offers a large field of view and uses the patented CAR 800 software, which includes...

Rogers features R/flex[R] 3000 LCP materials.(Products)
April 1, 2004... Rogers, CT -- Rogers Corp. featured its new product for the R/flex[R] 3000 family of Liquid Crystalline Polymer (LCP)-based circuit materials at this year's IPC Expo. Complementing the R/flex 3600 LCP, single-clad laminate introduced last year,...

'Tornado' causes stir at CPCA show.(Products)
April 1, 2004... Westwind Air Bearings Ltd. unveiled the revolutionary 'Tornado' spindle during the CPCA Show 2004. The Tornado 160,000 rpm PCB drilling spindle is the next generation in the leading D1722 series, combining advances in technology and operation...

Glenbrook introduces Dual-VU[TM] integrated inspection system.(Products)
April 1, 2004... Randolph, NJ -- With its redesigned x-ray and optical systems that provide identical zoom magnifications for both x-ray and vision images, Glenbrook Technologies' Dual-VU[TM] is the world's first integrated inspection system to offer congruent...

LPKF creates stencil cutter for under $240K.(Products)
April 1, 2004... Wilsonville, OR -- LPKF Laser & Electronics released the SL740 SMT Stencil Laser Cutter, for under $240K. This system is designed for low- and medium-volume stencil production, cutting up to 3,000 apertures per hour. The SL740 uses the same...

Mentor provides Intel with DCL kits.(Products)
April 1, 2004... Wilsonville, OR -- Mentor Graphics Corp. provided Intel Corp. with drop-in core layout (DCL) kits for use with the Mentor Graphics Expedition PCB design flow for Intel's next-generation chipset, codenamed Grantsdale. The DCL kit, available...

Douthitt shows off DMZ Screenmaker.(Products)
April 1, 2004... Douthitt introduced the ergonomical, self-contained Model DMZ Screenmaker. Simply load at the convenient loading position and close the frame. No locks, no waiting, and no tilting. The vacuum and exposure is automatically activated. Besides...

New PCB stack-up design and documentation system.(Products)(Polar Instruments )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Waterlooville, UK -- Polar Instruments launched its new SB200a PCB stack-up design and documentation system at IPC Expo 2004. According to the company, the SB200a provides an "affordable industry standard, easy to use tool for professional...

Onward and upward (with a few hiccups).(MarketOutlook - electronic products)
April 1, 2004... After a November/December plunge U.S. electronic equipment orders recovered part way in January (Chart 1). Communications equipment was the culprit for both the plunge and hero for the rebound. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Using electronic...

The show must go on: IPC Expo reveals industry optimism; Over 500 exhibitors turned out in Anaheim to experience more tangible signs of an industry-wide recovery.
April 1, 2004... Anaheim, CA -- If trade show attendance and activity is an indicator of the industry's health, North America's PWB industry can be likened to a man awakening from a three-year coma. IPC Printed Circuits Expo 2004, co-located this year with...

Advanced circuits plan 'make tracks' at design show.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Anaheim, CA -- Advanced Circuits showcased its FreeDFM[TM] engineering service at the IPC/APEX Conference and Designers Summit. FreeDFM[TM] is a free Web-based design-for-manufacturability review service. The service speeds up the design...

Circuitronics LLC selected as multilayer PCB supplier by Johnson Controls.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Wheaton, IL -- Circuitronics LLC (Wheaton, IL) was awarded the supplier of all multilayer PCBs for Johnson Controls (Milwaukee, WI). Circuitronics LLC has received this prestigious honor after a year-long evaluation of over 30 suppliers.

Northrop Grumman gives Cirtech Gold Award.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Northrop Grumman, Space Technology Division presented Cirtech with the prestigious Gold Award at its Supplier's Recognition Day, January 21, 2004. Northrop has over 14,000 suppliers and they invited 80 to this award ceremony. Cirtech is the...

Graphic research helps NASA go to Mars.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... With the successful implementation of NASA's "Spirit" and "Opportunity" Mars missions, Graphic Research announced that it fabricated three rigid flex PWBs instrumental for the Rover's gyro-navigational system, controlling movement of the...

Goldline prepares for business.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Goldline Inc. completed a newly formed manufacturing facility located in Santa Ana, Calif. President Peter Tremble came out of retirement to form the new business, purchasing the assets of the former Marseco Inc. Goldline Inc. said it will...

Dynaco successfully completes ISO audit.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Dynaco Corp (Tempe, AZ), a fabricator of flex, rigid flex and rigid PCBs, has been audited by Perry Johnson Registrars, Inc. and is in conformance to ISO 9001:2000.

GSPK wins Tyco contract.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... GSPK Electronics Ltd. secured a new contract with Tyco Electronics, previously Pinacl Communication Systems Ltd. GSPK Electronics began populating and assembling PCBs for Tyco Electronics five years ago, providing PCB assembly for twelve other...

Compeq to pursue low-tier PWB market.(Fabrication)
April 1, 2004... Taipei, Taiwan -- Compeq Manufacturing Co. Ltd., one of Taiwan's biggest manufacturers of PWBs, announced it would make a major operating adjustment to tap the lucrative low-tier PCB market. To that end, Compeq will form a strategic alliance...

Events.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
April 1, 2004... April 20-21, 2004 IPC/FED 1st International Conference on Embedded Passives Munich, Germany Email: EPGermany@ipc.org or AlexandraCurtis@ipc.org April 27-29, 2004 KPCA Show 2004 COEX (Convention & Exhibition) ...