CircuiTree articles from March 2003

CircuiTree archives from March 2003

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2003... Don't Blame China for U.S. Woes I just read "An Open Letter to Representative Loretta Sanchez," [by CCA president Dick Crowe, February Letters, page 31. Having worked for PCB manufacturing in Hong Kong and China for years, I feel very...

Value selling. (Columns).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Reacting to pressures--real and perceived--from customers and suppliers, and failing to educate and promote its own contributions to technology and Customer Value is surely a prescription for -- an industry's demise.

Impact of the dielectric coefficient on the performance of buried capacitance materials. (Articles).
March 1, 2003... A discussion of the impact on board performance caused by replacing an existing buried capacitance layer with another using a different dielectric material.

Stand up or shut(ter) up. (The Way We See It).
March 1, 2003... Ambitech. Bay Area Circuits. Burkle North America. Ceco Industries. Circuit Lam. EIS, Fabfile Systems. Fein-Line Associates/Quantum Performance Group. Hallmark Circuits. MicroCraft. Pro-Tech. RBP Chemical Technology. Sprig Circuits. What...

The future of PCB printing? An introduction to ink jet printing: Why ink jet printing could prove revolutionary for the PCB production process.
March 1, 2003... INK JET printing is no longer a technology limited to plastic boxes sitting on your desk that quickly produce cheap color pictures from your computer. The technology, particularly the print-heads, has advanced to the stage where it is now a...

Where are they now? Joe LaLiberte: a Korean War Hero, competes with China once again. (Fein-Lines).(profile of Joe LaLiberte, CEO of Trans/Circuits)(Biography)
March 1, 2003... It was the early 1950s, and a young Joe LaLiberte was in competition with China. The competition at that time was for small patch of real estate in Korea--not for PWB marketshare. For those of you that don't know Joe, he is a 50-year veteran of...

True Laminates. (People).(appoints Dan Osenbaugh)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Tustin, CA--True Laminates appointed Dan Osenbaugh president of the company. He has over 30 years experience in the PCB industry, coming to True Laminates from Multiline Technology where he held the position of vice president of sales. Previous...

ITEQ Manufacturing Services. (People).(names John Phinney)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Leominster, MA--ITEQ Manufacturing Services named John Phinney president of its East coast division (Leominster, MA). In addition to assisting in the foundation of the new division, he will be responsible for national sales and marketing, and...

Cookson Electronics PWB Materials & Chemistry. (People).(promotes Carl Chiang)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Londonderry, NH--Carl Chiang has been promoted to business director, North China by Cookson Electronics PWB Materials & Chemistry. Chiang will be responsible for the sales and technical support of Polyclad Laminates materials and Enthone PWB...

DDi Corp. (People).(Mark R. Benham and David Dominik resign)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Anaheim, CA-DDi Corp. announced that Mark R. Benham and David Dominik each resigned as a director of DDi Corp. Dominik also resigned as a director of DDi Capital Corp. and as a director of each other direct or indirect subsidiary of DDi Corp....

March Plasma Systems. (People).(names Dennis McGee)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Westlake, OH--March Plasma Systems named Dennis McGee global PCB market manager. McGee will expand customer alliances and strengthen partnerships with material and equipment suppliers to develop future plasma product offerings for the PCB...

Electro Scientific Industries. (People).(names Bob Chamberlain)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Portland, OR--Electro Scientific Industries Inc. named Bob Chamberlain vice president, customer operations. He will oversee worldwide sales, service and marketing for the company. Chamberlain has an extensive background in high technology and...

DuPont Electronic Technologies. (People).(employees honored by IPC)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Research Triangle Park, NC--The IPC honored three employees from DuPont Electronic Technologies Flexible Circuit Materials (FCM) business. Tom Fisher, FCM product manager, Tom Gardeski, global technical representative, and Ross Neu, FCM product...

VOGT electronic FUBA. (People).(hires Andreas Rudel and Aifredo Ronca)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Gittelde, Germany--VOGT electronic FUBA GmbH added two new sales employees to increase sales in France and the U.S. Andreas Rudel is responsible for the customer service and canvassing of new customers in France and French-speaking Switzerland....

Microtek Labs. (People).(hires Karin Swenson and promotes Patrick Wilkerson)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Anaheim, CA--Microtek Labs hired Karin Swenson as UL programs director. Swenson served as UL group lead engineer at Underwriters Laboratories (Santa Clara, CA) for five years. Microtek also promoted Patrick Wilkerson to the position of UL...

Isola. (People).(Rudiger Richartz and Lutz Freytag)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Duren, Germany--Isola AG announced changes in its management board. Rudiger Richartz and Dr. Lutz Freytag joined the supervisory board in 2003. Richartz came to Isola in February. where he assumed the position of managing director in charge of...

Jabil Circuit. (People).(appoints Michel Charriau)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... St. Petersburg, FL--Jabil Circuit Inc. appointed Michel Charriau to Chief Operating Officer, Europe, effective immediately.

Enthone. (People).(appoints Keisuke Nishu)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... West Haven, CT--Keisuke Nishu was appointed regional business development manager, Plating and Metallization by Enthone Inc. His primary responsibility will be the sales development and technical service support of Enthone[R] PWB plating and...

Orbotech. (People).(appoints Barry Cohen)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Billerica, MA--Orbotech Inc. appointed Barry Cohen as president and CEO. Cohen joined Orbotech in 1994 as eastern region manager. He was later promoted to vice president of sales, PCB Division and most recently held the position of vice...

Technology roadmaps: Are we there yet? (View from the Middle).(PCB technology roadmaps)
March 1, 2003... "Are we there yet?" What parent has not fielded this question from the depths of the back seat during a road trip? Where are we going, and how are we going to get there? That depends on the purpose of the trip. Perhaps the goal is to get there...

Plasma processes for printed circuit board manufacturing: new technology, high-performance boards require the use of plasma in numerous manufacturing steps.(Industry Overview)
March 1, 2003... Accelerating performance requirements are driving the demand for high-speed, multilayer PCBs. Traditional manufacturing methods for laminating these layered boards and removing residue from the vias are no longer effective. The use of radio...

IPC releases APEX 2003 Technical Conference schedule.
March 1, 2003... Northbrook, IL--IPC has announced the technical conference sessions to be presented at IPC SMEMA Council's APEX[R] 2003, being held March 31-April 2, at the Anaheim Convention Center (Anaheim, CA). In addition, the association has created a...

IPC's high road to China. (News from Northbrook).(company gets grant from U.S. Department of Commerce)
March 1, 2003... There was a small but swift and passionate response from some in the Interconnect Manufacturing Services (IMS)/PCB industry when the news was announced that IPC had received a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce to translate IPC...

True Laminates announces new website. (Suppliers).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Tustin, CA--True Laminates announced a new website at www.truelaminates.com. The site allows customers to get an online PCB quote, view pictures of the laminate and PCB factories, obtain technical data on all laminate and PCB products, and even...

Camtek appoints Kanematsu as Japanese microelectronics distributor. (Suppliers).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Migdal Haemek, Israel--Camtek Ltd. and Kanematsu Devices Corp. (KDC) announced the appointment of KDC as the exclusive distributor in Japan of Camtek products for the microelectronics manufacturing industry. With this appointment, Camtek's...

3M, Advanced Interconnect sign licensing agreement. (Suppliers).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Austin, TX -- 3M and Advanced Interconnect Inc. (Al) signed a licensing agreement that will enable All to independently manufacture and sell the OGI (Optical Gateway Interface) Multi-Fiber Connection System developed by 3M. This patented,...

Polar announces new rental programs. (Suppliers).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... San Mateo, CA--Polar Instruments announced a range of rental solutions for both manual and automated controlled impedance test systems for PCB makers. "Tier 1 PCB fabricators needing to automate impedance test now have access to a range of...

Gould to consolidate U.S. CAC manufacturing. (Suppliers).(copper aluminum copper)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Eastlake, OH--Gould Electronics Inc. will consolidate all of its U.S. CAC (copper aluminum copper) manufacturing at the company's Chandler, AZ facility. Further, the company said that it will begin negotiations with the International...

Cemco FSL, Shipley ink deal. (Suppliers).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Waterlooville, UK--Cemco FSL sold a "Mini" Desmear/Electroless plating system to Shipley Europe Ltd. (Coventry, UK). The line is free-standing and houses 22 mini sumps, each capable of handling prototype processing for new and developmental...

Nelco/Dielektra appoints Lamco as UK distributor. (Suppliers).
March 1, 2003... Skelmersdale, UK--Nelco/Dielektra, a subsidiary of Park Electrochemical Corp., appointed Lamco Technical Products Ltd. as distributor of its FR-4 laminate products in the U.K. Under this agreement, Lamco will hold extensive stocks of laminate...

Chemcut announces new sales representative for Canada. (Suppliers).(International Electronics Components Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... State College, PA--Chemcut Corp. named International Electronics Components Inc. as sales representative for all of Canada. IEC is a supplier of PCB chemistries, copper clad laminates, and equipment in Canada, with a reputation for excellence,...

Zero Defects, PSI announce agreement. (Suppliers).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Santa Clara, CA--Zero Defects announced a worldwide agreement under which the company will have marketing and sale responsibility for PSI's suite of software automation products for the PCB industry. The products, inc1uding ValueIntegrator for...

Electra Polymers and Chemicals approves TruCure system. (Suppliers).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Farmington, AR--Electra Polymers & Chemicals Ltd. formally approved ACS Technologies Inc.'s TruCure. A document sent to ACS Technologies from Electra Polymers stated "Electra has tested PCBs processed using Carapace[R] EMP110 and the TruCure...

Serfilco hosts open house. (Suppliers).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Northbrook, IL--On March 13, Serfilco is opening its doors to the local AESF organization for its monthly meeting and open house. Tours will be given demonstrating various manufacturing capabilities. Having outgrown its seventh home in the past...

Fine lines in high yield (part XC) Step Tablets (gray scales; step wedges)--Part C. (Tech Talk).(step tablets to radiometers)
March 1, 2003... Tech Talk is featuring a three-part series covering the topic of Step Tablets. Part A introduced fundamental relationships between transmittance and optical density. Part B covered the relationship between different types of step tablets and...

Copper thickness reduction.(process for printed circuit board production)
March 1, 2003... Good process results with high interconnect density structures depend to a significant degree on the copper thinning process, at the beginning of a multi-step processing sequence. During differential etching, dependability and uniformity of the...

Technology erosion. (Between the Conductors).(North American PCB production sector)(Industry Overview)
March 1, 2003... For many years, the North American PCB manufacturing community had maintained a technological advantage over their competitors in Asia, Europe, and other parts of the world. In recent years, however, we have seen an erosion of that...

Serfilco remembers Paul Sandre.(death of Eastern Regional Sales Manager)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... It is with deep regret that Serfico announced the passing of Paul R. Sandre. Paul was the Eastern Regional Sales Manager for Serfilco Ltd. since 1995. He was an active member of AESF, and was an ASNT certified Level Ill in various methods of...

New 3M high temperature masking tape for PCBs. (Products).
March 1, 2003... St. Paul, MN--New 3MTM non-silicone high temperature masking tape 5563 is designed for masking gold plated fingers or selected area of PCBs during high temperature (200-260[degrees] C) process. 3M developed an acrylic adhesive which provides...

Transene introduces conductive via fill. (Products).
March 1, 2003... Danvers, MA--Transene Company introduced a silver filled conductive epoxy designed to provide electrical and thermal conductivity in PWB and PBGA applications. Transene Conductive Via Fill CFV6030 is applied via stencil and offers an economical...

Dorner gangs up to enhance its 2200 Series conveyors. (Products).
March 1, 2003... Hartland, WI--Dorner Mfg. Corp. expanded its gang drive system for 2200 Series conveyors. Gang drive is an option that allows multiple conveyors to be driving from one drive shaft by using through hex-bored pulleys. For more information, visit...

ITEQ Manufacturing Services founds service centers. (Products).
March 1, 2003... Leominster, MA--ITEQ Manufacturing Taiwan founded two new stocking and fabrication centers in North America under the name ITEQ Manufacturing Services. Located in Leominster, Mass., and Santa Clara, Calif., the two centers will supply a network...

True Laminates expands to build PCBs. (Products).(printed circuit boards)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Tustin, CA--True Laminates expanded to manufacture PCBs in China. Unlike other laminate competitors, they will not compete with their PCB customers. True Laminates is selling bare boards as a private label to PCB manufacturers. True has opened...

Gore launches new board level EMI shielding solution. (Products).(electromagnetic interference)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Elkton, MD--W. L. Gore & Associates Inc. launched the snapSHOT[TM] EMI shield, a board level, multi-cavity shielding product that protects against electromagnetic interference. The metallized, thermoformed plastic shield is easy to install,...

Executive explanations. (Products).(interview with Raymond Boissoneau )(Interview)
March 1, 2003... Each month, CircuiTree publishes an interview with a business leader from the printed circuit industry. This month's guest is Raymond Boissoneau, CEO of Electropac, a PCB manufacturer that operates four printed circuit facilities in North...

Covercoats, coverlayers and coverfi1ms...the basics. (Flexible Thinking).(flexible circuits)
March 1, 2003... Flexible circuits almost always require a coating of some fashion over the finished circuits. At the same time, openings are nearly always required to provide access to circuit features for interconnection to components or connectors. This...

Spectroscopic and thermal analysis of halogen-free printed circuit boards: results of an investigation of halogen-free and conventional PCB boards, comparing various base materials of FR-4 grade and halogen-free grades from different material suppliers.
March 1, 2003... Electronic equipment manufacturers have started focusing on "environmentally friendly" products. Many arguments were discussed regarding potential leaching out of lead from disposed electronic equipment. Waste treatment, such as incineration of...

What about Germany? (Inside Germany).(German printed circuit board sector compared to Asian sector)(Industry Overview)
March 1, 2003... We Germans often discuss Asian economies, and yes, we sometimes refer to Asian PCB makers as "yellow dragons." This, however, is not so much a derogatory term, but rather a grudging acknowledgment of our inferiority; it's hard to fight dragons....

Moving embedded passives from the lab to the fab.(Industry Overview)
March 1, 2003... WHAT IF YOU HAD TO START PUTTING INTEGRATED PASSIVES IN YOUR CIRCUIT BOARDS TODAY? WHAT SORTS OF MATERIALS AND PROCESSES DO YOU HAVE TO CHOOSE FROM? Integrated passives for organic substrates are coming, not quickly and not all at once,...

It's Dejn Vu again: back to old buying habits.(OEMS return to old purchasing habits)(Industry Overview)
March 1, 2003... As Yogi Berra so eloquently put it: "It's Deja Vu all over again!" And deja vu it is, in markets served by PCB and EMS companies. Having worked for over 35 years with dozens of the country's largest OEMS, I see a reversion of their buying...

2003 wrap up...little to cheer about. (Market Outlook).(outlook for electronic components sector)(Industry Overview)
March 1, 2003... Business conditions remain tough due to both low volumes and devastating pricing. Electronic equipment orders are flat (Chart 1). Slightly improving computer orders are being offset by continually degrading telecom and Internet infrastructure...

Meiko Electronics announces record month. (Fabrication).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Kanagawa, Japan--Meiko Electronics Co. Ltd. announced a $2.5 million profit for October of 2002. Helping its profits, Meiko developed its own via technology called M-Via, and has been using this expertise in volume production in China since...

Advantage Electronic Manufacturing opens doors. (Fabrication).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Waco, Texas--In December, PCB start-up Advantage Electronic Manufacturing opened its doors in Waco, Texas. Owner Ron Slezak has leased a 6,000 sq. ft. facility in the area, and is currently looking for employees at the local university.

AT&S acquires 77% of AIK Electronics PCB business. (Fabrication).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Vienna, Austria--AT&S acquired a 77% holding in AIK Electronics Austria's PCB business. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. AT&S took over a controlling share of the business in February, with the remaining 23% owned by local holding...

M~Wave announces fourth quarter revenues, new COO. (Fabrication).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... West Chicago, IL--M~Wave Inc. announced that the company expects revenues to be between $3 million and $3.5 million for the fourth quarter ending December 31, 2002. The PCB maker failed to comply with certain financial covenants contained in...

GSPK Circuits invests in Chinese venture. (Fabrication).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Knaresborough, UK--GSPK Circuits Ltd. announced it is investing in a new Chinese venture, opening a sales and support office in Shanghai in March 2003.

Fuji Electric consolidates PCB operations. (Fabrication).(printed circuit board)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Tokyo, Japan--Fuji Electric Co. plans to consolidate its group's PCB manufacture and assembly operations to a new subsidiary. Established last November, the subsidiary was capitalized at 450 million yen. It develops and tests PCBs, and will...

Digital Innovations, Endicott Interconnect ink deal. (Fabrication).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Endicott, NY--Endicott Interconnect Technologies Inc. (EI) announced Digital Innovations had chosen EI as its partner in the launch of the Neuros[TM] MP3 Digital Audio Computer. Using its knowledge of packaging concepts and their affect on...

Teradyne to provide PCBs to Kaparel Corp. (Fabrication).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Nashua, NH--Teradyne Inc. Connection Systems Division (TCS) and Kaparel Corp. formed a supply partnership for high-performance circuits (HPC). Teradyne will provide Kaparel with open standard PCBs for their backplane designs. The two companies...

NOK builds flexible circuit facility. (Fabrication).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Tokyo, Japan--NOK Corp. announced it will construct a new plant in Japan's Ibaraki Prefecture to make flexible PCBs. To build the 15,000 sq. meter facility, the company will invest approximately 6.8 billion yen ($57 million) including 2 billion...

Tyco Electronics to close three swiss PCB plants. (Fabrication).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Bex, Switzerland--Tyco Electronics announced it is closing three facilities in Switzerland, forcing 116 people out of work. The PCB plants in Bex, Saint-Maurice, and Iserables are all scheduled for closure. The company will negotiate a...

Murietta Circuits announces move to larger facility. (Fabrication).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Anaheim, CA--Murrietta Circuits moved to the Catellus Corporate center (Anaheim, CA). The new 47,500 sq. ft. facility is located at 5000 Landon Drive, just a few blocks from the former headquarters. The company provides electronic manufacturing...

Diode lasers for communications. (Seeing the Light).
March 1, 2003... This month's column will focus on the devices that create the light that is massaged and used in data transfer, i.e., the Light Emitting Diode (LED), the semiconductor laser diode, and the Vertical Cavity Semiconductor Laser (VCSEL). The...

Product showcase for IPC Printed Circuits Expo 2003.
March 1, 2003... With IPC Printed Circuits Expo 2003 this month, CircuiTree offered our March advertisers the opportunity to showcase their products before the show begins. To learn about the latest innovations in the PCB industry before the show floor opens,...

Joint 'Ad'-venture in China. (From the Lab).(finding partners in China for PCB and laminate production)
March 1, 2003... Globalization is changing the dynamics of PCB and laminate production throughout the world, and in particular shifting it toward China. We've all heard or experienced that the Chinese market is gaining while almost everywhere else in the world...

Sanmina-SCI achieves ISO 9001:2000 certification. (Board Buyers).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... San Jose, CA--Sanmina-SCI Corp. announced it has become the first EMS company in the world to achieve ISO 9001:2000 and TL 9000 Release 3.0 certification for its 14 communications focused enclosure facilities. These facilities, located in eight...

Raytheon eliminates Commercial Electronics headquarters. (Board Buyers).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Lexington, MA--Raytheon Company announced that it eliminated its 20-person Raytheon Commercial Electronics (RCE) business headquarters located in Lexington, Mass., and reassigned its commercial electronics businesses to its government and...

Solectron IBM sign supply agreement. (Board Buyers).(IBM's Global Asset Recovery operations acquired by Solectron)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Milpitas, CA--Solectron Corp. said it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire IBM's Global Asset Recovery operations (Raleigh, NC). Under the terms of the agreement, Solectron will strengthen its asset-recovery capabilities in its Global...

China Putian to sell, distribute Tyco products. (Board Buyers).(Tyco Electronics Power Systems, China Putian Corp. sign cooperation pact for Wuhan, China)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Wuhan, China--Tyco Electronics Power Systems and China Putian Corp. signed a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in Wuhan, China. Per the agreement, China Putian will sell and distribute Tyco Electronics Power Systems' telecom power...