CircuiTree articles from July 2004

CircuiTree archives from July 2004

Hear, hear!(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2004... Thanks much to Steve Gold for a very well balanced column ("Off-Shore Manufacturing Leaves Many Questions Unanswered," May 2004, page 7). This really identifies the current dilemma facing all of us today. Phil Culpovich President -...

Making boards--and jeans?(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2004... I say "three cheers" for Clarence Becwar of Becwar Engineering (Santa Ana, CA). When I last talked with him to update his company profile he told me he was closing the doors. News like that always saddens me. I hate deleting any company from...

Gultech North Carolina clarifies agreement with EPEC.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2004... Regarding our June column ("North American Fabricators Get Their Groove Back," The Way We See It, page 7), we reported that EPEC acquired Gul Technologies' North Carolina facility. In fact, the facility was closed, and customer orders were...

Korea: fabricators, OEMs play follow the leader.(The Way We See it)(original equipment manufacturer)
July 1, 2004... Don't look now, but China is not the only Asian nation giving western manufacturers a run for their money. Korean PCB makers are trying to sharpen their competitive edge, especially when facing stiff competition from China in low-end products...

Backplanes: living in the real world: demonstrating the sensitivity of channel performance to manufacturing and environmental influences on channels, and their subsequent increasing impact as the frequency of operation increases.
July 1, 2004... Achieving higher serial speeds across a backplane environment has become a key driver in the development of systems that will support greater overall capacities. Using a top-down approach, the industry has realized that the system interconnect...

Fine lines in high yield (part CVI): 3-D circuit boards.(Tech Talk)
July 1, 2004... Three-dimensional circuit boards, or in a broader sense, three-dimensional interconnect devices, have found niche applications for many years. Some of these applications have grown steadily, others were introduced with great fanfare and...

Wagner Rubber Hosts China grand opening.(Wagner Rubber Products (Chengdu) Co. Ltd, Rubber industry)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Chendu, China--Wagner Rubber opened a 40,000 square foot facility in China in mid-April. Known as Wagner Rubber Products (Chengdu) Co. Ltd., the plant will employ approximately 500 people, running on three shifts, 24 hours, seven days a week....

Rohm and Haas.(People)(appointments)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Philadelphia, PA--Rohm and Haas Co. shareholders elected Gary L. Rogers to its Board of Directors. Rogers was most recently Vice Chairman of GE from 2001 until his retirement in December, 2003. Previously, he served as Senior VP of GE and...

March plasma systems.(People)(appointments)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Tokyo, Japan--To manage their Japanese operations, March appointed Terumitsu Tsuji as Business Manager, Japan and named Yuji Takai their Regional Sales Manager. Other recent activities include the appointment of new distributors for the...

Polyclad Laminates.(People)(appointments)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Londonderry, NH--Polyclad Laminates Inc. named Scott Trevino OEM Marketing Manager. He is responsible for all OEM marketing and services activities on the West Coast. Trevino is charged with developing new OEM/EMS relationships, strengthening...

Park Electrochemical.(People)(appointments)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Lake Success, NY--Park Electrochemical Corp. appointed Anthony W. DiGaudio Vice President of Quality. DiGaudio will be responsible for leading the company's worldwide quality efforts. He joined Park Electrochemical in May 2002 as Product...

MacDermid.(People)(appointments)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Waterbury, CT--MacDermid appointed Stephen Largan as President. Largan will have responsibility for all of the business lines of the company. Dan Leever Chairman and CEO said, "I am delighted to be able to announce this appointment. Stephen and...

Endicott Interconnect Technologies.(People)(James Sullivan as vice president of human resources)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Endicott, NY--Endicott Interconnect Technologies (EI) hired James Sullivan as Vice President of Human Resources. Sullivan joins EI after 17 years with Hadco and Sanmina-SCI where he held senior management positions in both Human Resources and...

Celestica.(People)(appointments)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Toronto--Celestica Inc. announced that Stephen W. Delaney has been appointed Celestica's new CEO, effective immediately, by the company's Board of Directors. Delaney has been acting as CEO since January 28, 2004, when Eugene V. Polistuk retired...

Uyemura-USA teams with OS-Tech.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Ontario, CA/Southington CT--Uyemura-USA announced it has again expanded its coverage through qualified sales and service professionals. The company's latest agreement is with OS-Tech (Dallas, TX), enhancing UIC's ability to offer its products...

Enabling technologies for fine line flexible circuits.(Flexible Thinking)
July 1, 2004... High-density flexible printed circuits often lie at the heart of a wide range of today's most advanced electronic products. The roles they serve are varied, from advanced IC packages and display drivers to modern medical marvels that give rise...

The technical world is changing; are we ready?(Happy Thoughts)
July 1, 2004... Perhaps we think things will always be as they are now or have been. Most of us have only visited other countries for a few days or weeks. Few have lived and worked overseas as I have had the pleasure of doing. It was an eye-opener for me, as...

Building strong bonds: enhancing interlaminar bond strength for high performance resin systems with an organo-metallic copper surface treatment process.
July 1, 2004... With continued emphasis on long-term reliability and vastly improved electrical performance, manufacturers of high layer count multilayer PWBs are beginning to abandon the reduced oxide bonding process in favor of alternative methods. One such...

The pot is boiling; keep a close watch.(Market Outlook)(Column)
July 1, 2004... U.S. Electronic equipment orders took a large drop in April but careful analysis suggests that this was just a "correction" in one sector. Per Chart 1 electromedical, measurement & control equipment was the culprit, down $2.7 billion from March...

Wise software expands into Japan, Russia.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Newberg, OR -- WISE Software Solutions Inc. reached an agreement with Unicraft Co. Ltd. of Japan for the distribution of the GerbTool product line. "Unicraft is a proven performer within Japan, and already has an extensive background with...

TTM gets third hole checker from Ceco.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Anaheim, CA -- Ceco Industries reported TTM's purchase of a third hole checker, the model HC-7, to be installed in their Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin plant. TTM is now utilizing Ceco Hole Checkers in all of their manufacturing facilities.

DuPont Luxemborg taps CCI Eurolam as distributor.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... DuPont Luxembourg appointed CCI Eurolam as a European distributor for products serving the flexible PWB industry: DuPont[TM] Teclam[R] and DuPont[TM] Pyralux[R] flexible laminates. CCI Eurolam, based in France, Germany and U.K., is the leading...

Nasdaq relists Camtek.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Migdal Ha'emek, Israel -- Camtek Ltd. announced that the Nasdaq Stock Market has approved its application for the relisting of its ordinary shares on the Nasdaq National Market, subject to the company maintaining a $5 minimum bid price upon its...

Basic Electronics chooses March Plasma.(Suppliers)(for plasma treatment/etch requirements)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Garden Grove, CA -- Basic Electronics' chose March Plasma Systems to provide for its out-sourced plasma treatment/etch requirements. Basic Electronics specializes in flex, rigid flex and rigid PCB design and manufacturing. When asked why Basic...

Serfilco buys R.P. Adams assets.(Suppliers)(Service Filtration Corp.)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Northbrook, IL -- Service Filtration Corp. (Serfilco) agreed to purchase the assets of the R.P. Adams Company (Buffalo, NY), a manufacturer of self-cleaning strainers, filters and heat exchangers for the industrial and municipal markets. The...

Pacothane's distributor grandmake expands into Eastern China.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Pacothane Technologies, a division of Multilayer Worldwide Enterprises LLC, expanded its distribution network into eastern China through its exclusive distributor, Grandmake Technology Ltd. Headquartered in Hong Kong, Grandmake has opened an...

Epec acquires Gultech North Carolina.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... New Bedford, MA -- Epec completed the acquisition of the business of Gultech North Carolina Inc. a manufacturer of prototype and quick-turn multilayer PCBs. "The acquisition of Gultech North Carolina is a strong geographic and technological fit...

Korea's PCB industry raises the standard: Korean PCB manufacturers are building everything from flip-chip packages to thick telecommunications boards. Will these fabricators keep their flags flying high, especially as they face stiff competition from Japan and China?(Printed Circuit Board)(Cover Story)
July 1, 2004... In both war and commerce, Korea has often found itself caught between two important neighbors--China and Japan. Today, the country's printed circuit board industry finds itself dealing with these two countries as well. Sandwiched between...

To avoid commoditization, is PWB brand-awareness the answer?(Fein-Lines)(Printed Wiring Board)
July 1, 2004... Due to unforeseen circumstances, I missed IPC's Capitol Hill Day in Washington. Remaining in California, I instead attended the last day of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E-3) in Los Angeles. Electronic entertainment is about as far away...

Aculight shows off pulsed fiber laser.(Products)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Bothell, WA -- Aculight Corp., a developer of laser technologies, introduces the Model PF1550-30--a pulsed fiber laser that generates eye-safe, short pulses over a wide repetition rate range. The Model PF1550-30 is suitable for applications...

Enthone reveals STANNOSTAR[R] 1405.(Products)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... West Haven, CT -- Enthone Inc. introduced STANNOSTAR 1405 bright, highspeed, pure tin electroplating process. According to the company, STANNOSTAR 1405 delivers lead-free deposits that exhibit brightness and solderability over the widest...

C. A. Litzler announces line of infrared heaters.(Products)(C. A. Litzler Co. Inc.)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Cleveland, OH -- C. A. Litzler Co. Inc. introduced its line of infrared heaters. For years, Litzler has provided custom designed complete infrared dryer systems and now they are offering a line of infrared heaters. The infrared heaters are...

phoenix/x-ray introduces beryllium-free targets.(Products)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Camarillo, CA -- phoenix|x-ray Systems + Services Inc. introduced its beryllium-free targets in all x-ray systems with open tubes. The new targets continue the company's commitment to making environmentally safe line of open tube x-ray systems....

Heat, temperature and embedded resistors.(Embedded Passives Update)
July 1, 2004... In Houston they say "It's not the heat, it's the humidity." For electronic systems, it's not the heat, it's the temperature. Components make heat, heat makes temperature, and temperature makes failures. When do we need to be concerned about...

Highly Accelerated Thermal Shock results.(Between the Conductors)(Highly Accelerated Thermal Shock)(Printed Circuit Connector)
July 1, 2004... The previous column introduced a new method to study reliability of interconnections in PCBs and solder joints between a package and the substrate upon which it is attached. This column presents results of thermal cycling tests performed on...

Circuit World pulls out of Astronics deal.(Fabrication)(Astronics Corp.)(Circuit World Corp.)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... East Aurora, NY -- Astronics Corp. announced that negotiations to acquire the assets of FTG Aerospace from Circuit World Corp. have been terminated. During the due diligence process, Circuit World decided to retain the assets of its FTG...

Endicott completes ISO 9001 audit.(Fabrication)(Endicott Interconnect Technologies Inc.)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Endicott, NY -- Endicott Interconnect Technologies (EI) successfully completed its annual ISO 9001:2000 surveillance audit. The annual review, conducted by Bureau Veritas Quality International (BVQI), was completed over a four-day period...

Parlex gets $2 million contract from Raytheon.(Fabrication)
July 1, 2004... Methuen, MA -- Parlex Corp. was named a key supplier by Waltham's Raytheon Co. on two major defense programs for its Network Centric Systems Division. Through agreements and short-term contracts totaling more than $2 million, Parlex will supply...

SAE Circuits Colorado buys new ET equipment.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Boulder, CO -- SAE Circuits Colorado Inc. purchased and installed a new TTI Series 2600 Dual Grid Electrical Test System in April 2004, to add to the present two testers already in use. They have near future plans of increasing their present...

Seica, Zero Defects open West coast office.(Seica Test Solutions)(Zero Defects International)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Santa Clara, CA--On 5 May 2004, Italian-based Seica Test Solutions and Zero Defects International held an "open house" to show off their new facility in Santa Clara, California, and to educate attendees about the latest developments in flying...

Lead bans spreading like wildfire.(Environmentally Speaking)(Restriction of Hazardous Substances)(Waste Electronics and Electrical Equipment)
July 1, 2004... Lead bans are in, and every governmental organization wants to have one this year. What started out as the European Union's (EU's) ban on lead in electronics has become the must-have law that is spreading around the globe. Despite the...