CircuiTree articles from August 2007

CircuiTree archives from August 2007

Letter to the Editor.(Inbox)
August 1, 2007... As an industry veteran who has supplied the North American PCB industry with capital equipment for the last 30 years, I found much to ponder in Michael Foster's guest editorial. Vendors often react poorly to the competitive bidding process, but...

Wet processing equipment.(Supplier Spotlight News)
August 1, 2007... As the tolerances, features, and types of circuit boards change, wet process equipment manufacturers must adapt their product offerings to enable circuit board manufacturers to produce the latest products. Chemcut, which is currently...

Bloggers throw Microsoft some heat.(The Way We See It)
August 1, 2007... As the home video game wars heat up, Microsoft has found itself having to respond to angry consumers over failures to its Xbox 360s in the market. In reports surfacing the first week of July, Microsoft announced that it would have to extend its...

Flextronics acquires Solectron.(Fab Focus News)
August 1, 2007... Singapore and Milpitas, Calif. -- Flextronics International Ltd. agreed to acquire Solectron Corporation, creating the most diversified and premier global provider of advanced design and vertically integrated EMSs. Worldwide EMS capabilities...

Sanmina-SCI to build in Chennai.(Fab Focus News)
August 1, 2007... San Jose, Calif. -- Sanmina-SCI Corporation signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the government of Tamil Nadu, India, selecting Oragadam, near Chennai, as the location for its first state-of-the-art manufacturing technology campus in...

Aspocomp plans layoffs in Finland.(Fab Focus News)
August 1, 2007... Helsinki, Finland -- Aspocomp Oy and Aspocomp Group Oyj will lay off 237 personnel, including 183 non-salaried and 54 salaried employees. The Salo plant will close and 215 employees will be let go. After the reductions, there will be 291...

Elcoteq publishes corporate responsibility report.(Fab Focus News)
August 1, 2007... Espoo, Finland -- Elcoteq SE's 2006 corporate responsibility report is now available in both English and Finish. The report informs stakeholders about the corporate responsibility principles applied by the company and describes what Elcoteq has...

Eltek wins military/aerospace order.(Fab Focus News)
August 1, 2007... Petach-Tikva, Israel -- Eltek Ltd. received a sizeable order from a major foreign military and aerospace conglomerate to be used in the production of advanced mission critical military equipment. The initial order is for USD 700,000,...

Plexus achieves ISO13485 approval.(Fab Focus News)
August 1, 2007... Livingston, Scotland -- Plexus UK achieved ISO13485 quality approval for medical device design; ISO13485 is the quality management standard based on ISO 9000. The company is now certified to this standard for its design center in Livingston and...

UMC opens R & D center.(Fab Focus News)
August 1, 2007... Hsinchu, Taiwan -- United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) opened a new R & D center, coinciding with the company's 27th anniversary. Located in UMC's Tainan Science Park, the facility will focus on R & D for advanced nanometer technologies...

Solectron expands Shanghai facility.(Fab Focus News)
August 1, 2007... Milpitas, Calif. -- Solectron Corporation will expand its Shanghai product development facility, providing complete product development services and supporting the growing demand for fast, cost-effective product development capabilities. The...

Northrop Grumman closes ITD business.(Fab Focus News)
August 1, 2007... Los Angeles -- Northrop Grumman Corporation is closing its Interconnect Technologies (ITD) business in Springfield, Mo., and exiting the business of manufacturing PCBs for third parties. This and other restructuring result from the company's...

SOMACIS CEO says joint venture another step in globalization.(Fab Focus News)
August 1, 2007... Castelfidardo, Italy -- On May 24, SOMACIS pcb officially opened its DongGuan, China, PCB manufacturing facility, a joint venture with Graphic Plc. During opening ceremonies SOMACIS CEO Giovannit Tridenti indicated this was another step in his...

Sierra Proto acquires Teknicircuits.(Fab Focus News)(Sierra Proto Express)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Sierra Proto Express acquired the assets and book of business of Teknicircuits, Danbury, Conn.; Sierra Proto will handle the fabrication of PCBs for Teknicircuits' customers. According to Sierra Proto president Ken Bahl,...

Mentor acquires Sierra Design.(Supply Line News)
August 1, 2007... Wilsonville, Ore. -- Mentor Graphics Corporation acquired Sierra Design Automation for USD 90 million, payable 50 percent in cash and 50 percent in Mentor common stock. According to Sierra Design president and CEO Pravin Madhani, "Combining...

Rohm and Haas opens South Korea R & D center, invests USD 60 million in lithography system.(Supply Line News)(Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Chonan, Korea -- Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials celebrated the opening of its new five-story Chonan, South Korea, R & D center in May with local customers and government officials attending. As part of the USD 30 million expansion of the...

STABLCOR modifies business strategy, licenses products to CIREP.(Supply Line News)
August 1, 2007... Costa Mesa, Calif. -- STABLCOR Incorporated modified its business strategy regarding product royalties to conform to current industry licensing standards. End-product royalties, which were charged to the fabricator before the product could be...

Artetch installs XACT system.(Supply Line News)(contracts of Artetch Circuits Limited and XACT PCB Limited)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... West Sussex, U.K. -- Artetch Circuits Limited installed the XACT PCB Limited Gemini-X Linear Plus Registration System. According to Martin Morrell, managing director, "The Gemini-X Linear Plus software will enable us to further increase the...

Baker sells wet process tools to Endicott.(Supply Line News)(contracts of Endicott Interconnect Technologies Inc. and M.E. Baker Company)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Framingham, Mass. -- M.E. Baker Company's MEI Division sold multiple wet process tools to Endicott Interconnect Technologies; the develop, etch, and strip tools are designed for processing flexible material in discrete and roll form. Endicott...

ITL selects Shoda scoring system.(Supply Line News)(contracts of ITL Circuits and Shoda Techtron)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Santa Ana, Calif. -- Christopher Associates announced that ITL Circuits purchased and installed a Shoda Techtron (Japan) MVC-630BII Optical V Scoring System; this is ITL's third Shoda scoring tool. The system will handle ITL's more critical...

PCB Libraries to distribute in Italy.(Supply Line News)
August 1, 2007... Des Plaines, Ill. -- PCB Libraries, Inc., will distribute products in Italy with Cadlog S.r.l. Cadlog will provide a marketing channel, customer training, and technical support for the company's product line. PCB Libraries vice president Nick...

Rogers corporation to restructure.(Supply Line News)
August 1, 2007... Rogers Conn. -- Rogers Corporation plans to restructure its Custom Electrical Components reporting segment workforce and reduce other related costs. Program terminations in the portable communications market accelerated at a greater pace than...

Magna selects Koh Young inspection system.(Supply Line News)
August 1, 2007... Santa Ana, Calif. -- Christopher Associates announced that Magna Electronics, Holly, Mich., selected Koh Young 3D solder paste measurement systems for its manufacturing operations in Michigan and Mexico. Magna has 235 production plants on five...

Asia/Pacific manufacturing IT spending to surpass USD 23 billion.(Data Transfer)(information technology)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... According to a report published by Manufacturing Insights--"Asia/Pacific (Excluding Japan) Manufacturing IT Spending 2007-2011 Forecast"--the manufacturing IT spending in the Asia/Pacific region (excluding Japan [APEJ]) is predicted to reach...

Celestica appoints Nicoletti CFO.(Power People News)
August 1, 2007... Toronto -- Celestica, Inc., appointed Paul Nicoletti executive vice president and chief financial officer; Nicoletti has been acting CFO since March when Tony Puppi retired from the position. Nicoletti has been with the company since its...

Elcoteq appoints new VPs, communications director.(Power People News)
August 1, 2007... Espoo, Finland -- Elcoteq appointed two new members to its extended management team (the management conference). Tommi Pettersson was appointed vice president for account management in the communications networks business. He has been with...

Precision PCB appoints operations manager.(Power People News)(appointment of William Sanson at Precision PCB Products )(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Irvine, Calif. -- Precision PCB Products appointed William Sanson to operations manager; he will be based in the new Irvine facility. Sanson brings more than 17 years of operations and leadership experience to this position, including material...

Zuken appoints first westerner to board of directors.(Power People News)
August 1, 2007... Westford, Mass., and Munich -- Zuken Inc. appointed Gerhard Lipski as the first Western member of its board of directors; the appointment recognizes Zuken's growing global importance. Under Lipski's leadership the past three years, the Western...

Cadence adds new technology to Allegro platform.(Technology Today News)
August 1, 2007... San Jose, Calif. -- Cadence Design Systems, Inc., added PCB radio frequency technology and design methodology to the Cadence[R] Allegro[R] PCB Design XL and GXL offerings. The additional capabilities address key challenges customers face when...

Cookson launches new flux selector.(Power People News)
August 1, 2007... Jersey City, N.J. -- Cookson Electronics Assembly Materials launched its new online interactive ALPHA[R] Wave Solder Flux Selector tool, which is designed to assist electronic assemblers in identifying the best ALPHA flux for their application....

Datron introduces machining center.(Power People News)
August 1, 2007... Milford, N.H. -- Datron Dynamics introduced Excelsior Lite[TM], a high-speed, CNC machining center designed for manufacturers that can't afford a system made exclusively for small tooling (1/4 in and under). Datron strategically cuts corners...

CPS releases new composite lids for SiP.(Power People News)
August 1, 2007... Norton, Mass -- CPS Technologies Corporation released new AlSiC metal matrix composite lids for SiP ICs. The new technology combines multiple die with multiple functionalities into a single package, which includes components found on...

Samtec expands libraries and footprint capabilities.(Power People News)
August 1, 2007... New Albany, Ind. -- Samtec, Inc., expanded its line of pre-generated, downloadable PCB CAD footprint files. Samtec's full connector PCB libraries feature a complete part file incorporating footprint, schematic symbol, attributes, pin...

Ansoft reports record revenue.(Financial News)(Financial report)
August 1, 2007... Pittsburgh -- Ansoft Corporation announced record revenue results for Q4 FY 07 at USD 28.6 million, a 16 percent year-over-year increase. Net income was USD 7.9 million, or USD 0.30 per diluted share, compared to GAAP net income of USD 8.3...

Camtek revenues down.(Financial News)(Financial report)
August 1, 2007... Migdal Haemek, Israel -- Camtek Ltd. revenues were down in Q1 FY 07, recording USD 14.5 million, down 41.8 percent from Q1 FY 06 and 31 percent from Q4 FY 06. Gross profit for the Q1 FY 07 was USD 6.0 million, representing a gross margin of...

CTS revenue and earnings up.(Financial News)(Financial report)
August 1, 2007... Elkhart, Ind. -- CTS Corporation reported increased revenues for Q1 FY 07 at USD 163.3 million, up 8 percent over Q1 FY 06. Sales increased 13 percent, and components and sensors segment sales increased 3 percent. Q1 FY 07 earnings of USD 4.0...

Park declares cash dividend.(Financial News)
August 1, 2007... Melville, N.Y. -- Park Electrochemical Corp.'s board of directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of USD 0.08 per share. The dividend is payable August 8 to stockholders of record at the close of business on July 6.

Eltek records 11th consecutive quarter of growth.(Financial News)
August 1, 2007... Petach-Tikva, Israel -- Eltek Ltd. recorded its 11th consecutive quarter of year-over-year revenue growth for Q1 FY 07, as well as its 10th straight quarter of profitability. Revenues increased 10.1 percent to USD 10.2 million and Eltek had a...

Jabil reports 2006 and 2007 financial results.(Financial News)(Financial report)
August 1, 2007... St. Petersburg, Fla. -- For FY 06, Jabil Circuit, Inc., reported a net revenue increase of 36 percent at USD 10.3 billion, up from USD 7.5 billion for FY 05. On a GAAP basis, operating income for FY 06 decreased 4 percent to USD 241.8 million,...

Mentor reports revenue increase.(Financial News)(Financial report)
August 1, 2007... Wilsonville, Ore. -- Mentor Graphics Corporation announced Q1 revenue of USD 190.5 million, an 8 percent year-over-year increase. On a GAAP basis, diluted earnings per share were breakeven. Earnings per share were USD 0.12 on a non-GAAP basis,...

Rohm and Haas plans sustainability improvements.(Financial News)
August 1, 2007... Philadelphia -- Rohm and Haas Company allocated USD 150 million, nearly half of its R & D budget, to sustainability efforts such as new product development, energy efficiency, and process improvements. New products are intended to help...

Titan reports record numbers for May.(Financial News)
August 1, 2007... Richardson, Tex. -- Titan Global Holdings' electronics and homeland security division shipped and booked a record USD 2.2 million and 2.6 million, respectively, for May. Titan's PCB divisions continue to sign new customers, and for the quarter...

Hon Hai announces sales for May.(Financial News)(Financial report)
August 1, 2007... Taiwan -- Hon Hai reported a 47 percent year-over-year sales increase for May at NDT 85.14 billion. Accumulated sales for the first five months of 2007 were a year-over-year increase of 41.47 percent at NTD 416.56 billion.

Global Innovation announces three- and nine-month results.(Financial News)(Financial report)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Wylie, Tex. -- For the three months ended April 2007, Global Innovation Corp. recorded a 14.2 percent revenue decrease, from USD 8,880,509 to USD 7,619,536; for the nine months ended April 2007, the company recorded a 3.4 percent decrease, from...

Measuring spindle runout on CNC drilling and routing machines.(computerised numerically controlled machines)
August 1, 2007... Spindle runout problems can be your hidden quality issues, registration problems, and the cause of excessively high scrap rates in building reliable PCBs. The simple definition of spindle radial runout is how much wobble a spindle produces...

The straight truth about bend ratios.(Ask the Flexperts)(Interview)
August 1, 2007... Ask the Flexperts is a new CircuiTree column where you can present your most controversial questions on flex circuit technology to Joe Fjelstad, Mark Finstad, and Mark Verbrugge, flex designers with a combined 80 years of experience. Have a...

Save the whales! Save the planet! Save the U.S. PWB industry!(Fein-Lines)
August 1, 2007... Is HDI the answer? What is the answer? Does anyone really care? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In June, the annual rite of spring for the PWB industry, namely, the JPCA Show, took place. When I first attended JPCA so many years ago, it was a...

Endicott releases HPC-Z interconnect solution.(Data Transfer)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Having to drill plated through-holes (PTH) to make signal connections within PCBs may become a thing of the past. Endicott Interconnect Technologies released HPC-Z interconnections, which provide signal connections only where desired, with...

Using physics of failure to identify root cause of printed board failure.(Cover story)
August 1, 2007... Traditional failure analysis of printed circuit boards (PCBs) has historically involved the slice and dice approach: Based on some combination of external techniques, such as electrical testing, visual inspection, and X-ray analysis,...

Growth expected for silver ink market.(Data Transfer)
August 1, 2007... The market for silver conductive inks is predicted to reach USD 1.2 billion by 2014, compared with USD 176 million currently, according to a report from NanoMarkets. Nanoparticulate silver inks will likely lower the costs of printed electronics...

Inspiring evolution.(Flexible Thinking)(Column)
August 1, 2007... Change will likely always be a key watchword in electronics technology, if for no other reason than the fact that the industry is continuously being pressed to develop newer and better products with more functions and at lower costs. One might...

It's time to end class discrimination.(From the Lab)
August 1, 2007... Discrimination is a hot topic everywhere in the world. It is even present in the electronics industry. It's time to get involved and stamp it out. Open up almost any industry performance document and you will find requirements based upon...

The need for predictive engineering--its time has come!(Happy Thoughts)(Column)
August 1, 2007... Introduction I mentioned in prior columns that Richard Snogren, Rick Hartley, and I all work with IPC and the Crane Naval Weapons Center to teach a hands-on embedded passive (EP) course that includes building the EP board. We have now...

Free problem solving book available.(Data Transfer)
August 1, 2007... The Day Niagara Falls Turned Green by Dr. Ken Gilleo is now available for free download at http://et-trends.com/case_studies/case_studies.html. The 157-page book contains 101 case histories, all true, from around the world. Most of the...

Troubleshooting PCBs series: hole wall pullaway.(Printed Circuit Board)
August 1, 2007... One of the most aggravating problems associated with the metallization process (in addition to voids) is the issue of hole wall pullaway (HWPA). Simply stated, HWPA is an area or areas within the PTH exhibiting a lack of adhesion of the...

Lean sigma Part VI.(View From the Middle)
August 1, 2007... "We view errors as opportunities for learning. Rather than blaming individuals, the organization takes corrective actions and distributes knowledge about each experience broadly." --The Toyota Way document 2001, Toyota Motor Corporation...

Fine lines in high yield (Part CXLIIl): hot roll lamination--heat input and temperature control.(Tech Talk)
August 1, 2007... In hot roll lamination, heat is applied to the rolls and transferred through the polyester film coversheet and the resist to the resist/copper interface to achieve good resist-to-copper conformation and adhesion. (1,2) The rolls are heated by a...

A turn for the better ... second half 2007 growth prospects improve.(Market Outlook)(semiconductor industry growth)
August 1, 2007... After bottoming in April, the global electronics "food chain" appears to be headed to a mild second half 2007 recovery. In the U.S., ISM's June "Purchasing Managers' Index" continued to grow from its March low (Chart 1) and U.S. electronic...

Viasystems facility first to receive accreditation in China.(Data Transfer)
August 1, 2007... Viasystems, Inc., received ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accreditation at its PCB facility in Guangzhou, China; the facility is the first to receive this accreditation in China. The accreditation certificate is "General Requirements for the Competence of...

Tyco Electronics Separates from Tyco International.(Data Transfer)
August 1, 2007... Tyco Electronics Ltd. became an independent, publicly traded company, splitting from Tyco International. According to Tyco Electronics' CEO Tom Lynch, "This is an exciting time for our nearly 100,000 Tyco Electronics employees around the world....

IPC releases May industry results.(Data Transfer)(North American printed circuit board shipment statistics)(Brief article)(Statistical data)
August 1, 2007... IPC released the May results from its monthly North American Printed Circuit Board Statistical Program, showing a 14.8 percent decrease in rigid PCB shipments and a 12.2 percent decrease in bookings over May 2006. Compared to April 2007,...

Events.(Calendar)
August 1, 2007... CircuiTree LIVE India August 22-23, 2007 Bangalore,India www.circuitreelive.com IPCAExpo August 22-24, 2007 KTPO Trade Center Bangalore, India www.ipcaindia.org IPC Midwest Conference and Exhibition ...

Index of services.(Buyers Guide 2007-2008)(Directory)
August 1, 2007... The CircuiTree 2007/2008 Buyer's Guide is the one resource to keep on your desk this year when looking for products and services for your business. Go to p. 82 for contact information for these companies. For up-to-date listings, go to...

Contact information.(Buyers Guide 2007-2008)(Directory)
August 1, 2007... The Contact section provides company contact listings. Every supplier gets a free basic listing that details company name, contact information, and business status. Bolded listings with 30-word descriptions and listings with logos go to...