CircuiTree articles from June 2005

CircuiTree archives from June 2005

You don't need to attend political events to be politically effective.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2005... In the March issue of CircuiTree, you expressed some disappointment at the limited turnout of California PCB companies during Sacramento Day. There's no reason for disappointment. Even a small number of attendees demonstrates the industry's...

Don't fear automation. Think.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2005... Why does the PCB industry remain labor intensive? Automation certainly helps our industry, yet problems remain. During my younger days in a tiny village in southern India, I studied agriculture and cattle: the region's main source of income....

Laminate materials.(Supplier Spotlight)
June 1, 2005... Rogers Corp. answers some questions regarding materials for high speed digital applications, and why dimensional stability continues to be a challenge for PCB fabricators. Q: Is there a dominant application for high speed digital right...

Lead-free or die!(The Way We See It)
June 1, 2005... In case you've been living in a plastic bubble, the European Union passed two mandates. The Waste Electrical and Electronics Equipment (WEEE) Directive requires manufacturers to deposit cash covering costs incurred in the collection, treatment,...

Stripline performance in hybrid printed circuit boards: the hybrid construction of FR4 laminate and low loss prepreg improves signal transmission due to lower attenuation consistent with a lower effective dielectric loss tangent.
June 1, 2005... Design constraints for today's high data rate boards are forcing increased layer count when using conventional FR4 materials or the use of more expensive high performance dielectric materials to achieve lower signal attenuation and permit...

Conductors.(Circuits Unusual)
June 1, 2005... Circuit definitions typically include, "a patterned array of electrical conductors." But we rarely stop to think about what a conductor might be made from even though it's the most important part of the circuit. This is because the conductor is...

Advanced West gets new home.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Santa Ana, CA -- Advanced West, a seller of previously owned and rebuilt PCB equipment, announced that it has moved to a new location. Located less than a mile from its previous facility, the new address is: 1027 S. Linwood Ave, Santa Ana, CA...

Camtek receives $5 million order from Taiwan.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Migdal Ha'emek, Israel -- Camtek Ltd. received an $5.2 million order from a Taiwanese PCB manufacturer for the Dragon, Orion, Pegasus and LAM systems. The systems are for the AOI of the customer's advanced PCB and IC substrates in its...

Nikko Materials USA completes business consolidation.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Chandler, AZ -- Nikko Materials USA Inc. consolidated its U.S. manufacturing, administration and R & D facilities at its Chandler, Arizona location. This move concentrates resources and technical expertise formerly located in several states....

Viking signs agency agreement with Mason.(Viking Test Services., Mason Electronics Company Ltd.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... At the CPCA show, Shanghai, Viking Test Services signed an exclusive agency agreement with Mason Electronics Co. Ltd., China. Mason Electronics, China is a manufacturer of universal grid test systems. Viking will offer 100% back-up and support...

Everett Charles Technologies acquires APG Test Consultants.(Suppliers)
June 1, 2005... Cost Mesa, CA -- Everett Charles Technologies has acquired APG Test Consultants Inc. Transaction terms were not disclosed. RSM EquiCo Capital Markets initiated the transaction. "With this acquisition, Everett Charles gains additional software...

Park Electrochemical names Lamar Group, Municom as distributors.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Melville, NY -- Park Electrochemical Corp. announced that Lamar Group Ltd. is now representing Park's advanced digital substrate materials in Great Britain and Ireland. Lamar will sell, distribute and warehouse products manufactured by Park's...

OS-Tech searches for Asian distributors.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Dallas, TX -- OS-Tech is seeking Asian distributors, particularly in Taiwan and Japan. Founder and owner Bob Oliver, Sr., has seen his company expand over the years into many areas of the PCB fabrication supply business. With the explosion of...

Chemcut announces change in ownership.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... State College, PA -- Chemcut Corp. announced a change in ownership, as sole owner Don Houtz stepped down after 26 years as COO. An employee group backed by local investors will take over the wet processing equipment business. Rick Lies,...

KCE buys Cimnet software.(Cimnet Systems Inc sells suite of products to KCE Electronics PLC.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Downers Grove, IL -- Cimnet Systems, Inc. sold its suite of products (Navipoint, i-Quote, and Engenix software) to Thailand-based KCE, southeast Asia's largest PCB fabricator.

Hollmuller expands distribution coverage with Tapco.(Suppliers)(HMS Hollmuller GmbH)(Tapco Circuit Supply )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Elk Grove Village, IL -- Tapco Circuit Supply expanded its representative agreement with HMS Hollmuller to include the western half of the U.S. Hollmuller is a wet process equipment manufacturer, headquartered in Herrenberg, Germany.

Controlling impedance down to the chip.(Flexible Thinking)
June 1, 2005... High-speed electronic signal circuits place significant demands on the circuits and interconnections employed in their point-to-point transmission. This is becoming increasingly important as signal speeds enter the multi-gigahertz range. The...

IPC.(Tom McCabe appointed)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Bannockburn, IL -- Tom McCabe, CPA, is the newest addition to the IPC staff. As CFO and vice president of administration, McCabe will have responsibility for the general management of all IPC's financial, human resources, information technology...

IPC SMEMA Council.(People)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Bannockburn, IL -- IPC announced that four new committee members have been elected to the IPC SMEMA Council Steering Committee. The new steering committee members, elected to three-year terms are: Alec Babiarz, senior vice president, Asymtek;...

GSPK Electronics.(appointments)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Nicolas Wolff joined GSPK Electronics to gain specific and detailed experience in assembly techniques used within the electronics and manufacturing industries ready to take back to France. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Using the newly...

ESI.(Electro Scientific Industries Inc. appoints Naoki Nishio)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Portland, OR -- Electro Scientific Industries Inc. appointed Naoki Nishio as President and Representative Director ESI Japan. In March 2003, Mr. Nishio joined the company as ESI's Japan Technology Center Manager. Nishio will report to ESI's...

Excellon Automation.(William (Jon) Krum appointed)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Torrance, CA -- Excellon Automation named William (Jon) Krum as its Midwest Business Manager. His responsibilities include business development, customer satisfaction, contract negotiation and account management.

Chemcut under new ownership.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Chemcut Corporation (State College, PA) has announced that an employee group, backed by local investors, assumed ownership of its D-E-S Equipment business on April 18th. The group purchased the business from Don Houtz, sole owner of Chemcut who...

Compatibility of epoxy-based PCBs to lead-free assembly: Dicy-cured epoxy base materials cannot withstand the thermal stress of several soldering steps. Phenolic-cured epoxy materials, however, might solve this problem--but only if the PCB manufacturer knows how.(Printed circuit boards)
June 1, 2005... The impact of lead-free assembly on solder and flux material selection, equipment and component compatibility, suitable PCB and component finish metallization and necessary logistics modifications have been discussed for more than a year. But...

Fine lines in high yield (Part CXVII): hole voids (Part D).(TechTalk)
June 1, 2005... Conductor via through-hole voids, or "hole voids," are a variety of defects stemming from a number of different causes leading to insufficient or missing metal coverage in the conductor via. This four-part Tech Talk series is an update of the...

Young Poong acquires KCC, now second to Samsung.(Korea Circuit )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Seoul -- Young Poong Group announced that it acquired Korea Circuit for $47.9 million (48 billion won), making Young Poong Group South Korea's second largest PCB manufacturer. On April 28, 2005, Young Poong paid around 8,888 won per share...

Circatex explores ink jet printing.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Circatex is exploring a possible venture with ink jet printing technology companies to manufacture production-scale PCBs using ink jet printing in two to three years. According to a report in Electronics Weekly, Circatex is in talks with the...

Trackwise snags Queen's Award.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Trackwise won a Queen's Award for Enterprise: International Trade for increasing exports of its boards from [pounds sterling]500,000 to over [pounds sterling]2 million in three years, including recent orders to China. Trackwise, formed in 1989,...

EIT selects Schmoll system.(Endicott Interconnect Technologies Inc., Schmoll Maschinen.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Garden Grove, CA -- Endicott Interconnect Technologies selected Schmoll Maschinen for furnishing vision equipped drilling and routing systems. These single station machines (4 units) will consist of a single-station panel having both a drilling...

Photocircuits, GBM Group announce venture near Shanghai.(Global Brands Manufacture Group )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Glen Cove, NY -- Photocircuits formed a new venture with Global Brands Manufacture Group in China. This plant, completed in 2004 in Kunshan, occupies 70,000 square meters of floor space. The terms of the venture were not disclosed. GBM will be...

Merix acquires Eastern Pacific Circuits.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Merix acquired the operations of Eastern Pacific Circuits Ltd. (EPC), a Hong Kong-based PCB manufacturer. The purchase price is $120 million cash at closing plus earn-out consideration of up to $8 million based on calendar 2005 adjusted EBITDA....

Matrix USA expands to California.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Toronto -- Matrix USA Inc. made a major expansion of its North American business base into California. Marv Bain, former President of Circuit Image Systems Inc., will assume the operational leadership role for the new venture. His first...

Advanced Circuits' employees pass test.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Aurora, CO -- Advanced Circuits certified 100 percent of its production staff on the technical requirements of PCB manufacturing. According to the company, the program develops better-trained and more knowledgeable workers, resulting in a...

FabFile reveals 2005 PCB Sales Handbook.(Products)(Buyers Guide)
June 1, 2005... FabFile announced it has produced its latest PCB Sales Handbook. The 145-page edition contains contact profiles of all U.S. and Canadian PCB manufacturing facilities. Extracted from the complete CD-based FabFile Network database, there are...

Teradyne unveils ClearVue[TM].(Products)(Brief Article)(Buyers Guide)
June 1, 2005... North Reading, MA -- Teradyne Inc. announced a breakthrough in 3D X-Ray imaging technology for detecting PCB solder and production defects. Using a patented Off-Center Tomosynthesis imaging technique, the ClearVue X-Ray technology is suited for...

Transene introduces adhesion promoter and cleaner for gold surfaces.(Products)
June 1, 2005... Transene Company introduced its Gold/Silver cleaner for a range of packaging and electronics applications. Gold/Silver cleaner is a high purity material with a proprietary detergent formulation ideal for cleaning gold and silver surfaces prior...

GOPEL electronic presents new AOI platform.(Products)(Buyers Guide)
June 1, 2005... GOPEL electronic GmbH revealed its new AOI platform: the OptiCon series. The system series' core piece is a modularly extendable camera, allowing the alternative selection between a one- and four mega-pixel camera module. For an even higher...

H & R Super Chem announces TEFLUO-ETCH.(Products)
June 1, 2005... Huntington Beach, CA -- H & R Super Chem released TEFLUO-ETCH, a chemistry designed to enhance bond-ability of fluoropolymer, such as PTFE. This formulation enhances the molecular structure of the fluorocarbon chain allowing increased surface...

Hymmen reveals double belt presses.(Products)(Buyers Guide)
June 1, 2005... The Hymmen Group, a supplier of double belt presses, short cycle presses, and roller laminating lines, introduced the IsoPress[R] Type PCB. This Double Belt Press works on an isobaric press system based on an air pressure cushion principle...

New materials and build-up constructions for advanced rigid-flex PCB applications: by using new materials and process combinations, fabricators are manufacturing rigid-flex PCBs for applications once exclusively served by conventional boards.(pure country weavers)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... To achieve the increasing functionality requirements of electronic devices, PCB routing has become more demanding with increased component I/O density. There has been a real need for increasing the layer count in the build-up boards from one...

DDI, Noble Industries announce more closures.(Dynamic Details Inc.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... In late April, Noble Industries closed its 34,000 square-foot PCB facility located in Hibbing, Minnesota. The owners, Stan and Judy Gentry, said softening demand and stiff foreign competition precipitated the closure. Noble Industries at one...

Del Mar Electronics Show 2005 grows up.(Fein-Lines)
June 1, 2005... The 11th annual Del Mar Electronics Show was held on April 27th and 28th at the Del Mar Fair Grounds just north of San Diego. This year's show was the largest to date with almost 500 exhibitors from many segments of the electronics industry...

Delphi opens new Chinese facility.
June 1, 2005... Suzhou -- Delphi Corp. celebrated the inauguration of its newly expanded manufacturing operations in China with local officials and customers during a special ceremony. Delphi Electronics Suzhou Operations, located in the Suzhou Industrial...

North American PCB industry makes some moves.(Market Outlook)(Printed circuit boards)
June 1, 2005... TTM Technologies' CEO Kent Alder summed up the North American business climate (for non-niche players) in TTM's1Q'05 financial report: "Market demand was relatively stable in the first quarter of 2005, albeit with slightly greater than expected...

Democracy and standardization.(IPCIssuesandAnswers)(Institute for Printed Circuits Association)(Column)
June 1, 2005... It's time to get involved. I firmly believe that IPC is a member-driven association. Does that mean all of our programs and projects benefit and are supported by all the members? Ideally, that should be the case, but in practice it...

Enthone opens Shanghai Technical Service Centre.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Hong Kong -- In May, Enthone Inc. opened its Shanghai Technical Service Centre. The facility enhances the company's ability to provide technical support, applications engineering, analytical services, sales and product warehousing throughout...

Pyramid scheme: advanced laminate materials.
June 1, 2005... In BPA Consulting's ongoing work looking at system architecture, component performance and the interconnect needs to bring these together, it has developed a pyramid structure to help companies understand the performance positioning of the...

Rigid flexible PCBs for the next generation of automotive electronics: a discussion of flex-rigid circuit board techniques for applications in automotive electronic systems, including the new yellow-flex circuit.(Printed Circuit Board)
June 1, 2005... Modern cars use many electronic devices--with some demanding more than 250 individual electronic controller systems. These systems can be found, for example, under the hood, in the power train, in the passenger cabin, or near the wheels. ...

Events.(Calendar)
June 1, 2005... June 1-3, 2005 JPCA Show 2005 Tokyo Big Sight (Tokyo, Japan) Visit: www.jpcashow.com June 7-10, 2005 International Conference on Lead Free Electronics Barcelona, Spain Hosted by IPC/Soldertec Global Visit...