CircuiTree articles from July 2006

CircuiTree archives from July 2006

Better safe than on fire.(Inbox)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2006... On April 27, 2006, FabFile Network removed "Redwood Space Controls", in Santa Clara, California from its PCB data base after learning of the company's disastrous fire. To determine what lessons might be learned for any PCB manufacturer,...

Editor's note.(Inbox)
July 1, 2006... In March, CircuiTree announced it was sponsoring a PCB Contest designed to highlight the manufacturing capabilities of various PCB fabricators. We hoped the entries would be numerous. Unfortunately, we only received a handful of entries, and...

Correction.(Correction notice)
July 1, 2006... In CircuiTree's June 2006 issue [Vol. 19, No. 6, page 14], Figure 2 of "High Frequency Materials: Setting the Pace for Lead-Free Processing" was difficult to read. The corrected figure is republished here. We regret the error. [FIGURE 2...

The Doosan interview.(Data Transfer)(Interview)
July 1, 2006... CircuiTree spoke with the R & D director of Doosan's Electro-Materials BG division, Y.S. Lee, and some of his colleagues to learn more about one of Korea's largest copper clad laminate suppliers. Lee said that last year, the division grossed...

Small business + big risks = innovation.(The Way We See It)
July 1, 2006... Though our industry is consolidating, its heart and soul is still beating in small businesses. Small businesses drive innovation. They are more nimble than their established, org-charted counterparts. I was reminded of this at the Del Mar...

The microvia report: a comprehensive report on the growing popularity of microvia technology, who makes it, and the manufacturing techniques leading the way.
July 1, 2006... One statistic clearly illustrates why microvia technology is worthy of greater attention. Last year, the world's microvia PCB output grew by fifteen percent--while PCB output as a whole grew by a more modest 6.8 percent. Driving microvia boards...

Flexible-display market to exceed $100 million in five years.(financial report)(Financial report)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... It's been said that flexible things bend, but don't break. That's certainly true in the flexible-display market, where suppliers have found it virtually impossible to break through numerous obstacles hindering their attempts to transform...

Elprint invests in D-E-S system.(Fab Focus News)(Developing-Etching-Stripping )(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Elprint AS invested around 0.4[euro] million in a Developing-Etching-Stripping (DES) system from Hollmuller Maschinenbau GmbH. This new DES system will work in tandem with the recently installed ComPlate system, also from Hollmuller, in...

Meena Circuits open for business.(Meena Circuits Pvt. Ltd)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Vadodara, India -- Rashmikant Raval, vice president of Meena Circuits Pvt. Ltd., announced the company was recently established, manufacturing single- and double-sided PCBs for both domestic and international customers. According to Raval, the...

Dynaco introduces microwave rigid-flex capability to market.(Liquid Crystal Polymer)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Tempe, AZ -- Dynaco Corp. developed an ability to produce multilayer microwave rigid-flex PCB constructions, using the latest advancements in high performance material systems By combining high-frequency circuit materials, such as those based...

FTG chooses Orbotech AOI and laser plotter systems.(Fab Focus News)
July 1, 2006... Billerica, MA -- Orbotech Inc. announced that Firan Technology Group Corp. (FTG) has purchased and is now using two Discovery[TM] AOI systems and two LP-9008 laser plotters in its multi-facility bare PCB manufacturing operation in Scarborough,...

Out of the ashes: Prestwick Global Procurement Solutions (GPS).(Fab Focus News)
July 1, 2006... With the cessation of Prestwick Circuits' manufacturing activity in Scotland, Prestwick Global Procurement Solutions (GPS) was established in January 2006. Built around an experienced team of people, Prestwick GPS offers its customers a...

Ensuring consistency between prototype and volume manufacturing.(Intelligent Design)
July 1, 2006... In my January 2006 column I discussed the role of the PCB fabricator in the design engineering process. I pointed out that a vital part of the PCB design process is feedback from the process engineering personnel at the fabricator in order to...

Fine lines in high yield (Part CXXX): via fills.(Tech Talk)
July 1, 2006... Microvias, buried vias, and plated through-holes are filled with conductive or nonconductive materials for a number of reasons (see Figure 1): * Improved reliability (avoidance of trapped air or liquids) * Improved planarity of...

'China' and 'quality' not mutually exclusive.(Chinese products score in quality too)(Personal account)
July 1, 2006... If you've been reading this column for any period of time, you know I usually support free trade. But with free trade comes the responsibility of fair trade. Our deficit with China has gone too far, and I continue to work for a reasonable...

TRISTAR Laminates completes acquisition of Gould's CAC[R] business.(Supply Line News)
July 1, 2006... Lake Forest, CA -- TRISTAR Laminates and CAC, Inc. completed the acquisition of the CAC[R] business from Gould Electronics Inc. The sale involved the assets, including manufacturing equipment, and inventory of the CAC[R] product line, which...

Polar Instruments, Direct Logix announce partnership.(Supply Line News)
July 1, 2006... Santa Clara, CA -- Direct Logix Inc. and Polar Instruments announced the availability of Polar Si8000 software via Direct Logix products. Control Center Stackup Builder will now have direct interface capabilities to the leading impedance field...

Christopher Associates revamps web site.(Supply Line News)
July 1, 2006... Santa Ana, CA -- Christopher Associates Inc. completely revamped its website (www.christopherweb.com), creating a new, easier-to-use format, allowing users to rapidly navigate the site's PCB fabrication and assembly product lines, and act as a...

Rohm and Haas site wins EPA Award.(Environmental Protection Agency)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Marlborough, MA -- The Marlborough site of Rohm and Haas Company's Electronic Materials, LLC is one of three national winners that accepted the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Performance Track Award. EPA Performance Awards are given...

Sierra Proto Express implements Control Center XP[TM].(Supply Line News)
July 1, 2006... San Jose, CA -- Direct Logix Inc. announced the purchase made by Sierra Proto Express of Control Center XP automated product planning system for PCB manufacturing.

Rogers creates China website.(Supply Line News)
July 1, 2006... Rogers, CT -- Rogers Corporation created a new website for the Chinese market. This site can be accessed on Rogers' homepage by visiting www.rogerscorporation.com and clicking on the Chinese Welcome message. Robert Wachob, Rogers' President and...

IGI expands AOI capabilities for zero defect masks.(supply line news)(automated optical inspection)(Infinite Graphics Inc.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Minneapolis MN -- IGI acquired its third automated large area mask (LAM) defect inspection tool. This new tool offers DRC, Die to Die, and CAD reference inspections. IGl's automated LAM defect inspection capabilities are submicron defect...

Cemco-FSL announces more sales.(electrolytic etchant regeneration system)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Hampshire, UK -- Cemco-FSL sold an electrolytic etchant regeneration system with full copper recovery to UNAL Elektronik A.S. (Istanbul, Turkey). The first of three proposed systems will be installed to one of Unal's existing PCB etching lines....

What's in a name?(Supply Line News)
July 1, 2006... Melville, NY -- Park Electrochemical Corp. is changing the name of its advanced composite materials business from "FiberCote Industries Inc." to "Nelcote Inc."

Viking Test Services increases production capacity.(new equipment for its service centers)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Viking Test Services invested over $450,000 in new equipment for its service centers, including two new MicroCraft Emma flying probe test machines, one new Mason large format Double Density fixture tester, and two new Timax TLM2001 fully linear...

Printar's thermal ink passes performance tests.(Supply Line News)
July 1, 2006... Rehovot, Israel -- Printar Ltd. announced that its specially-formulated thermal inkjet legend ink passed the industry's military standard MIL-PRF-55110F (marking ink) and A-A-56032D performance tests. Printar'strademarkinktypeM3-12076P is a...

Embedded technology gains traction: if IPC's third conference on embedded technology is an indicator, we're moving closer to mainstreaming embedded passives and, further down the road, even placing some ICs inside the board.
July 1, 2006... For three rainy days near Boston, 69 attendees heard twenty papers and three short courses during IPC's Embedded Technology conference (May 2-4, Chelmsford, MA). I've attended most of the embedded passive conferences over the past few years,...

Back to basics Part 10: flex circuit design--establishing feature tolerances.(Flexible Thinking)
July 1, 2006... In Part 9 of this series the discussion centered on the fundamental principles of flexible circuit design. It stressed the need for a holistic approach in the design process, reminding the reader that every flex circuit is an electromechanical...

Intelligent design: Multek and Flextronics plan a profitable future; CircuiTree tours the Flextronics Zhuhai campus, where Multek alone has 5,500 employees capable of producing 14 million square feet of PCBs each year.(Interview)(Cover story)
July 1, 2006... During IPC Printed Circuits Expo 2005, former Flextronics CEO Michael Marks delivered the event's keynote speech in which he recalled a conversation with some potential customers. When asked how Flextronics planned to compete with its Chinese...

Printed electronics in RFID? Don't hold your breath, says ABI Research.(Data Transfer)
July 1, 2006... Oyster Bay, NY -- Printed electronics have the potential to transform the RFID industry, if and when they gain sufficient market acceptance and find appropriate applications. But their impact--contrary to some expectations--will not be...

Understanding CAM tooling (Part 3): the third part in a three-part series on board manufacturing and CAM tooling.(Happy Thoughts)
July 1, 2006... Initial Design Analysis After the initial design review, the basics of the design are known and a decision on whether to manufacture the design has to be made, and if so, the cost must be determined. Once the cost has been determined, the...

Dai Nippon Printing to license PCB tech to Samsung.(Data Transfer)
July 1, 2006... Tokyo -- Dai Nippon Printing Co. signed an agreement to supply PCB technology to Samsung Electro-Mechanics Company, reported Nikkei. The technology, called i-B2it, enables manufacturers to pack a greater number of features onto circuit boards...

PCB contestants reveal specs.(Data Transfer)
July 1, 2006... In March, CircuiTree announced it was sponsoring a PCB Contest designed to highlight the manufacturing capabilities of various PCB fabricators. Unfortunately, we only received a handful of entries, and not enough to justify seeing the project...

Second quarter slowdown, escalating costs, rising inventories show management challenges continue.(market outlook)(spotlight on electronic equipment industry )(Statistical table)
July 1, 2006... After a strong first quarter "electronic equipment food chain" demand began slowing in April. A combination of normal seasonality, excess inventories, over exuberant 1Q'06 ordering, lower end-market demand and increasing government efforts to...

IPC.(appointed Paul Langston and Nilesh Naik)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Bannockburn, IL -- IPC appointed Paul Langston, CEO, Coretec, Inc. as vice chairman, and Nilesh Naik, CEO, One Source Group, as secretary/treasurer. Langston and Naik will serve until February 2008, along with IPC Chairman Jim Herring,...

SiliconPipe.(Power People News)
July 1, 2006... San Jose, CA -- SiliconPipe, an Open Source IntellectualPropertyCompany, announced that Dr. Skip Fehr, IC packaging industry veteran, has joined its advisory team. He has agreed to serve as advisor to the leading-edge interconnection technology...

Endicott Interconnect Technologies.(Power People News)
July 1, 2006... Endicott, NYO -- Endicott Interconnect Technologies, Inc. appointed Doug Gotelli as Director of Sales, Western Region reporting to Michael Hills. He will assume responsibility for all sales and service activities on the West Coast and will be...

Technic.(Power People News)
July 1, 2006... Cranston, RI -- Technic Inc. appointed Tom Tyson as a Process Technology Specialist. Tyson will be responsible for leading specific areas of Technic s new product characterization and data acquisition efforts. His initial focus will be in the...

Aculight.(Aculight Corporation)(Kenneth Bean is a Director of Manufacturing Operations)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Bothell, WA -- Aculight Corporation named Kenneth Bean its Director of Manufacturing Operations. Bean joins Aculight from BBP Inc., where he was founder and president of this start-up venture specializing in heads-up display (HUD) systems....

Multivac.(Power People News)
July 1, 2006... Kansas City, MO -- Multivac appointed Nestor Plawiuk as its national sales manager for Canada.

It's time to push back: an open letter by Harvey Miller.(impact of ban of lead in electronics industry)
July 1, 2006... John Burke is a displaced Englishman, now a Californian, with a history of leadership in electronic manufacturing technology. He has put up the web blog site www.rohsusa.com. Joe Fjelstad is an industry-leading inventor with a long...

Technic whisker-resistant tin processes meets new criteria.(Technology Today News)
July 1, 2006... Cranston, RI -- Technic Inc. announced that several of its proprietary tin electro-deposition processes for electronic plating applications have satisfied all requirements of the new JESD201 criteria. JEDEC released its JESD201 qualifications...

3M inventors develop shrink film printed circuit.(Technology Today News)
July 1, 2006... Alexandria, VA -- 3M developed a method of creating fine featured circuits by printing a circuit trace onto polymer shrink films or other biaxially-oriented polymer films. The co-inventors include Jessica Voss-Kehl, Kurt Halverson, Caroline...

WISE Software releases GerbTool[TM] version 15.(Technology Today News)
July 1, 2006... Newberg, OR -- WISE Software released the 15th version of its popular GerbTool[TM] product. This release of GerbTool is a precursor to the company's new top-of-the-line product, VisualCAM[TM], which will establish the strategic direction for...

Rogers receives product innovation award.(Technology Today News)
July 1, 2006... Rogers, CT -- Rogers Corporation was awarded for the most innovative products in an awards ceremony at The Del Mar Electronics Show (San Diego, CA). Rogers RO4450B[TM]-dx Bondply, the newly introduced high fill/flow version of the industry...

New LPKF Laser commissioned by FCT assembly.(Technology Today News)
July 1, 2006... Wilsonville, OR -- LPKF Laser & Electronics completed the installation of an LPKF UV laser processing system at Fine Line Stencil/A-Laser (Beaverton, OR). The LPKF MicroLine 600D is a next generation UV laser capable of addressing a variety of...

Huntsman introduces halogen-free laminating resins for PCBs.(Technology Today News)
July 1, 2006... The Woodlands, TX-Huntsman Advanced Materials introduced two halogen-free laminating resins that comply with the most recent regulatory requirements for PCB manufacturing. AZYRAL[R] one- and two-component laminating systems combine...

T-Tech release Pneumatic Pressure Foot.(Technology Today News)
July 1, 2006... Norcross, GA-T-Tech Inc. introduced the Precision Flat system for PCB manufacture. This system is specifically designed for rapid prototyping applications that require both a precision depth of cut and minimal contact with the material. The...

Christopher Associates, Mason Electronics introduce new test system.(Technology Today News)
July 1, 2006... Santa Ana, CA -- Christopher Associates Inc. and Mason Electronics Ltd. (Hong Kong) introduced the MU-2000S-QD quad density universal grid electrical test system. Developed for high density testing to the highest standards, the MU-2000S-QD will...

JPCA 2006: collaborating and consolidating Japan's lead on the industry.(Data Transfer)(Japan Electronics Packaging and Circuits Association)(Conference notes)
July 1, 2006... The theme of this year's JPCA show, which ended last Friday at the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition center, is "Collaboration." JPCA itself changed their name last year to better reflect the new realities of the interconnect manufacturing industry,...

The tight link between PCB and semiconductor growth figures.(Growth Curves)
July 1, 2006... Historically the market for semiconductors has been tightly linked with the PCB market. This is no surprise. Where do semiconductor devices go but onto PCBs? In most cases, anyway. The semiconductor curves have tended to lead the PCBs by a few...

Events.(calendar)(Calendar)
July 1, 2006... CircuiTree LIVE Advanced Technologies for Packaging, Flex, and Rigid Flex September 7, 2006 Minneapolis, MN Website: www.circuitreelive.com DesignCon East--2006 Sept. 25-27, 2006 DCU Center Worcester, MA ...