Circuits Assembly blog

For those who publish printed magazines, the longstanding issue is how deeply to reproduce the printed works online. This battle rages all over, all the time (witness the recent decision by the Wall Street Journal to renege on making its online pages subscription-free).

Because digital publishing is most certainly less expensive than print to produce, generally, the argument boils down to which medium garners the most readers (highly debatable, and tied to certain demographics such as age and background), and whether those readers are actually the same (not likely).

The most recent issue of Science takes one step that further. Here’s what sociologist James Evans has to say: “Online journals promise to serve more information to more dispersed audiences and are more efficiently searched and recalled. But because they are used differently than print — scientists and scholars tend to search electronically and follow hyperlinks rather than browse or peruse — electronically available journals may portend an ironic change for science. Using a database of 34 million articles, their citations (1945 to 2005), and online availability (1998 to 2005), I show that as more journal issues came online, the articles referenced tended to be more recent, fewer journals and articles were cited, and more of those citations were to fewer journals and articles. The forced browsing of print archives may have stretched scientists and scholars to anchor findings deeply into past and present scholarship. Searching online is more efficient and following hyperlinks quickly puts researchers in touch with prevailing opinion, but this may accelerate consensus and narrow the range of findings and ideas built upon.”

In short, when everything points one direction, people tend to agree, which isn’t necessarily the ideal formula for challenging the status quo and delivering true innovation. Murphy’s Law — unintended consequences — prevails.

Is that new flat screen TV you bought responsible for climate change?

Very possibly, asserts a June 26 article in Geophysical Research Letters. Nitrogen trifluoride (NF₃) is “the missing greenhouse gas,” say the authors, Michael J. Prather and Juno Hsu of the University of California, Irvine. A synthetic chemical, it is not covered by the Kyoto Protocol and there are no observations of its presence in the atmosphere, the authors say.

But boy, does it have staying power: 550 to 740 years of global warming potential, which would make it second among the gases listed by Kyoto (trivia answer: first is SF₆). This year’s estimated production of NF₃ is so massive, it would potentially have a greenhouse impact “larger than that of the industrialized nations’ emissions of PFCs or SF₆, or even that of the world’s largest coal-fired power plants,” the authors claim.

Notably, the authors, both atmospheric scientists, tie the presence of NF₃ to the widespread production of FPDs. “With the surge in flat-panel displays, the market for NF₃ has exploded,” they write. So that big screen you’ve been salivating over might be responsible.

That’s not all. A few years ago, IC fabs under fire for using perfluorocarbons — another gas thought to cause warming — in cleaning, switched. The replacement? NF₃.

Reminds me of the lead-free switch, where some of the elements in the replacement solders have been fingered by the EPA and others as possibly even more toxic to the environment and human health than the one regulators were trying to eradicate.

Some cereal goes well with milk. CEREAL goes better with a big dose of antacid.
CEREAL, or the Centre for Reflection and Action on Labour Issues, calls itself a Mexican worker rights agency (I believe the group is a unionizer, which gives me mixed feelings). Like a union, CEREAL provides legal assistance, labor rights training and workers’ groups support. But it also compiles and publishes eye-opening research on working conditions

The group’s latest report, which summarizes worker claims made in 2006-07, isn’t something you’d want to digest on an empty stomach. In it, the group claims hundreds of violations of poor treatment by companies such as Foxconn, Solectron, Sanmina-SCI, Nokia and others. In one case, a company that implemented Lean manufacturing took away all its workers’ chairs. The report claims the company says this made the workers more productive and less likely to fall asleep. The workers — some of whom were pregnant, and who are typically paid less than $10 a day, responded that having to stand for 8 hours a day made them even more tired. And it appears the standard way of doing business is to hire thousands of employees as temps, and repeatedly let them go whenever business dips. That’s an easy way to keep overhead down, but it’s not going to meet anyone’s definition of humane management practices.
Why should we in the US, Canada and Europe care? Because these are functions that were at one time performed in the West, and as manufacturing migrates abroad it appears those responsible are seeking more than just low labor costs. Companies can’t get away with such nonsense in regions where laws are applied and lawyers are plenty.
We take for granted that such corporate behavior, no matter how despicable, happens in Southeast Asia. But we should hold our industry’s collective feet to the fire to ensure such things are not happening so close to home. For if OEMs were actually to start living up to their high-minded sense of corporate responsibility and stewardship, we might begin to reverse the flow of manufacturing offshore.

Scientists at Northwestern University have reportedly developed a radiation-retardant transistor that is also printable and self-assembling.

The transistors are based on a dielectric called SANDs (self-assembling nanodielectrics) and are created via a dipping process which forms thin films of self-assembled molecules.

Prototypes have been placed outside the International Space Station, where they will be exposed to space radiation for a year.

The researchers feel the novel transistors could be used in transparent displays or flexible electronics.

The ongoing janitors’ strike at several high-profile Silicon Valley companies is leading some to call for a so-called living wage law.

Last week, stewards at Cisco, H-P and other major tech companies walked out, demanding higher wages and quicker access to health care. The going rate for a janitor in the Valley is about $11 an hour, and workers wait a reported 2-1/2 years for health care benefits to begin.

As Mercury News columnist Mike Cassidy opines today, what Silicon Valley’s big tech companies need is a living wage law, which he defines as “an internal company rule that says if you work at Intel, or Cisco Systems, or Yahoo, or Google, or any of the other big firms, you’ll make enough money to care for yourself and your family. No matter whether you’re on the company payroll or whether the company outsources your work.”

One representative of the striking union members said the janitors make about $23,000 a year.

Not sure I would want that legislated, but the estimated cost per Silicon Valley company would be about $3,750 a year per janitor. The p.r. hit would cost much more than that.

May 28 update: That was quick. A resolution was reached today.

Ed. note: A very warm welcome to Ron Lasky, better known as “Dr. Ron,” who joins us as a regular columnist and blogger. Ron has a doctorate in materials science from Cornell, is a visiting professor at Dartmouth and is a senior technologist at Indium. His first post is here.

Folks,

The miniaturization of electronics has had a tremendous impact on our lives. Beginning well before the advent of the Sony Walkman and the 20-lb. “portable” computers of the early 1980s, Moore’s Law has delivered increasingly more powerful and less expensive electronics. However, some of us may have missed a parallel miniaturization and performance improvement that have been occurring for over 10 years: Batteries.

Most of us remember the short battery life of a 1995 mobile phone. If asked we would probably agree that the rechargeable batteries today are significantly better. It is less obvious for our laptop computers, as a battery charge has lasted about 2 hours or so for the past 10 years. The laptop situation masks the dramatic improvement in batteries because today’s laptops use many times the power of one from a decade ago.

The battery bottom line: The miniaturization and energy density improvements in portable electronics rechargeable batteries has been breathtaking in the last decade.

Are there any additional benefits from this battery technology? For the first time in the history of transportation, an electric car couples a practical cruising range (more than 200 miles between charges) with the performance of a sports car. At 135 mpg equivalent, 0 to 60 mph in 3.9 sec., 220 miles per charge, and energy costs of about $0.02/mile, the Tesla Roadster portends the development of a practical, electric powered automobile within five years. It’s pricey — about $100,000 — and, as a sports car, is likely impractical as a family vehicle, but Tesla is showing the way. And it is powered with hundreds of laptop batteries, which will only continue to get better. In a day of $130 per barrel of oil, we should all find this comforting.

It is surprising to me that this breakthrough has not received more publicity.

The word is that 12,000 are confirmed dead and thousands more remain missing after a 7.9 magnitude earthquake roiled central China. The death toll could rise as high as 30,000 once all are accounted for.

This is the second massive tragedy in Asia in a little over a week’s time. While there are obvious lessons about on spreading electronics manufacturing around — much like the semiconductor houses do — so as to avoid Mother Nature’s inevitable wrath, or to avoid putting massive dams on top of Asia’s largest fault line, now is not the time to moralize. We hope any affected family members of our readers are safe and well.

Does the future of assembly lead to Africa? And does the future of hand soldering lie on the hands of the deaf?

Hear me out. (Sorry.)

Efforts are being made by Europe’s SMART Group and others to educate Africans on the finer points of electronics manufacturing. South Africa, we know, has a modest electronics industry, focused primarily on industrial and defense applications. Research firm RCNOS last year pegged annual demand for consumer electronics in the Middle East/Africa at $7 billion, noting its “young population keenly attuned to digital devices.” So it’s no secret that there’s an emerging market to tap there.

Here comes an even more enlightening development from the sub-Continent.

A Montreal businessman has come up with a way to provide impoverished Africans with low-cost, long-lasting hearing aids. According to this story in Newsweek, two-thirds of the world’s deaf or partially deaf live in developing nations. A retired businessman who was trying to rebound from a stunning family tragedy, Howard Weinstein took on the awesome task of trying to outfit the sub-Saharan poor with low-cost but effective hearing aids.

Going even further, he is helping his clients help themselves. He recognized the manual dexterity of the deaf, who through their long experience with signing are attuned to such skills as hand soldering. “‘Because mastering sign language takes acute hand-eye coordination, deaf people are well suited to the fine soldering and microelectronics that go into making hearing aids,’ he says. Today the once empty room in the African semi desert has become the hub of a thriving nonprofit business.”

Today, some 20,000 people are using his product, Newsweek reports. And Weinstein now has his eyes — and ears — turned to Latin America and greater Asia.

Our hearts and prayers are with the victims of the Myanmar (Burma) cyclone. The death toll has reached 22,000, and thousands more remain missing, the area’s worst natural disaster since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and far surpassing the World Trade Center attacks.

To contribute to the relief fund, click here.

Updated: I ran across this piece — from 1996 — which claims Myanmar could be a force to be reckoned with in electronics manufacturing. I think it’s instructive because it highlights the disconnect between the promise of low wage rates and the struggle with poor (or no) infrastructure and a disinterested government.

Benchmark has historically been one of the best-performing EMS companies in the world, so it’s worth checking in on its management whenever possible.

While Wall Street is understandably fixated on the macro environment, Benchmark is sticking to its knitting and simply refusing to speculate on where the larger market may be headed. Despite repeated queries, CEO Carey Fu and president Gayla Delly held fast to their position not to comment on the broader market.

The good news is the EMS company, the world’s 13th largest, including ODMs, sees strength in its customers’ programs and believes its medical business in particular is on the way up.

March quarter’s margins were 70 basis points higher than the third quarter of last year, when sales were approximately the same (3.3% vs. 2.6%). Benchmark plans to invest another $40 million in capex this quarter, consistent with the last one. Finally, while Benchmark has moved a number of lines from the US to Mexico and laid off a proportional amount of staff, it anticipates no restructuring charges through the end of this year.

That may be the forecast that counts the most.