CircuiTree articles from December 2004

CircuiTree archives from December 2004

Fein point: protectionism doesn't work.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2004... Ray Rasmussen's letter last month was a very well thought out and well written response ["An Open Letter to the Dans," CircuiTree 'Letters to the Editor,' November 2004]. I have received many responses to my recent column (Sept. 2004). I...

BPA report on electrical and optical backplanes.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... BPA Consulting Ltd. has released a new report on electrical and optical backplanes. Over 85% of backplanes are proprietary in design and in the report, BPA reviews and analyses the impact of new industry design standards such as the Advanced...

Can miracles happen?(TheWayWeSeeIt; printed circuit board industry)(Cover Story)
December 1, 2004... I often think it might take a small miracle to inspire fabricators into acting on their own behalf. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Our cover story this month is an insightful examination on the impact of Chinese manufacturing on U.S. PCB...

Automated quality control of drilling and routing: more than just 'nice to have'; As the diameters of feed-through drillings get smaller, and as the routing contours get more complex, here's one way PCB manufacturers can drive down scrap rates.(printed circuit boards)
December 1, 2004... Quality control has always been a key factor in the manufacturing of high-quality circuit boards. From conventional AOI systems that verify the correct assembly of required components to self-designed electrical stress-tests: Decisive...

Flextronics gets EU approval to buy Nortel factories in Europe.(Board Buyers)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Milpitas, CA -- Flextronics International Ltd. received European Union antitrust approval to buy factories from Nortel Networks Corp. for as much as $725 million. Nortel, North America's biggest phone-gear maker, will sell the last of its...

Sanmina-SCI, Renal Solutions ink deal.(Board Buyers)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... San Jose, CA -- Sanmina-SCI and Renal Solutions, Inc., a medical device and healthcare service company, announced that Sanmina-SCI's Medical Division will manufacture the Allient[R] Sorbent Hemodialysis System. Its FDA-registered manufacturing...

Cisco invests in Asia, anticipating growth market.(Board Buyers)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... San Jose, CA -- Cisco is targeting the networking growth market of Asia with significant investments, including $32 million over the next five years for a Chinese research center located in Shanghai, the launch of a venture capital firm in...

LG Electronics invests heavily in India.(Board Buyers)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... LG Electronics will invest heavily in the emerging market of India to boost total sales to $10 billion by 2010. As part of this plan, the company dedicated the second plant in Pune, southwest India, in the presence of LG chairman Koo Bon-moo....

Using flexible circuits to break the 10Gbps barrier.(FlexibleThinking)
December 1, 2004... Much effort has been put into the development of advanced backplanes for meeting never-ending requirements for greater bandwidth to handle the explosive demand for increased data transfer and higher content telecommunications. Along with this...

Fine Lines in High Yields (Part CXI): dry stripping of photoresist.(TechTalk)
December 1, 2004... Years ago we worked on a somewhat esoteric program that involved dry stripping of exposed dry film photoresist. Although this particular program never became a commercial reality, and would not look good on my resume, there are quite a few...

The challenges of AOI inspection of IC substrates and fine-line PCBs: what's the difference between AOI for the mainstream and fine-line markets? A discussion of why AOI machines for fine-line PCBs must be system engineered especially for this rapidly changing market.(Automatic optical inspection; printed circuit boards)
December 1, 2004... One simply needs to open one's mobile telephone to witness the impact of that industry on semiconductor package types. In all likelihood, inside that phone, one will find between three to five different types of IC substrate packages. And the...

Fair trade? Yes, but not protectionism.(Fein-Lines)
December 1, 2004... In October, I defended free trade during a "point-counterpoint" discussion at the TMRC meeting in Scottsdale. I made the point that free trade and fair trade are actually different sides of the same coin. This position is nothing new. However,...

Trading with China: fair and balanced?(Cover Story)
December 1, 2004... China's electronics industry is quickly becoming a dominant player due to government subsidies, currency manipulation, and a short-sighted Western business culture. What North America and Europe must do to survive China's new role as an...

Merix posts $2 million net loss in first quarter.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Forest Grove, OR -- Merix Corp. announced results for the first quarter of fiscal 2005 ended August 28, 2004. Sales for the quarter increased 37% to $42.1 million compared to $30.7 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2004. However, the...

Lenthor Engineering enters MIL spec market.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Milpitas, CA -- Lenthor Engineering was approved by DSCC for fabrication of DoD related rigid-flex and flex PCBs falling under the guidelines and requirements of MIL-PRF 50884.

Circatex continues ISO/TS16949 accreditation.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... South Shields, UK -- Circatex announced that it passed its latest audit, and will continue ISO/TS16949 compliance.

Graphic PIc receives Business Challenge 2004 Award.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Graphic PIc received the 2004 Business Challenge Award for "Overall Business Excellence." This is the second consecutive time the company has won this accolade which is sponsored bi-annually by Lloyds Corporate, SWEB Energy, KPMG, Bond Pearce,...

DDi woes continue.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Anaheim, CA -- DDi Corp. transferred "a portion" of its customer orders from its Milpitas manufacturing facility to facilities in Toronto and Virginia which have lower production costs. As a result, DDi laid off 175 employees from its Milpitas...

One Way buys Circast Electronics.(Fabrication)(One Way Circuits (Norfolk, UK))(Circast Electronics (Warwickshire, UK))(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... One Way Circuits (Norfolk, UK) acquired Circast Electronics (Warwickshire, UK). The combined expertise of the two businesses will be a springboard to establish the new company as a dominant force, not only in the UK, but globally, says Managing...

Electropac gets Mil-Spec certification.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Manchester, NH -- Electropac Co. received Military Specification MIL-PRF-55110F certification and will now be listed on Defense Supply Center's Qualified Products List.

AT & S Shanghai continues to grow.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Shanghai -- AT & S installed its third and fourth production lines at its plant in Shanghai. These two lines began volume production in October. AT & S has built four production lines in China since the beginning of 2003. The company is also...

Hallmark Circuits gets InPlan[TM] software.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Orbotech announced the successful, operation-wide installation of InPlan[TM] automated manufacturing process planning software at Hallmark Circuits.

PPC announces job cuts.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Swiss PCB maker PPC Electronic laid off 50 of its 270 employees at the end of September 2004. The job cuts affected primarily employees from the company's production department.

A family business turns 20.(Viking Test Services)
December 1, 2004... Viking Test Services frequently makes news as the UK-based supplier of MicroCraft flying probe testers. CircuiTree visited Viking's Petersfield head-quarters to learn a little of the history of a very English family business. This year, the...

Are you cross-training your employees?
December 1, 2004... For those of us who have been around since the 1970s, "cross-training" was a very common way to improve the capabilities of employees--from hourly operators up through the president of the company. In the latter case, we probably called it "on...

Conductive Anodic Filament (CAF): the threat to miniaturization of the electronics industry; The continuing miniaturization process in the electronics industry is threatened by CAF. We need to address the CAF issue collectively as an industry since CAF often results from process and material interactions.
December 1, 2004... History of CAF Inner-laminate electromigration has been a part of the PCB industry since the invention of PCBs. Bell Labs first identified it in 1976. In the 70s and 80s there was little concern about CAF since feature sizes along with via...

Make no little plans.(IPCIssuesandAnswers IPC Association Connectiong Electronics Industries)
December 1, 2004... "Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood... make big plans, aim high in hope and work." This quotation, made more than a century ago, is from Chicago's Daniel Burnham. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Burnham, an architect...

W.L. Gore shows new UHD system at electronica.(Products)(Ultra High Density)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Elkton, MD -- During electronica, W.L Gore & Associates Inc. showcased its new UHD (Ultra High Density) interconnect system for increased packaging density at high data rates (up to 15 GHz) for test head, probe card and other high data rate...

DownStream Technologies begins shipping CAM350 Release 8.6.(Products)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Bolton, MA -- DownStream Technologies LLC begun shipments of CAM350 Release 8.6 to their 3500 installed users under current maintenance contracts. This release raises the bar in the mainstream market by providing unprecedented integration...

Solder Coat reveals new lead-free solder paste.(Products)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Nagoya, Japan -- Solder Coat Co. Ltd. introduced its latest lead-free solder paste in North America and Europe. GTS series is a lead-free solder paste which, for the first time in solder paste history, can withstand a high preheat temperature...

Rogers showcases RO4000[R] laminates and R/flex[R] flex materials.(Products)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Rogers, CT -- Rogers featured its R/flex Crystal[R] polyimide laminates, RO4350i[TM] laminates, and RO4450B[TM] prepreg at this year's TPCA Show. R/flex Crystal[R] flexible circuit materials with a transparent epoxy-based adhesive system...

Orbotech develops Push-to-Scan[TM] AOI technology.(Products)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Yavne, Israel -- Orbotech Ltd. introduced its Push-to-Scan[TM] technology, the "easiest, most user-friendly technology" for use in AOI systems. With Push-to-Scan, even the most complicated AOI tasks are made easy, according to Orbotech. Users...

Polar Instruments launches new stack-up viewer.(Products)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Waterlooville, UK -- Polar Instruments launched a new stack-up viewer to accompany the SB200a Professional PCB layer stackup design and documentation system. Layer stackup is core to quality PCB fabrication, and the Professional SB200a...

PlatingScience is born.(Products)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Netherlands -- Ronald van't Wout Hofland announced that he has formed his own company, PlatingScience, an independent consultant for advanced plating technology, training and seminars. It offers services such as pulse reverse plating training,...

Cemco FSL develops integrated dual sump HASL system.(Products)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Hampshire, UK -- Cemco FSL developed the first fully integrated dual sump "Quicksilver" HASL system for users wishing to provide SnPb and/or Lead Free solder finishes. Unlike other systems that require the sump to be removed and replaced with...

Wise Software announces GerbTool[TM] version 14.0.(Products)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Newberg, OR -- Wise Software announced GerbTool[TM] version 14.0, with new features including fully revised support of NC drilling & milling, and enhanced netlisting support that streamlines the comparison process of Gerber-to-D356. The...

Westwind Air Bearings at TPCA 2004.(Products)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Westwind Air Bearings exhibited its collection of air bearing spindles, including the 'Tornado' 160,000 rpm spindle and 'D1733' 250,000 rpm spindle at TPCA in Taiwan. The Tornado PCB drilling spindle is the next generation in the D1722 series,...

Name change unites Union Tool's US subsidiary.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Tokyo -- Union Tool Company (Tokyo) announced that from the 1st October 2004 its US subsidiary will take the new name of US Union Tool Inc. Union Tool is a maker of drills, routers and carbide cutting tools for the PCB industry, and through its...

Dow Chemicals hikes epoxy resin prices again.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Midland, MI -- Epoxy Products and Intermediates (EP & I) of the Dow Chemical Company increased its prices for epoxy resins in North America. The increases are in addition to those previously announced in September.

DuPont, Samsung team up on flex.(Suppliers)(DuPont Electronic Technologies and Cheil Industries Inc. ventured to form SD Flex Company, LLC.)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Wilmington, DE -- DuPont Electronic Technologies and Cheil Industries Inc., part of the Samsung Group, have signed a 50/50 joint venture agreement to establish SD Flex Company, LLC. SD Flex Company will manufacture DuPont[TM] Pyralux[R]...

Aculight named in Deloitte's 'fast 50'.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Bothell, WA -- Aculight Corp. was named to Deloitte's prestigious Technology Fast 50 Program for Washington State, a ranking of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in the area by Deloitte & Touche LLP, one of the nation's leading...

Invotec Circuits takes delivery of second Piergiacomi AMM10.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Invotec Circuits Blackburn installed another Piergiacomi AMM10 innnerlayer registration and welder system. The welding method can significantly improve multilayer registration to levels of accuracy and repeatability once difficult to maintain...

DuPont PCM Europe announces changes.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Research Triangle Park, NC -- DuPont PCM Europe announced that it outsourced its finishing operations to Wrapid Manufacturing Ltd. in England. In addition, it relocated its customer service operation to Luxembourg. Finally, at EPC2004 DuPont...

Intelicoat awarded ISO 14001 certification.(Suppliers)
December 1, 2004... South Hadley, MA -- InteliCoat Technologies earned certification to the ISO 14001:1996 environmental management system standards for its facility in South Hadley, Massachusetts.

PPG expands JV fiber glass plant in China.(Suppliers)
December 1, 2004... Pittsburgh, PA -- PPG Industries and its joint venture partner will build a second fiber glass manufacturing furnace at their facility in Kunshan, China. The additional furnace, with 38,000 metric tons of annual capacity, will serve the...

Del Mar Electronics Show expands 2005 venue.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... An Embedded Systems Pavilion has been added at the 2005 Del Mar Electronics Show to be held in San Diego, April 27-28, 2005. The Embedded System Pavilion is intended to provide a local venue for the embedded community of Southern California. A...

Seica appears at Nepcon Texas.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Dallas, TX -- Seica S.p.A. exhibited its S40 Pilot LX Flying Probe Test Platform at Nepcon Texas in October. The S40 Pilot LX builds on Seica's S40 family of flying probe test solutions, using four mobile, independent test probes to perform...

RPP raises prices.(Suppliers)(Resolution Performance Products LLC)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Houston, TX -- Resolution Performance Products LLC increased all off-list prices in the Americas region for its liquid and solid epoxy resins by five cents per pound.

TUC busy setting up in China.(Suppliers)(Taiwan Union Technology)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Taiwan Union Technology (TUC) is setting up a production base in Eastern China. The construction of TUC's new plant in Changshu, Jiangsu Province (China) will be finished by April next year, the company said, adding that equipment installations...

Diffractive beam shaping improves laser material processing applications.(SeeingTheLight)
December 1, 2004... The bell-shaped Gaussian intensity profile of most lasers has some limitations. Due to this intensity curve, the material at the work plane is not uniformly irradiated. This can cause process problems. Laser engineers constantly wrestle with...

Korea's PCB makers expand mobile phone production.(SeeingTheLight; Printed Circuit Board)
December 1, 2004... In line with an increasing demand from major mobile phone manufacturers, PCB makers, including Samsung Electro-mechanics and LG Electronics, began installing additional production lines of build-up boards for mobile phones. Industry...

The circuit wars.(CircuitsUnusual)(printed circuit board forecasts)
December 1, 2004... Subtle events are shifting the circuit landscape in a way that could bring on fierce battles in the future. Our century-old and time-honored subtractive etching process, borrowed from copper plate making lithographers, has always been the way...

2005: what can we expect?(MarketOutlook)(printed circuit boards)
December 1, 2004... PCB orders (green bars) dipped in September (Chart 1) after a half-hearted recovery in July and August. Unfortunately N. American printed circuit bookings had been "outgrowing" electronic equipment demand in mid-2004, and September saw a...

The difference between marketing and sales.(MarketingMatters)
December 1, 2004... I have the opportunity to speak with many companies both within and outside of the electronics industry. I love to hear them talk about their business, what is important to them and how they see the future. As I listen I begin to see both...

Burkle North America.(People)(appointment)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Garden Grove, CA -- David Howard was appointed VP of Electronics Products. He brings 25 years of PWB capital equipment experience with him. Burkle North America's electronics product line, known as the FabFour, include Burkle Lamination and...

Insulectro.(People)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... After 37 years of dedicated service to Insulectro, Bob Straccia retired in October. "RAS" as he is fondly known, began working at Insulectro on November 11, 1966. He quickly became an integral part of the team. Based in the company's Mountain...

Excellon Automation.(People)(appointment)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Torrance, CA -- Excellon Automation appointed Kurt Weber as Vice President, Advanced Manufacturing Technology. He is leading the newly formed Advanced Manufacturing Technologies group. In other news, Excellon appointed Yaron Shani as...

Cookson Group--Electronics division.(People)(appointment)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Cookson Group plc, the international materials technology company, said Steve Corbett was appointed chief executive of its Electronics division, reporting to Nick Salmon, CEO of Cookson Group.

Electro Scientific Industries.(People)(appointment)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Portland, OR -- Electro Scientific Industries Inc. appointed Robert DeBakker as VP of Operations. Reporting directly to president and CEO Nick Konidaris, DeBakker is responsible for strengthening the company's overall operations program.

Resolution Performance Products.(People)(appointment)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Houston, TX -- Resolution Performance Products LLC named George M. Tomko Vice President and CIO. Tomko replaces Ms. Hanna M. Lukosavich, who resigned in July of this year. He joins RPP with over 25 years of information technology experience.

Rogers Corp.(People)(appointment)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Rogers, CT -- Rogers Corp. named Richard F. Marani Vice President and CIO. He replaces Michael L. Cooper, who was recently appointed Vice President, Asia. In this assignment, Marani will be responsible for the company's information systems...

Nam Tai Electronics.(People)(appointment)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Vancouver, BC -- Nam Tai Electronics Inc. announced that Mr. Wong Chi Chung (Charles C. Wong) has been appointed CFO and Mr. Joseph Edward Silva, Assistant CFO of the company. Mr. Wong assumed office on November 1, 2004, whilst Mr. Silva...

Colt Technology.(People)(appointment)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Kansas City, MO -- Colt Technology announced that Carl Schlemmer joined the company as General Manager. He brings over 25 years of general management and executive experience in both large and small company environments in the technology and...

Intelicoat.(People)(appointment)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Matthews, NC -- Ricky Wu and Taipei-based Oblong Technology have been honored by InteliCoat Technologies as the company's Distributor of the Year. Wu and Oblong serve as distributors of InteliCoat Tecnilith[R] APF Artwork Protect Film to...

Parlex.(People)(appointment)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Methuen, MA -- Parlex Corporation hired Michael Sapienti as its new Eastern Region (U.S.) Sales Manager. Sapienti has over 25 years of professional sales and marketing experience in the electronics industry. He has held senior sales management...

Executive explanations: Printprocess founder Hartmut Maurer.(Interview)
December 1, 2004... Those surviving members of the PCB manufacturing industry who have endured the pain and discomfort of recession have no time to enjoy the luxury of leisurely convalescence as the market recovers. They must regain their fitness quickly and get...

In memorium: Univertical's Charles T. Walker.(Obituary)
December 1, 2004... Charlie T. Walker (1915-2004) passed away on October 12, shortly after his 89th birthday. He founded the Univertical Corporation, which has been a leading supplier to the metal finishing industry for over 65 years. Someone who had worked with...

Book review: Failure-Free Integrated Circuit Packages.(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... Authors and Publisher: Charles Cohn & Charles A. Harper. Failure-Free Integrated Circuit Packages. 1st Edition, McGraw-Hill Professional Engineering, Copyright 2005. ISBN 0-07-143484-4. Failure-Free Integrated Circuit Packages is a new book...