CircuiTree articles from July 2003

CircuiTree archives from July 2003

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2003... Is Nothing Sacred? I am writing to vent my frustration upon hearing some negative news. Everyone is aware our industry is in a slump. The natural business reaction, when confronted with a slowdown, is to seek new markets, product lines,...

Web spotlight: each month CircuiTree offers our readers articles and columns found exclusively on our Web site: www.circuitree.com.
July 1, 2003... COLUMNS: Value Selling By Lou DeRose Recognizing procurement and others in supply chain management as important players in the buying decision is a critical reorientation PGB suppliers must make. Understanding how these functions...

Currency: the good, the bad, the unfair? (The Way We See It).
July 1, 2003... A funny thing happened on the way to economic recovery. The U.S. dollar started losing its value in a slow yet steady manner. Here in the U.S., embattled manufacturers are taking note of a dollar that has steadily declined since January...

Improvements in polymer thick film [PTF] resistor technology.
July 1, 2003... This article covers improved fabrication techniques, design rules, and fundamental understanding of PTF resistor technology. No other resistor technology, available now or in development, can match PTF's cost, resistance range, size reduction...

IPC raises some eyebrows. (News from North Brook).
July 1, 2003... Eyebrows were raised throughout the entire electronics industry following IPC's acceptance of a three-year, $400,000 financial assistance award from the U.S. Commerce Department and our ensuing announcement that the funds will support IPC's...

Strike two? (Fein-Lines).
July 1, 2003... Just a year ago, North American PWB fabricators were all bemoaning the certain and absolute demise of the industry due to the unstoppable rush to China. "There would be no PWB manufacturing to speak of in North America and Europe in just a few...

DuPont's PCM division raises price on Riston.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Research Triangle Park, NC-DuPont Printed Circuit Materials, part of DuPont Electronic Technologies, announced a price increase of 4 to 7 percent for all types of DuPont Riston [R] photopolymer dry film resists, effective immediately, subject...

Rogers Corp. (People).(Colleen Murphy and Gary Clinton )(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Rogers, CT -- Rogers Corp. named Colleen Murphy as Market Development Manager for the liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) product line. She will be working at the company's Advanced Circuit Materials Division (ACMD) in Chandler, Ariz. She will be...

West Coast Enterprises. (People).(Paul G. Brady)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Ontario, CA -- West Coast Enterprises named Paul G. Brady General Manager. With thirty years of experience with PCBs, he has held sales and marketing positions in addition to operating his own business for twenty years. His primary focus will...

Lightwave Electronics. (People).(establishing Lightwave Electronics GmbH in Germany)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Lightwave Electronics is in the process of establishing Lightwave Electronics GmbH. The new European office is initially located in Munich Germany, and is to be managed by Dr. Athanasios Kokorakis. He has extensive experience in the UV laser...

Shipley Company. (People).(Bob Ferguson, Jean-Pierre Robic and Wolfgang Sculler)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Marlborough, MA -- Shipley Company named Bob Ferguson PWB General Manager, North America. He has over twenty years' experience in the industry, and was most recently PWB Vice President Sales and Marketing, North America. Ferguson was formerly a...

Enthone Inc. (People).(John Yim and Dr. Andreas Moebius )(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... West Haven, CT -- John Yim was named Vice President Sales, Asia, by Enthone Inc. He will be responsible for the sales and technical support of Enthone [R] PWB products and processes throughout the Asia Pacific Region. Yim served his PWB...

Endicott Interconnect Technologies. (People).(Michael Hills, J. Michael Sapienti and Karen Carpenter )(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Endicott, NY -- Endicott Interconnect Technologies Inc. named J. Michael Sapienti as Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Sapienti is an industry veteran with 24 years of sales experience. Most recently as the Senior VP of Sales for Gold...

W.L. Gore. (People).(Russell Shaller and Joe Gallo )(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Elkton, MD -- W. L. Gore & Associates Inc. named Russell Shaller division manager for Gore's Electronic Products Division. He has ten years of experience with the company. He was formerly the general manager for Gore Photonics. Gore also...

Manufacturing in 'Emerging markets' to double by 2005.
July 1, 2003... New York, NY--As the electronics industry struggles to reduce costs and find new growth markets, it 'is increasingly shifting manufacturing operations to the developing world, with China leading the pack. A new study by the International...

Profiles in flexible thinking: Dominique Kenshi Numakura. (Flexible Thinking).
July 1, 2003... If one has spent any time in the world of flexible circuits in the last decade or so, it would have been difficult not to have met up with Dominique Numakura in some manner. You may have met him in person at conferences around the globe where...

Decoupling with embedded capacitors.
July 1, 2003... As clock frequencies increase and chips demand more current, it's getting increasingly difficult to come up with decoupling solutions using surface mount capacitors. Embedded capacitors can provide a solution. What can your bad offer? In a...

The collapse of the Old Man in the Mountain. (Seeing the Light).
July 1, 2003... The whole State of New Hampshire has been in mourning since May 3rd. The future looks so bleak that I even had to check my clocks to make sure they didn't stop, short, never to go again, when the death occurred. I'm talking about the collapse...

Sensibly regulating electroplating waste (RCRA F006). (Environmentally Speaking).
July 1, 2003... In 1980, when EPA decided that sludge generated during the treatment of electroplating wastewater should be considered a hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), it might have been a sensible, or at least a...

CircuiTree advertisers proclaim 'we're still standing'! (An Advertorial Supplement).
July 1, 2003... Let's be honest. If you're still earning a living in printed circuit manufacture, you've survived our industry's version of the Great Depression. Just as printed wiring board fabricators have fought for their lives, so too have the businesses...

March Plasma Systems: plasma market growing. (Suppliers).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Concord, CA -- March Plasma Systems reports increased industry interest in plasma treatment for PCB manufacturing. Worldwide sales volume was up the first quarter over last quarter 2002. Future project activity is running at high double-digit...

Kaneka to expand polyimide film production. (Suppliers).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Tokyo, Japan -- Kaneka Corp. announced it will expand the manufacture of its polyimide film by spending 4 billion yen on a fifth production line. The company said it also plans to invest in new equipment at its Shiga, Japan, facility by 2004....

Enthone, ATMI sign agreement. (Suppliers).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... West Haven, CT -- Enthone Inc. will expand marketing and distribution of its ViaForm[R] copper damascene electrochemical deposition processes through an exclusive licensing and joint-development agreement with ATMI Inc. (Danbury, CT). ATMI will...

Burkle North America to represent Schmoll/Posalux. (Suppliers).
July 1, 2003... Freudenstadt, Germany -- Burkle North American, a unit of Burkle GmbH joined forces with Schmoll's Posalux S.A. North American operation, to commence joint distribution of the companies lamination, coating, drilling machine and routing products...

Evenstar buys Seica bare board tester. (Suppliers).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Santa Clara, CA -- Zero Defects Inc. and Seica America sold a Seica S20BBT bare board tester to Evenstar Inc. (Silicon Valley, CA). The tester is manufactured by Seica, SpA (Strambino, Italy).

West Coast Enterprises appoints distributor. (Suppliers).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Ontario, CA -- West Coast Enterprises was appointed as the distributor for Nan Ya Plastics Copper Clad Laminate Division in the seven Western States. In addition to the main inventory in Ontario, WCE will establish warehousing services in...

OLEC moves to larger facility. (Suppliers).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Santa Ana -- OLEC moved to a new 200,000 sf facility on 13 acres. The facility is located near Orange County (John Wayne) Airport in Santa Ana. This is the final step in the consolidation of six small factories into one state-of-the-art...

Shipley given Excellence Award by Kyocera America. (Suppliers).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Freeport, NY -- Shipley Company announced that its Electronic and Industrial Finishing (EIF) business has been presented the Supplier Excellence Award of 2002 by Kyocera America Inc. Kyocera granted the award in recognition of Shipley's...

Degussa, LPKF Laser & Electronics close 3D-MID negotiations. (Suppliers).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Wilsonville, OR -- A "know-how" transfer and license agreement has been established between Degussa AG and LPKF Laser & Electronics AG. With this contract, Degussa AG has obtained the license to produce and sell doped, cross-linkable PBT...

Coates screen to distribute Parmod inks. (Suppliers).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Coates has been selected by Parelec to represent and distribute its highly conductive Parmod VLT[R] (Very Low Temperature) curing inks in Europe. The inks are between three and ten times more conductive than conventional printable conductive...

IPC, PCQ[R.sup.2] test laboratory established in Hong Kong. (Suppliers).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Albuquerque, NM -- Conductor Analysis Technologies Inc. (CAT Inc.) and IPC created the first test laboratory outside of the U.S. equipped to test the PC Process Capability, Quality and Relative Reliability (PCQ[R.sup.2]) test panels. Located in...

Exploring the military circuit.(Naval Surface Warfare Center )
July 1, 2003... The Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, Indiana, helps the U.S. Department of Defense obtain reliable products critical to the nation's defense. But as this "manufacturer of last resort" teams with industry, will the military recognize the...

Chemical sensors and measurement in process control (Part II). (Happy Thoughts).
July 1, 2003... This is the second in a three-part series on chemical sensors and measurements, which includes automatic controllers. In April's issue, I discussed "basic sensors" in PCB manufacturing such as visual methods, wet chemistry, temperature,...

IPC government relations, industry score another victory.
July 1, 2003... Northbrook, IL -- IPC hailed President Bush's signing of The Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003, which increases the first-year bonus depreciation deduction from 30 to 50 percent for investments acquired and placed in service...

Fine lines in high yield (Part XCIV): dry film photoresist components and their functions (Part A). (Tech Talk).
July 1, 2003... Non-chemists involved in PWB fabrication are often mystified by the variety of chemistries employed in numerous processing steps such as surface preparation, imaging, development, stripping and plating. This is not helped by the fact that most...

Park Electrochemical 'realigns' New York, California ops.
July 1, 2003... Lake Success, NY-Park Electrochemical Corp. realigned its North American FR-4 business operations located in Newburgh, New York and Fullerton, California, and the establishment of a new business unit called "Nelco/North America." Nelco/North...

The effect of innerlayer processing on conductor height. (Between the Conductors).
July 1, 2003... Innerlayer conductor height is often well controlled and slightly thinner than the nominal expected value. The nominal thickness for half-ounce copper, for example, is 0.7 mils, but conductors in finished circuit boards oftentimes measure...

AT&S: world's number 3 HDI maker. (Fabrication).(Compeq Manufacturing Company Ltd.)(Ibiden Company Ltd.)
July 1, 2003... Vienna, Austria -- AT&S is now the world's third largest printed circuit manufacturer specializing in HDI/MV technology, according to a study conducted by Prismark, a U.S. based consulting company. Compeq (Taiwan) and Ibiden (Japan) are ranked...

Printed Circuits now certified to ISO 9001-2000. (Fabrications).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Minneapolis, MN -- Printed Circuits Inc. was accredited to the 150 9001-2000 standard by Det Norske Veritas Certification Inc. The ISO 9001-2000 standard is an upgrade to the ISO 9002 certification that Printed Circuits has held since May of...

HoTec partners GSPK for distribution. (Fabrication).(GSPK Circuits Ltd.)(HoTec Electronic Hollenberg GmbH.)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... GSPK Circuits Ltd. secured an exclusive sole distribution agreement for German-based HoTec Electronic Hollenberg GmbH. HoTec Electronic provides connectors and cable harnessing to the process automation, sensor and electronic market sectors on...

Schweizer 'Weathers' PCB storm of 2002. (Fabrication).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Stuttgart, Germany -- Schweizer Electronic AG announced that 2002 was a "particularly difficult" year. Its sales decline 9% from 2001, posting a gross sales volume of 88.7 million Euro. According to the German fabricator, the weak market was...

Leicester Circuits rises again. (Fabrication).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... East Goscote, UK -- Leicester Circuits was bought out as a going concern by four directors. Previously, the owners, including managing director Tony Williams, decided to place it in administration with KPMG Corporate Recovery in Leicester. The...

Equipment orders continue to grow; PCBs still struggle. (Market Outlook).
July 1, 2003... A "good news, bad news" scenario continues to be the norm in today's North American electronics industry. Let's look at both sides: Economic Issues Now that the Iraqi conflict has subsided, domestic business conditions appear to be...

Improving on continuous Improvement. (View from the Middle).
July 1, 2003... The venerable quality guru W. Edwards Deming defined continuous improvement simply as "improvement initiatives that increase successes and reduce failures." Sounds simple, doesn't it? In concept it is simple, but it is the execution that...

Flextronics to close Roseville, Mexico PCB facilities.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... San Jose, CA -- Coming on the heels of its announcement that it does not intend to close its entire Multek PCB division, Flextronics announced that it intends to close its Multek PCB facilities in both Roseville, Minnesota, and Guadalajara,...

Microtek Labs, CAT unveil HATS. (Products).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Anaheim, CA--Microtek Laboratories and Conductor Analysis Technologies Inc. announced that the Highly Accelerated 'Thermal Shock (HATS) test system has been adopted as the official reliability test for the IPC [PCQR.sup.2] Database. The...

Grace Electron introduces GA-HF. (Products).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Irvine, CA--Grace Electron USA announced a new patented product GA-HE which was designed for the new demands of the high-tech multilayer PCB fabricator. This product exhibits outstanding performance properties including anti-CAE halogen and...

LPKF releases Pulsonlx 2.0 EDA software. (Products).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Wilsonville, OR--LPKF Laser & Electronics released the Pulsonix PCB version 2.0 design software suite in North America. This new version includes over 70 new features above the preceding version 1.2, including true instanced multi-level...

Enhanced profiles of PCB buyers now available at BoardBuyer.com. (Products).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... El Dorado Hills, CA--BoardBuyers.com announces the addition of its "Level Two" buyer profiling initiative. Now, in addition to verifying companies that purchase circuit boards, BoardBuyers.com customers have access to the specific PCB...

Intelicoat introduces StratFX hardcoat films. (Products).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Matthews, NC--InteliCoat Technologies is introducing a new line of flexible, abrasion-resistant optically clear hardcoat films called StratFX (strat effects). The new films, in gloss and anti-glare versions, were designed to offer exceptional...

TUC unveils Low Dk/Df FR-4 for lead free soldering process. (Products).(from Taiwan Union Technology Corp.)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Hsinchu, Taiwan--Taiwan Union Technology Corp. (TUC) introduced a new generation all-in-one Low Dk/Df FR-4 material (TU-732) for the lead-free soldering process. With experience in modified epoxy technology, TUC created this advanced base...

March Plasma introduces new Plasma treatment system. (Products).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... St. Petersburg, FL--March Plasma Systems introduces the PCB 2800 gas plasma treatment system. All aspects of the plasma process--pressure, power, time, temperature, and gas flow--can be configured independently to achieve unprecedented...

Events.
July 1, 2003... September 23, 2003 CEMCEX 2003 Advanced SMT & Packaging Prague, Czech Republic Visit www.cemcex.com September 25, 2003 CEMCEX 2003 Advanced SMT & Packaging Gyor, Hungary Visit www.cemcex.com October 27-29,...