Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - Current Issue

News

Irvine, CA -- The electronics group of Henkel will relocate its mold compound development, application engineering and technical service capabilities from Olean, NY, to the advanced research and applications center in Irvine that opened earlier this year.

Dr. Larry Crane, global director of research, development & engineering for semiconductor materials, said, “With the unification of product development in one facility, Henkel now has the capability to develop our mold compounds, die attach products, thermal interface materials, underfills and encapsulants under one roof with a superior technical team. This streamlined approach is a win-win for everyone, especially customers who can prototype new packages more quickly, accelerate time-to-market and do so more cost-effectively.”

The 53, 000 sq. ft. facility is host to an analytical and failure analysis lab and a 5,000 sq. ft Class 10,000 clean room which houses advanced testing and manufacturing equipment, including a Datacon APS 2200 placement system, a DEK Europa screen/stencil printing system for backside wafer coating and a Disco wafer dicing saw. The operation also has a 2,000 sq. ft surface mount production line with screen printing, reflow and dispensing capabilities.

TAMPA, FL—The Reptron Electronics contract manufacturing facility in Gaylord, MI, has received ISO 13485:2003 certification. The company's Tampa facility received this certification in June 2004.

"This is an important milestone in our commitment to serving the specialized needs of our medical device manufacturing customers. This segment represents over 40% of our current business base. We are pursuing certification in all our facilities to enhance the geographic support flexibility we can offer our medical industry customers, both in terms of process consistency and ability to support our customers' multinational end market regulatory requirements," said Paul J. Plante, president and CEO.

The ISO 13485:2003 quality management system was published to ensure consistency in medical device manufacturer compliance to regulatory quality management requirements worldwide. It is based on quality management system requirements currently contained in medical device regulations around the world and also incorporates elements of ISO 9001:2000.

Additionally, the FDA has informed Reptron that the Gaylord facility is now registered as an EMS provider of medical devices. A similar announcement was made regarding the Tampa facility last year. [These registrations are not an FDA endorsement or approval.]

NORTH BILLERICA, MA -- BTU International, a supplier of thermal processing equipment for PCB assembly and semiconductor packaging, reported second-quarter net sales were up 24% sequentially and 11% over last year.

For the July quarter, BTU reported net income of $770,000, up 361% sequentially, on sales of $15.8 million. The company's net loss for the year-ago quarter was $892,000.

First-half net sales were up 12% to $28.6 million. Net income was $937,000, compared to a loss of $1.9 million.

"We are pleased with the progress we are making in bringing cost under control, improving our results and globalizing our business," said Paul J. van der Wansem, chairman and chief executive.

"Our visibility into the future remains limited, but we continue to see strength in most of our markets," said van der Wansem. "Based on our current knowledge, we expect third quarter sales to be equal or better than the second quarter, with profits improving in line with revenue growth."