CircuiTree articles from June 2006

CircuiTree archives from June 2006

Government responsible for job opportunities.(Inbox)(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2006... Thank you for Steve Gold's excellent column ["As the World Turns," CircuiTree April 2006]. As a forty-year veteran of the electronics industry in France, I help represent our industry by working with the government to create a better...

More Kudos for 'As the World Turns'.(Inbox)(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2006... I just wanted to tell you that your [April column] was right on target. Fantastic. Do you remember Pogo? He said, "We have met the enemy, and he is us."

Who will pick up the gauntlet?(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2006... I just read the response Lee had to my editorial reply [Letters, CircuiTree April 2006] and I am a bit vexed about it. I don't know if you're interested in continuing this public debate, but I did get quite a few calls from colleagues in both...

The rule of three.(restriction of hazardous substances directive)
June 1, 2006... In April, Green SupplyLine (greensupplyline.com) published a report by Gene Vigilante of Sparton Electronics titled "RoHS Compliance Calls for a Product-Based Strategy." In it, Vigilante discusses three product classifications regarding...

The technology trifecta.(The Way We See It)
June 1, 2006... Korea's electronics industry is something of a miracle. The country's PCB market exceeded $5.6 billion (5.3 trillion won) last year, and should reach $6.5 billion (6.8 trillion won) by 2010, according to the Korean Printed Circuit Association...

High frequency materials: setting the pace for lead-free processing.
June 1, 2006... This article compares the thermal properties, copper bond retention capabilities, and multilayer board reliabilities of one family of high performance materials against the expectations of a lead-free capable material system. [ILLUSTRATION...

DuPont, Agfa announce Asian distribution agreement.(Supply Line News)
June 1, 2006... Research Triangle Park, NC -- DuPont Printed Circuit Materials (PCM), and Agfa Specialty Products announced that DuPont will distribute the new Agfa Idealine[TM] brand silver halide phototooling films and chemicals to PWB fabricators in the...

Mason Electronics appoints Christopher Associates as North American distributor.(Supply Line News)
June 1, 2006... Santa Ana, CA -- Mason Electronics (Hong Kong & Shenzhen, China) entered into a distribution contract for their electrical test products for the North American market with Christopher Associates Inc. (Santa Ana, CA). Mason, a supplier of...

Agfa and MIE intensify cooperation.(Agfa Deutschland GmbH)(MIE GmbH)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Agfa Deutschland GmbH (Cologne) and MIE GmbH (Friedrichsdorf) have been working together successfully for the past two years. MIE expanded the distribution of Agfa Vivaldi films in Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, and...

Westwind exhibits at Circuitex 2006.(Westwind Air Bearings)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Westwind Air Bearings exhibited its latest range of spindles at Circuitex Suzhou Show 2006. Westwind displayed the Storm 200,000 rpm PCB drilling spindle, the company's fastest full range spindle ever. Westwind also showed its high-speed air...

Hi-Tech chooses Direct Logix.(Engineering/planning software)(Hi-Tech PCB Express Service)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Skopje, Macedonia -- Direct Logix Inc. announced the technology purchase made by Hi-Tech PCB Express Service of Control Center XP[TM] automated PCB Engineering/planning software for PCB manufacturing. "We are proud to have been selected by...

LPKF Laser & Electronics winner of SMT Vision Award.(Supply Line News)
June 1, 2006... Wilsonville, OR -- The SMT Vision Award 2005 was awarded to LPKF Laser & Electronics for its innovation and excellence in products and service, within the Assembly Tools category. The MicroLine 350Ci is a benchmark for modern vision in...

Pri-Dana Elektronik, Viking Test Services ink deal.(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Pri-Dana Elektronik, a Danish PCB manufacturer, purchased a Double Density Mason bare board tester from Viking Test Services. The Mason bare board tester offers good performance/price ration giving Pri-Dana a lower cost per test. The double...

Quality One Test Fixturing selects Excellon.(One Test Fixturing, Inc)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Rancho Dominguez, CA -- Roy Cripps, Excellon's Vice President of Sales and Marketing, announced that Quality One Test Fixturing, Inc. placed an order for an Excellon Concept 129 CNC Drilling machine with vision. The Concept 129 is a family of...

More AOT for Korea.(Young Eak Technology Co)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Lloyd Doyle announced details of its latest Automatic Optical Test installation in Korea. Young Eak Technology Co. Ltd. has taken delivery of another Excalibur 5000X[.sup.2] system for use in its prototype facility in Incheon City. The...

Taconic engineering efforts recognized by IPC.(Committee Service Award )(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... David Wynants, Senior Process Engineer of Taconic Advanced Dielectric Division in Petersburgh, NY, was presented with a Distinguished Committee Service Award by IPC. This award was given to David, along with other committee members, in...

CEMCO-FSL announces more installations.(machine was installed )(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Hampshire, UK -- CEMCO-FSL, inassociation with MIT S.L., Barcelona, announced the sale of a new Lead Free 24" Quicksilver Vertical hot air leveling machine to Deuska S.L. (Poligono De Ventas, Spain). The machine was installed in January. ...

Global mobile phone shipments to reach 1 billion units in 2006.(Data Transfer)
June 1, 2006... Boston -- Global mobile phone shipments grew an impressive 31 percent year-over-year, to reach 229 million units during Q1 2006, according to the latest research from Strategy Analytics. Following this strong performance, Strategy Analytics...

Living in interesting times.(Fein-Lines)
June 1, 2006... Whoever first verbalized the old Chinese adage "May you live in interesting times" must have had spring 2006 in mind. If your view of the world comes from TV network news it seems that doom and gloom prevail. As of April, the U.S. is dealing...

Polymer-core solder balls: an alternative to solid solder balls?(electronic packaging )
June 1, 2006... A report on exploratory work with polymer-core solder balls in electronic packaging applications. The results reveal insufficient reliability in thermal cycling tests but point to potential novel packaging solutions. Technology Drivers ...

Automotive electronics market to grow to $163.46 billion in 2008.(Data Transfer)
June 1, 2006... Electronics firms have been aggressively pushing their product lineups in an attempt to increase their share of the growing automotive electronics market. "Most electronics firms hope to leverage their advantages in consumer electronics to tap...

Aculight.(Robert Afzal joined)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Bothell, WA -- Aculight Corporation announced Dr. Robert Afzal has joined the company as Director of Technology Development. "We're pleased to welcome Rob Afzal to Aculight," said Don Rich, Aculight president and CEO. "Rob not only has an...

DDi.(Dynamic Details Inc. appointed Michael Sheehy and Sally Goff)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Anaheim, CA -- DDi appointed two new members to its executive management team: Michael Sheehy, Vice President of Sales, and Sally Goff, Chief Financial Officer. "Mike and Sally add considerable talent to our senior management team," said Mikel...

Park Electrochemical.(Power People News)
June 1, 2006... Melville, NY -- Park Electrochemical Corp. appointed Jane Chee as Director of Sales, Asia Pacific. She will report to Tony DiGaudio, the Vice President of Sales of Park. Chee has many years of sales and marketing experience in the electronic...

Search for a new device could catalyze a circuit board revolution.(Circuits Unusual)
June 1, 2006... The printed circuit board has not fundamentally changed in its century of existence. While PCB making has improved, we still place copper patterns on dielectric substrate. The conductor patterning process has evolved from cutting strips of...

GSPK Circuits launches new company, new products.(Ampohm Wound Products Ltd.)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Knaresborough-based GSPK Circuits Ltd. showcased its new company, Ampohm Wound Products Ltd. The new company was established to manufacture and develop a specialist range of standard and custom-made capacitors and interference compressors for...

Coretec chooses Chinese partner.(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Toronto -- Coretec chose a Chinese sourcing partner. "Over the past number of months, we have had teams in China assessing prospective sourcing partners across a wide range of criteria--business cultural fit, communication competency, technical...

Electropac adds FR408, IS410, and Nelco-13 to UL listing.(Fab Focus News)
June 1, 2006... Electropac now offers three choices for lead-free base materials. FR 408 for high-speed applications, IS410 for more traditional PCBs where cost is a major consideration, and Nelco-13 is for high-temperature applications. This allows Electropac...

Graphic snags award.(West of England Aerospace Forum )(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Graphic Plc received the "Crystal Globe," a highly respected award from the West of England Aerospace Forum (WEAF), in the category of Competitiveness Improvement Program (CIP). The 2006 Competitiveness Improvement Award was given to recognize...

Sierra Proto Express implements Control Center XP[TM].(Fab Focus News)
June 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.

Isola USA, Rogers settles patent infringement case.(Fab Focus News)
June 1, 2006... Chandler, AZ -- Isola USA Corp., a subsidiary of Isola Group, settled its patent infringement case with Rogers Corporation involving Rogers U.S. Patent Nos. 5,972,811 and 5,571,609 and that the lawsuit has been dismissed. Isola USA Corp....

Photocircuits completes sale to AMPAC.(American Pacific Financial Corp.)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Glen Cove, NY -- Photocircuits completed the sale of its business to a newly formed subsidiary of American Pacific Financial Corporation (AMPAC), a private equity investor from San Bernardino, Calif. The company will continue to operate under...

Nitto Denko to start producing LCD boards.(Fab Focus News)
June 1, 2006... Osaka -- Nitto Denko Corp. will enter the business of PCB assembly for LCDs, investing 10 billion yen to boost output capacity at an existing plant to 50 million units a month by the end of fiscal 2007.

RoHS: the supply chain challenge; A comprehensive study, conducted by Flextronics, reveals the impact that both environmental compliance initiatives and customer "green" partner initiatives will have on the supply chain of most corporations.(restriction of hazardous substances directive )(Cover story)
June 1, 2006... In 2001, after RoHS Directive 2002-95-EC was enacted, supply chain managers from most major corporations echoed major concerns. At that time, even though the full impact of the legislation was still being evaluated, supply chain personnel began...

School daze: Cambridge hosts printed electronics conference; Drilling holes and etching copper? That's so last century. Read on to learn what printed electronics will look like in the near future.
June 1, 2006... It's electronics, Jim, but not as we know it! There was no science-fiction in the agenda of this year's Printed Electronics Europe conference, sub-headed "The Next Stage: Commercialisation of Printed Electronics." For anyone like me,...

Fine lines in high yield (Part CXXIX): copper whiskers.(Tech Talk)
June 1, 2006... Copper whiskers? Who has heard and cares about copper whiskers! You probably meant tin whiskers? No, copper whiskers! True, the phenomenon of "tin whisker growth" has fascinated and plagued the industry for decades and has more recently been...

Smart packaging market to reach $4.8 billion by 2011.(Data Transfer)
June 1, 2006... Glen Allen, VA -- The global smart packaging market will grow to $4.8 billion in 2011 and reach $14.1 billion in 2013, according to a new report from NanoMarkets, LC, a market research firm based here. The report titled, "Smart Packaging...

Technology interchange shows how business, government can work together.
June 1, 2006... As many of you know, IPC has worked cooperatively with Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC, Crane) in Crane, Ind., for many years to support an R & D center for the U.S. PCB industry. We recently had the opportunity to hold a...

Inkjet technology comes of age: the advantages to digital printing inkjet technology are clear. But will a dearth of printing heads and inkjet lacquers needed for this process keep it in adolescence?
June 1, 2006... Fast. Effective. Flexible. Since the 1990s, digital printing inkjet technology has been heralded as a promising application process for the PCB manufacturing. But only know is it becoming a mainstream technology. The advantages are clear,...

GCA Technology announces RCS.(software)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Pembroke, MA -- Jerry Antoine of GCA Technology announced "RCS": a system that solves registration problems affecting mechanical and laser-drilled holes. The product consists of software modules that distort a drill pattern to fit the actual...

LPKF Laser & Electronics announces MicroLine 350Ci.(Technology Today News)
June 1, 2006... Wilsonville, OR -- LPKF Laser & Electronics announce a new tool for PCB assembly. The MicroLine 350Ci is a benchmark for modern vision in technology, representing new ideas and practices that achieve brand new capabilities. By utilizing its...

Double sided, roll to roll imaging for HDI flexible circuits.(Hi-Tech Co. Ltd.)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Tokyo -- Hi-Tech Co. Ltd., a supplier of roll to roll (RTR) imaging machines, released several new models geared for HDI flex market manufacturers. The new RTR machines provide increased process yields for double side imaging with high...

Lackwerke Peters announces environmentally friendly coatings.(Technology Today News)
June 1, 2006... Lackwerke Peters announced its line of environment-friendly conformal/permanent coatings: ELPEGUARD[R] SL 1301 ECO-FLZ, ELPEGUARD[R] SL 1400 ECO-FLZ; the water-borne ELPEGUARD[R] SL 1305 AQ; the fast-curing ELPEGUARD[R] thick film lacquer...

Mentor Graphics releases new translators, XtremeAR[TM].(Technology Today News)
June 1, 2006... Wilsonville, OR -- Mentor Graphics announced the availability of new translators that enable migration of Protel, P-CAD and OrCAD designs and libraries to PADS[R] PCB design solutions. The release of the translators makes it even easier for...

Rogers introduces RO4450[TM]-dx Bondply at Del Mar Electronics.(Technology Today News)
June 1, 2006... Rogers, CT -- Rogers Corporation revealed its new RO4450B[TM]-dx Bondply, a high fill/flow version of the industry standard RO4450B[TM] Series High Frequency Circuit Material, at this year's Del Mar Electronics Show. RO4450B Series circuit...

Mentor Graphics' XtremeAR reduces auto-routing times on large PCBs.(Data Transfer)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Wilsonville, OR -- Mentor Graphics revealed the XtremeAR[TM] product targeted at electronics companies designing large PCBs. XtremeAR, Mentor's second product to use the company's patented Xtreme design technology, enables the simultaneous...

Another bubble on the horizon?(electronics industry)
June 1, 2006... North American business conditions were surprisingly strong in the first four months of 2006. The April U.S. Purchasing Managers' Index rose to a 5-month high (Chart 1), electronic equipment orders surged to their "2000 bubble" levels (Chart...

Lead-free: the final countdown.(Flexible Thinking)
June 1, 2006... Next month on July 1st, the EU is slated to bring into force its legislated ban on lead in electronic solders. This is covered under the moniker of Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) which restricts the use of a number of naturally...

CircuiTex Suzhou: regional Chinese exhibition gains strength.(CircuiTex 2006)
June 1, 2006... Suzhou, China -- January: InterNepcon Japan (Tokyo). February: IPC Printed Circuits Expo and APEX (Anaheim). March: CPCA Show (Shanghai). April: Nepcon China (Shanghai). Does the PCB industry really need another trade show? Does it need a third...

Manufacturing information, documentation and transfer (Part 1).(Happy Thoughts)
June 1, 2006... This will be the first in a three-part article about PCB manufacturing information and CAM tooling. This is a timely topic because I have had a lot of questions from OEMs about "What is the best way to document our board as we go to Asia?" ...

Manufacturing information, documentation and transfer (Part 2).(Happy Thoughts)
June 1, 2006... Fabrication Information Formats Gerber Data. Developed with the first NC photoplotters in the early 1970s, Gerber data is the oldest artwork format. It's also the least complete, consisting of: 1) aperture wheel definition, 2) X-Y starting...

Rogers, P. Kay Metal, receive awards at Del Mar Electronics Show 2006.(Data Transfer)
June 1, 2006... Rogers, CT -- Rogers Corporation and P. Kay Metal were each recognized for having the most innovative products in an awards ceremony at The Del Mar Electronics Show in April. This was the first of what will become an Annual Product Innovation...

ESCC2006: a unique event from EIPC, CircuiTree Magazine and EMSNow.(Data Transfer)
June 1, 2006... The EIPC is proud to announce a one-of-a-kind event, the European Supply Chain Convention 2006. Partnering with CircuiTree and EMSNow, EIPC will bring global OEM, ODM, EMS, PCB makers and industry suppliers together in Cologne, Germany, on...

JEDEC, IPC release tin whisker acceptance testing standard.(Data Transfer)
June 1, 2006... Herndon and Arlington, VA -- JEDEC and the International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI) announced the availability of two documents intended to help manufacturers reduce the risk of tin whiskers in lead-free products. The first is...

Events.(Website)(Calendar)
June 1, 2006... JPCA Show 2006 May 31-June 2, 2006 Tokyo Big Site Tokyo, Japan Phone: 03-5310-2020 E-mail: show@jpca.org Website: www.jpcashow.com CircuiTree LIVE Advanced Technologies for Packaging, Flex, and Rigid Flex ...