CircuiTree articles from October 2004

CircuiTree archives from October 2004

Circatex's first three months build solid foundation.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2004... U.K. PCB fabricator Circatex began manufacture at its South Shields factory at the beginning of June this year. The first three months trading has surpassed expectations, and the company is moving into the initial phase of a controlled...

Reinventing European PCB production.(TheWayWeSeeIt)(Printed Circuit Board)(European Institute of Printed Circuits)
October 1, 2004... The European Institute of Printed Circuits (EIPC) is holding a conference and exhibition this month in Koln, Germany. Billed as a celebration of "Electronics Made in Europe," some people fear that lackluster European circuit board production...

Utilizing conductive polymers to improve HDI yields.(High Density Interconnect)
October 1, 2004... Back in the late 1980s there was a drive, mostly environmental, to replace electroless copper with direct metallization systems. This caused some ripples but no overwhelming wave of conversions in North America. Currently direct metallization...

Where will we get the new technologists?(HappyThoughts)
October 1, 2004... How shall I break the bad news? I just returned from China, visiting various PCB fabricators. Here are my observations. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The advanced engineering education I received 35 years ago has served me well, but the...

Rika Denshi.(People)(Rika Denshi America )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Attleboro, MA -- Rika Denshi America appointed Amos Friedner to Sales and Marketing Manager. He joined Rika Denshi America in 2003 as the Strategic Accounts Manager. He brings with him 30 years of engineering and management experience in the...

Prototron Circuits.(People)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Redmond, WA -- Prototron Circuits hired Norman Turner as East Coast Accounts Manager. Turner, who has 30 years of PCB industry experience, is based in New Hampshire and will focus on PCB sales throughout the East Coast. Previously, Norman held...

Park Electrochemical.(People)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Lake Success, NY -- Park Electrochemical Corp. promoted Freddy Lee to Asia Pacific Director of Product Sales. He will be responsible for the marketing and sales of Park/Nelco's advanced substrate materials product line in the Asia Pacific...

Purex International.(People)
October 1, 2004... Purex International has recruited additional staff. Graham Mattok, promoted to Commercial Manager, said, "Last year saw the company deliver it's best sales figures in a 20 year history. Already this year looks set to be another record breaker,...

Taconic.(People)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Taconic has asked its VP of Corporate Development, Bob Nurmi, to investigate and bring to market next-generation products and technologies for the company. In addition, Denis Boulanger joined Taconic as North American National Sales...

Teledyne Technologies.(People)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Los Angeles, CA -- Teledyne Technologies Inc. added Simon M. Lorne, vice chairman and chief legal officer of Millenium Partners to its board of directors. The addition of Lorne raises the number of board members to nine. Lorne will serve on...

Fine lines in high yield (Part CIX): minimizing via-field effects on signal integrity.(TechTalk)
October 1, 2004... In designing and manufacturing high-speed digital large-format boards such as backplanes, great attention is given to maintaining signal integrity and to minimizing signal loss. One source of such signal degradation and loss are plated...

IPC successfully lobbies for $1.5 million government research grant.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Northbrook, IL -- IPC announced its success in lobbying for the U.S. printed circuit board (PCB) industry, resulting in over one million dollars in research funding. Prior to adjourning for summer recess, the House and Senate finalized the...

AT & S sees first quarter profits rise.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Vienna -- AT & S first-quarter net profit rose fivefold, due to solid demand for high-tech products as well as tax changes. Net profit rose to EUR7.6 million in the three months to end June from EUR1.3 million in the year ago period, on sales...

CMK Europe expected to close.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Geel, Belgium -- CMK Europe, a subsidiary of Japanese PCB giant CMK Corp., plans to close, putting 102 employees out of work. The company currently employs 124 workers, the remaining of which will oversee the distribution of integrated circuits...

Lone Star Circuits' Brad Jacoby to lead IPFS.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Dallas, TX -- Integrated Performance Systems (Frisco, TX) entered into an exclusive management consulting agreement with Brad Jacoby, President and CEO of Lone Star Circuits (Wylie, TX). Under the terms of this agreement, Brad Jacoby will...

AIT extends 'green' package portfolio.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Singapore -- Advanced Interconnect Technologies (AIT) extended its qualified green package portfolio with the addition of the Green Wirebond QFN (Quad Flat Package No Leads) and Green FC-QFN (Flip-Chip Quad Flat Package No Leads). With features...

Cheng Uei Precision acquires majority stake in flex maker.(Fabrication)(Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co. Ltd)(Midas Precision Industry Co. Ltd)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Tapei, Taiwan -- Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co., Ltd. has newly acquired a 70% stake in flexible PCB maker Midas Precision Industry Co., Ltd. through an affiliate in a move to boost its capability of producing handset components. The company...

Eltek receives half million dollar order.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Israeli PCB maker Eltek Ltd. received an order exceeding $500,000 from a European customer for PCBs that will be used in the production of advanced medical equipment. This order will be supplied during the third quarter of 2004.

Endicott Interconnect installs eight new drills.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Endicott, NY -- As part of a $10 million dollar capital package, Endicott Interconnect Technologies installed eight model ND-1V284E, 160K RPM Hitachi drill station tools.

Consumer products.(BetweentheConductors)
October 1, 2004... It's time for a change of pace... a break from the technical aspects of PCB manufacturing to examine the philosophical mindset of consumer products. The world of consumer products has evolved over the years, and the telephone, for example, is...

Executive explanations: Electrochemicals' Michael Carano.(Interview)
October 1, 2004... Michael Carano, Electrochemicals' Vice President of Marketing & Business Development, spoke with CircuiTree on his goals as a new member of IPC's Board of Directors. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] CircuiTree: What will be your first priority...

Flextronics, Nortel deal largest in EMS history.(Board Buyers)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Singapore -- Flextronics signed a $2.5 billion agreement with Nortel Networks whereby the latter will divest certain optical, wireless, and enterprise manufacturing operations and optical design operations to Flextronics. Subject to closing the...

Sanmina-SCI acquires Pentex-Schweizer, snags Boeing contract.(Board Buyers)
October 1, 2004... San Jose, CA -- Sanmina-SCI Corp. agreed to acquire Pentex-Schweizer Circuits Ltd. The acquisition includes operations in Wuxi, China and Singapore. Under the agreement, Pentex-Schweizer Circuits Ltd. shareholders will be entitled to elect to...

Alcatel to double sales in Asia by 2006.(Board Buyers)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Manila -- Alcatel S.A. expects to double by 2006 its sales in the Asia-Pacific region, which last year, contributed approximately 18% of the Paris-based telecommunication company's worldwide sales of EUR12.5 billion. "We have good momentum in...

CirTran announces record backlog.(Board Buyers)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Salt Lake City, UT -- CirTran Corp. achieved a record backlog level in excess of $4,500,000. The company attributes the sales and backlog increase to their strategic alliances and customer contract wins with clients including Autometer, Meret...

Splitting vias.(FlexibleThinking)
October 1, 2004... After circuit traces, plated through-hole vias are possibly the most important attribute of a circuit design. They serve as "electronic elevators" delivering signals from side to side or to a chosen intermediate level within a multilayer...

Introbotics delivers 2nd Automated TDR unit to Merix.(Suppliers)(Introbotics Corp.)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Albuquerque, NM -- Introbotics Corp. delivered its second CI1000 Automated TDR System to test 100% of bare PWBs for controlled impedance to Merix. This new machine will double the TDR test throughput capacity for Merix. Also delivered was an...

Rohm and Haas, Novatec sign licensing agreement.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Paris -- Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials and Novatec signed an exclusive licensing agreement to make and sell an innovative filling process and device. The invention has applications in the area of PCB manufacturing such as those used in the...

Cemco announces more sales.(Suppliers)(Sifelmet)(Arichell Technologies)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Hampshire, UK -- Cemco FSL sold a Quicksilver Hot Air Solder Leveling machine to Sifelmet, France. The machine has been purchased for use with Lead Free Solder and was delivered in September 2004. In other news, the company sold a second...

Hwa Woei building new Laminate plant in China.(Suppliers)(Hwa Woei Laminate )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... CCL maker Hwa Woei Laminate plans to invest $7 million to construct new China plant. Hwa Woei will start construction in 2005 and plans for a monthly capacity of 150,000-200,000 units for the initial stage. Volume production is scheduled for...

DuPont gives Taconic Plunkett Award.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Petersburgh, NY -- Taconic received honors in the prestigious DuPont Plunkett Awards competition for Taconic's innovative use of DuPont Teflon[R] in their TacPreg[R] bond-ply, a composite used in multilayer printed circuit boards. TacPreg[R]...

Lloyd Doyle names Leeport China rep.(Suppliers)(Automatic Optical Test)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Lloyd Doyle announced that Leeport will be their new representative in Hong Kong and China. Established over thirty years, Leeport is a leading importer and distributor of manufacturing and electronics equipment to the Chinese market and have a...

Tyco Electronics, Sanmina-SCI buy ECT equipment.(Suppliers)(Everett Charles Technologies )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Pomona, CA -- The Printed Circuits Group of Tyco Electronics (Dallas, OR) purchased an atg A2/16 high-speed, flying probe test system from Everett Charles Technologies (ECT), its sixth. In addition, Sanmina-SCI (San Jose, CA) bought an A6/16...

Trace Labs' employees receive electronics awards.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Hunt Valley, MD -- IPC honored two Trace Laboratories-East employees at IPC Printed Circuits Expo 2004. Renee Michalkiewicz was awarded the IPC Special Recognition Award for her leadership in the development of IPC-J-STD-004A, Requirements for...

PerfecTest announces sales, installations.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Redmond, WA -- PerfecTest Corp. announced the following companies have purchased and installed PerfecTest P4 systems for controlling innerlayer registration in high-density multilayer boards: GBM (Hong Kong), OPC Circuits (China), Printline...

Viking Test Services reports new orders, test facility.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Artetch Circuits (Littlehampton, UK) placed an order for three MicroCraft Emma flying probe test systems. Artetch was established over 35 years ago and is among the top fifteen PCB manufacturers in the UK. In other news, Viking Test...

Processing high density boards with UV lasers.(Ultra Violet )
October 1, 2004... Over the past few years, there has been a noted increase in the use of UV lasers in the organic substrate industry (Printed Wire Boards (PWB) and IC Packaging). The primary driver that can be attributed to this growth is the increasing adoption...

Trying to improve a process? Be a partner, not another supplier.
October 1, 2004... When it comes to improving processes and products, in addition to focusing on specifics such as tool throughput or yield, suppliers throughout the PCB industry should take a closer look at their customer relationships. It might seem like a...

Summer behind us, autumn rebound on the way?(MarketOutlook)(Column)
October 1, 2004... We are now entering the "Fall busy season" following a summer slowing. Excess mid-year inventories throughout the supply chain coupled with somewhat reduced end market demand produced a spring/summer downward "blip" in the recovery cycle. ...

Small business spotlight: New System tackles old problems.(New System)
October 1, 2004... How does a small capital equipment company operating in a small Italian town near the Slovenian border come up with large technological developments? "The richness of the company is our actual experience in PCB manufacturing," said New System...

Atotech inaugurates Technical Center in Guangzhou, China.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Berlin -- Atotech's new Technical Center in Guangzhou, China consists of advanced analytical, instrumental and materials science laboratories, plating pilot lines, independent waste treatment and DI water systems. In addition to servicing...

Getting the lead out of hot air soldering: as lead-free legislation looms, a new form of eutectic tin-copper has been developed as a wave solder replacement, eliminating many of the problems associated with the tin-copper alloy.
October 1, 2004... The electronics industry is approaching the end of the era of tin-lead solder. Good, old 63/37 eutectic tin-lead solder has been a mainstay of electronic fabrication since its earliest days, but modern concerns over lead exposure in our...

EPA's release of the 2002 Toxic Release Inventory raises many questions.(EnvironmentallySpeaking)(ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY)
October 1, 2004... While purporting to be an unbiased reporting of the facts, the EPA's Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) data once again proves the old adage, "There are lies, damn lies, and statistics." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The 2002 TRI data is spun in...

Bare board quality and acceptance take a major step forward.
October 1, 2004... IPC released Revision B to IPC-6012, Qualification and Performance Specification for Rigid Printed Boards, and Revision G to IPC-A-600, Acceptability of Printed Boards. Together they represent the core IPC documents for describing the...

Douthitt provides vacuum frame replacement blankets.(Products)
October 1, 2004... Douthitt announced that it manufactures the best vacuum frame replacement blankets in any size to improve the performance of any direct method screen vacuum frame. No matter the frame type, Douthitt said it can manufacture and ship a quality...

Orbotech introduces AVIP technology, InFinex upgrades.(Products)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Yavne, Israel -- Orbotech Ltd. introduced its patent-pending automatic verification-in-parallel (AVIP) technology for use in automated optical inspection of PCBs. Featuring specially-designed automatic verification capabilities, and combined...

Cemco announces improved HASL results.(Products)(Hypothetical Active Site Lattice )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Hampshire, UK -- Cemco FSL announced that after five years of field testing, its Quicksilver Hot Air Leveler can achieve exceptional results with lead free solders, providing flatter and more uniform surface finishes. System enhancements...

Iwaki America expands MDM drive pump line.(Products)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Holliston, MA -- Iwaki America Inc. expanded its MDM chemical process magnetic drive pump line, now with a two-year warranty. The MDM is a wide-ranging line of chemical process pumps with models that exceed ANSI hydraulics with flows to 350 GPM...

Events.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
October 1, 2004... October 5-7, 2004 EPC2004 European PCB Exhibition and Convention Koln Messe, Germany Contact: epc2004@eipc.org October 6-8, 2004 PROTEC Japan Makuhari Messe, Chiba, Japan Email: protec@jesa.or.jp ...