CircuiTree articles from June 2003

CircuiTree archives from June 2003

Letters.
June 1, 2003... Fiddling While North America's PCB Industry Burns I have been an avid reader (and contributor) of CircuiTree for many years. I have been following closely all of the "gloom & doom" articles chronicling the demise of North America's PWB...

China not 'immune' to manufacturing challenges. (The Way We See It).
June 1, 2003... For a company that makes or buys printed circuit boards, the advantages of doing business in Asia are clear. Factors like dirt-cheap labor, proximity to one's customers and the continent's growing consumer class all have North American and...

Adhesiveless copper on polyimide substrate with nickel-chromium tiecoat: fine-line features are more susceptible to adhesion loss from undercut that larger features. The NiCr tiecoat effectively minimizes the attack.
June 1, 2003... Adhesiveless copper on polyimide substrates are commonly used for fine-line and high density electronic interconnection 'applications. Medical, hard disk drive, and COF applications often require line and space features 2-mil and finer....

You have questions, I have answers. (Fein-Lines).(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2003... This is column number forty-three, so as you would expect I have received quite a bit of feedback over the last three and a half years covering the proverbial spectrum of good, bad and occasionally ugly topics. Along with the comments come a...

Nidec-Read. (People).
June 1, 2003... Kyoto, Japan--Michio Kaida was appointed president of Nidec-Read Corp. He joined Nidec-Read in 1979 as a technical engineer, and was later promoted to director of sales. Since 2000, he has held the position of senior managing director. Michio...

Enthone. (People).
June 1, 2003... West Haven, CT--Amy Tsang was promoted to Director of Marketing--Performance Coatings, Asia, by Enthone Inc., a Cookson Electronics PWB Materials & Chemistry business. She will be responsible for the technical marketing management of Enthone's...

National Graphic Supply. (People).
June 1, 2003... Dallas, TX--National Graphic Supply, a nationwide distributor of phototool films, announced a new technical specialist joined the company. Bonnie Morrow now provides sales and technical support to customers in Texas and Oklahoma. Based in...

Frontline PCB Solutions. (People).
June 1, 2003... Israel-Zvika Segal was appointed Frontline PCB Solutions' new president. In the past, Segal served as the president of Orbotech Pacific. He brings over 25 years of management experience in high-tech organizations including R&D, business...

Isola. (People).
June 1, 2003... Isola appointed Christopher Auger as its new president. With fifteen years of experience in the PCB industry, he will work with Isola to optimize its U.S. operations. Auger was formerly the president of SpeedFam.

Orbotech S.A. (People).
June 1, 2003... Israel -- Orbotech S.A., the European subsidiary of Orbotech Ltd., appointed Zohar Weizinger and Ofer Argov as company co-presidents. Both Orbotech veterans, Weizinger was recently vice president of sales for the PCB division at Orbotech S.A.,...

Elec & Eltek. (People).
June 1, 2003... Hong Kong -- Elec & Eltek International Co. appointed Thomas Tang as chairman of the board. The managing director the company since 1997, Tang replaces David So, who resigned from his chairman, chief managing director, and executive director...

Graphic Media Products. (People).
June 1, 2003... Holiday, FL -- Carson Hsieh was promoted to vice president, Sales and Marketing (Electronics) at Graphic Media Products Inc. He joined GMP in 2000 as Director of International Sales. He has over 15 years experience as product manager and sales...

March Plasma Systems. (People).
June 1, 2003... Concord, CA -- March Plasma Systems named Dennis McGee its Global PCB Market Manager, and hired Dave Selestak as Eastern U.S. Regional Sales Manager. Newly added PCB representative firms have been appointed in both the U.S. and Asia recognizing...

Atotech USA, Insulectro form partnership.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Rock Hill, SC and Lake Forest CA -- Atotech USA and Insulectro Corp. signed an Exclusive Distribution Agreement for the supply of Atotech USA's Electronics product line to the U.S. PCB industry. Atotech has selected Insulectro as its National...

What a difference five years can make! (Asian Aspects).
June 1, 2003... I usually talk about management and strategic issues without reference to the numbers behind them. In this month's column I will be delving into some of the production statistics in Japan, and shedding some light on the direction that the...

Decoupling with surface mount capacitors: The first of a two-part discussion of what decoupling is, how it's accomplished on boards today, and how it will be done tomorrow with embedded capacitors.
June 1, 2003... In a previous article, we discussed what's on the horizon for embedded passives in general ("Moving Embedded Passives from the Lab to the Fab," CircuiTree, March 2003). In this and the next one, let's focus on what is, probably, the most...

'Adaptive management' survives tough times. (Inside Germany).
June 1, 2003... During the first two months 2003, the German PCB market showed some strength. Orders were up 10% (unofficially) from last year according to the last CEBIT. However, the outlook still remains cloudy, mostly due to the potential implications of...

Travel Jitters. (Seeing the Light).
June 1, 2003... The most notable thing about our flight to Long Beach to attend the IPC Expo was the lack of people in the airplanes and at the airports. We flew West on the Saturday before show week, only a couple days after the Iraq conflict really began....

Pacothane launches online service. (Suppliers).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... New York, NY--Pacothane Technologies launched an online service (www.pacothane.com) directed to the PCB industry's technical community. Addressing the growing need for PCB lamination enhancement, Pacothane's Web site gives the technical user...

Shipley, C2C form partnership. (Suppliers).(Copper to Copper L.L.C.)(Shipley Company L.L.C.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Marlborough, MA--Shipley Company LLC formed a partnership with Copper to Copper LLC (C2C), a New Hampshire-based company. Shipley will partner with C2C to expand its North American PWB offerings, and will become the exclusive distributor of C2C...

Isola to open Arizona technology center in August. (Suppliers).(Isola Laminate Systems Corp.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Chandler, AZ--Isola Laminate Systems Corp. said its new Technology Center (Chandler, AZ) will open in August 2003. The plant, adjacent to Isola's manufacturing operation, will house the company's U.S. R&D team, as well as dedicated product...

Isola being sold by parent company by 2004. (Suppliers).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Duren, Germany--RAG Aktiengesellschaft, the majority shareholder of Rutgers AG, will sell the company's plastics activities, including Isola AG, by the end of 2004. The management of Isola AG was informed of this development at an early stage,...

Test Technology announces sales. (Suppliers).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Carson City, NV--Test Technology International Inc. announced it sold two machines recently. Amitron Corp. purchased two TTI Model 2600, efficient dual access universal grid bare board test systems. In addition, DDI recently purchased the TTI...

HMS demos 'Speedplater'. (Suppliers).(Hollmuller Maschinenbau GmbH)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Hollmuller Maschinenbau GmbH (HMS) demonstrated its latest Speedplater technology at IPC Expo. According to the company, it has been putting the new HMS technology through its paces for two years, using tests with insoluble anodes and pulse...

Introbotics, Merix announce new board testing capability. (Suppliers).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Albuquerque, NM--Introbotics Corp. announced a new capability to test 100% of bare PWBs for controlled impedance for Merix Corp. This new test capability is provided by a robotic controlled impedance tester that meets all IPC standard...

Schenectady Int'l divests electrical insulation business. (Suppliers).
June 1, 2003... Schenectady, NY--Schenectady International Inc. agreed to sell its global electrical insulation systems business to Altana Chemie AG (Altana) of Wesel, Germany. The sale includes SII's primary and secondary insulation product lines and...

Circuits West invests in AOT. (Suppliers).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Longmont, CO-Circuits West (Longmont, CO) invested in an Excalibur AOT system from Lloyd Doyle. Circuits West specializes in the production of high-tech prototype PCBs. High scan speeds and fast set up times of the Excalibur system make it the...

"The other circuit process". (Circuits Unusual).
June 1, 2003... Today subtractive etching remains the popular process for making circuits, although additive methods (mostly semi-additive) are increasing, especially in the flex circuit area where the required thin copper substrates are available. The...

High speed transmission line requirements: impact on performance, PCB layout, fabrication and reliability.
June 1, 2003... For high speed signals with fast rise times, the length of the transmission lines and the sources of impedance discontinuities in them may utilize an unacceptable portion of the system noise budget. The impact of these impedance discontinuities...

LCP: another choice for flex circuits. (Flexible Thinking).(liquid crystal polymer)
June 1, 2003... In the realm of flexible circuits, the universe of materials used in their manufacture has largely been divided along the lines of cost and performance. While many material options exist, only two base materials for flex circuits have seen...

BoardBuyers.com launches site, service. (Products).
June 1, 2003... In March, a new service was launched to help PCB fabricators locate buyers of PCBs, primarily in the U.S. market. BoardBuyers.com identifies companies buying PCBs with specific buyers' names. Once verified, the company begins another level of...

Park Electrochemical announces N9000-13. (Products).
June 1, 2003... Lake Success, NY -- Park Electrochemical Corp. introduced its new N9000-13 RF PTFE performance blended laminate material product line. This new product line is available globally with manufacturing at Park's Neltec business unit (Tempe, AZ)....

March Plasma introduces PCB 2800 plasma treatment system. (Products).
June 1, 2003... St. Petersburg, FL -- March Plasma Systems introduced the PCB 2800 gas plasma treatment system that provides superior performance for Teflon activation and plasma uniformity for desmear and etchback in high-volume applications. The system...

Coates approve new Meteor dryers. (Products).
June 1, 2003... UK -- Working with Coates Circuit Products, Macpherson tested its Meteor Gas Dryer on both screen and curtain coat image-cure, carbon inks, single pack notation ink, and PTC and silver conductives. According to Coates, "The Meteor gas dryer...

Christopher announces new cut sheet laminator. (Products).
June 1, 2003... Santa Ana, CA -- Christopher Associates Inc. and C Sun Manufacturing introduced the CSL A32 cut sheet laminator. The CSL A32 incorporates large diameter, high-pressure rollers and a panel handling system designed to accept substrates ranging...

Polar launches Si8000m controlled impedance design system. (Products).
June 1, 2003... Waterlooville, UK -- The Polar Si8000m multiple dielectric controlled impedance design system is an all-new field solver based on the boundary element method (BEM). The Si8000 continues to use Polar's "Quicksolver" interface, but adds...

Paar Physica introduces SmartStarch Analyzer. (Products).
June 1, 2003... Ashland, VA -- The Physica SmartStarch Analyzer takes viscosity testing during starch gelation to new levels of accuracy and reproducibility. Coupling the properties of the Physica MCR rheometer with a new environmental system designed for the...

N. American market improving; SARS scrambling global picture. (Market Outlook).
June 1, 2003... Although there are conflicting signs I believe the N. American electronics market has finally "turned the corner" and is now growing on a sustainable basis. Unfortunately, in addition to real growth, some of our gains are due to the SARS crisis...

Dai Nippon Printing develops new type of PCB. (Fabrication).
June 1, 2003... Tokyo, Japan--Dai Nippon Printing Co. announced it developed a thin high-density, multilayer PCB that does not use a glass epoxy resin substrate. Circuit layers for the build-up board are piled up on a metal substrate, which is then removed,...

Nan Ya now 'number three' in Taiwan. (Fabrication).
June 1, 2003... Taipei--Nan Ya Printed Circuit Board Corp. announced an after-tax profit of NT$0.26 ($0.008) per share for 2002. The Taiwanese PCB maker experienced a pretax loss of NT$200 million ($5.8 million) last year, but a tax rebate of NT$330 million...

DDI's Virginia facility completes Mil-PRF-31032 certification. (Fabrication).
June 1, 2003... Anaheim, CA--Dynamic Details Inc. announced that its subsidiary, Dynamic Details Inc. (VA), has met all requirements for certification by the Defense Supply Center, Columbus (DSCC) for MIL-PRF3 1032.

Wurth Elektronik acquires former PPE plant. (Fabrication).
June 1, 2003... Schopfheim, Germany--Wurth Elektronik GmbH & Co. KG, a German PCB maker, purchased now-insolvent Photo Print Electronic's (PPE) Schopfheim facility in mid-April. Wurth Elektronik will retain 260 of the 380 employees in Schopfheim. In 1997, the...

Teradyne opens new Shanghai office, facility. (Fabrication).
June 1, 2003... Shanghai, China--Teradyne Inc. opened the doors of a new Shanghai office and manufacturing facility in March, expanding the company's operations in China. The 84,000 sf office will serve Chinese and multinational customers requiring test...

Northrop Grumman to make military PCBs. (Fabrication).
June 1, 2003... Columbus--Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Interconnect Technologies unit has entered the military PCB market. As part of the company's Component Technologies sector, Interconnect Technologies was granted supplier qualification by the U.S. DoD's...

DCS completes ISO 9001:2000 audit. (Fabrication).
June 1, 2003... San Jose, CA--Data Circuit Systems successfully completed a three-day ISO 9001:2000 upgrade audit. Subsequently, DCS has been registered to the new ISO 9001/2000 international quality standard by Underwriter's Laboratories. According to Quality...

Fine lines in high yield (Part XCIII): imaging backplanes--problems with resist lamination and exposure. (Tech Talk).
June 1, 2003... Backplanes are an essential part of the internet infrastructure where they are found in high-speed switches and routers. Since the internet first evolved in the U.S., American board fabricators were able to maintain a lead in this PWB market...

Congresswoman tours Circuit-Wise.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... On Thursday, April 24, 2003, Rosa DeLauro, U.S. Congresswoman, 3rd District, Connecticut, visited Circuit-Wise, Inc. (North Haven, CT) to meet with employees and management Circuit-Wise, Inc. is a large PCB manufacturer, and has been a...

Viasystems France takeover bid rejected. (Board Buyers).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Paris--A French commercial court rejected a Viasystems France takeover bid by GMD, a manufacturer of sheet metal. GMD's takeover bid was met with employee and trade union protests at the Viasystems France facility. Viasystems said it would...

Solectron reports $2.8 billion sales for second quarter. (Board Buyers).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Milpitas, CA--Solectron Corp. reported fiscal second-quarter sales of $2.8 billion, in line with the company's guidance for sales of $2.8 to $3 billion. That compares with sales of $3 billion in the same quarter last year and $3.1 billion in...

Jabil Circuit reports $10 million sales in second quarter. (Board Buyers).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... St. Petersburg, FL--Jabil Circuit Inc. reported results for the second quarter of fiscal 2003, ending late February. Revenue for the quarter increased 39 percent to $1.15 billion compared to $0.82 billion for the same period of fiscal 2002. Net...

IEC Electronics sells facility to Olympian Holdings. (Board Buyers).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Newark, NY--IEC Electronics Corp. sold its former manufacturing facility in Edinburg, Texas for a purchase price of approximately $1 million to Olympian Holdings. The proceeds from the sale of the facility were used to reduce long-term debt and...

Motorola licenses technology to Unimicron. (Board Buyers).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Schaumburg, IL--Motorola Labs, the applied research arm of Motorola, Inc. licensed its Embedded Mezzanine Capacitor PWB (EMC PWB) Technology to Unimicron Technology Corp. (Taiwan). Unimicron will be able to fabricate PWBs incorporating embedded...