Press Releases
BANNOCKBURN, IL — New data from IPC show that most electronics manufacturing industry executives see a recession as inevitable. IPC’s October Monthly Economic Outlook and Global Sentiment Survey found that 27 percent of industry executives believe the economy is already in a recession, 45 percent believe the economy will enter a recession in 2023, and 13 percent believe the economy will enter a recession in the fourth quarter of 2023. Industry executives expecting a recession are bracing for a longer one.
“Tight financial conditions and an uncertain economic outlook are making both businesses and consumers more cautious,” stated Shawn DuBravac, IPC chief economist. “We have reached the end of the post-lockdown rebound.”
- Among other conclusions, the IPC survey results show:
- After declining for two consecutive months, the Materials Cost Index rose three points.
- Three-fourths (73 percent) of electronics manufacturers indicate labor costs are on the rise.
- Ease of recruitment, profit margins, and inventory available from suppliers are presently declining.
- Positively, manufacturers expect to see a decline in backlogs over the next six months.
Inflation continues to dominate the narrative, with the U.S. likely past peak inflation, while the situation worsens in Europe. Europe is expected soon to reach peak inflation, and prices continue to rise. Projections for economic growth in Europe in 2023 have been lowered, and now show a decline for the first time for the entire year. China’s economy remains below the targeted 5.5 percent growth expected for the year, with growth likely to be closer to 3 percent in 2022. The yuan has fallen to its lowest level in 14 years.
IPC surveyed hundreds of companies from around the world, including a wide range of company sizes representing the full electronics manufacturing value chain.
View the full reports:
Current Sentiment of the Global Electronics Manufacturing Supply Chain
WESTFORD, MA — Mack Technologies, a leading supplier of contract electronic manufacturing services, announced the addition of four surface mount lines to existing operations. The investment will drastically expand the company’s manufacturing capacity and enable it to meet increased demand from customers.
“By adding four surface mount lines this year to our operations, we will enhance our ability to scale alongside our customers,” said Will Kendall, President of Mack Technologies. “Mack’s financial flexibility has allowed us to rapidly invest in new technology and equipment while also investing heavily in working capital needed to fuel growth. Having the capacity and financial resources to support our customers in times of growth is critical to our business and our mission to deliver exceptional quality and service.” Kendall added, “I would like to thank all of our stakeholders for their support and trust in Mack as we continue to expand our operations this year.”
The added capacity will be distributed across Mack’s manufacturing sites and will enable the company to support the ongoing surge in demand from its existing and new customers in the defense, industrial, energy, and medical device industries.
ROSEVILLE, CA — PRIDE Industries was honored as a 2022 National Organization on Disability (NOD) Leading Disability Employer at the group’s annual forum. Now in its eighth year, the NOD Leading Disability Employer Seal recognizes companies for adopting exemplary employment practices for people with disabilities. This is PRIDE Industries’ second consecutive year to be acknowledged.
“As the nation’s leading employer of people with disabilities, we are honored to once again be recognized by the National Organization on Disability,” said Jeff Dern, President and CEO of PRIDE Industries. “Every day, we prove the value of an inclusive workforce model through our operational success across multiple industries. We show company leaders that if we can do it, so can they.”
This year’s annual forum was titled: NOD at 40: Honoring the Past; Innovating the Future. The winning organizations were recognized before an audience of more than 300 corporate partners, disability rights advocates, and civic leaders in the nation’s capital. The Forum was emceed by Michael Smerconish, veteran political commentator, and the host of programs on both CNN and SiriusXM.
“For the past 40 years, the National Organization on Disability has envisioned a world where all people with disabilities enjoy full opportunity for employment, enterprise and earnings and employers know how to make the most of their talents,” said NOD President Carol Glazer. “I congratulate all of this year’s winners for their leadership and commitment to hiring and retaining people with disabilities. Together we can reimagine the future by harnessing the power, creativity, and innovation of disability-inclusive diversity in the workplace, marketplace, and communities across America.”
About National Organization on Disability (NOD)
The National Organization on Disability (NOD) is a private, non-profit organization that seeks to increase employment opportunities for the 60-percent of working age Americans with disabilities who are not employed. To achieve this goal, NOD offers a suite of employment solutions, tailored to anticipate, and meet leading companies’ workforce needs. NOD has helped some of the world’s most recognized brands be more competitive in today’s global economy by building or enriching their disability inclusion programs. For more information about NOD and how its portfolio of professional services, Leadership Council and Employment Tracker™ can help your business, visit www.NOD.org.
About PRIDE Industries
PRIDE Industries delivers business excellence with a positive social impact. A social enterprise, we provide facilities operations and maintenance services, custodial services, contract manufacturing, supply chain management, packaging and fulfillment services, and staffing and recruitment services to private and public organizations nationwide. Founded in 1966, PRIDE Industries’ mission is to create employment for people with disabilities. Through personalized employment services, we help individuals realize their true potential and lead more independent lives. PRIDE Industries proves the value of its inclusive workforce model through operational success across multiple industries every day. Learn more at https://PRIDEIndustries.com.
CLINTON, NY — The upcoming Electronics Packaging Technology Conference (EPTC) will feature presentations by two Indium Corporation experts. The conference, which takes place December 7–9 in Singapore, covers the complete spectrum of electronics packaging technology.
Senior Global Product Manager for Semiconductor and Advanced Materials, Sze Pei Lim, will deliver a presentation titled Low-Temperature Material for First-Level Interconnect in Semiconductor Packaging, which is an initiative under the iNEMI Packaging TIG and co-authored with colleagues from IBM Corporation, Nihon Superior Co. LTD., and others. The focus of the presentation is whether low-temperature materials (LTM) being used in other levels of electronics assembly could also be used for first level interconnects in semiconductor packaging, and if there is enough driving force for implementing this use. It includes not only the interconnects to the processor but also those to all the functional elements in the package of which the processor is a part.
R&D Sintering Project Manager, Demi Yao, will present findings from a paper titled Pressure Copper Sintering Paste for High-Power Device Die-Attach Applications. This presentation focuses on the development of a copper (Cu) sintering paste with high shear strength, high thermal and electrical conductivity, and positive reliability for high-power device die-attach applications. The paste is suitable for different metallizations, e.g., Au, Ag, and Cu. After more than 1,000 hours (250°C) aging and 3,500 cycles TCT (-40–175°C), the joints exhibited excellent performance without delamination. Shear strength increased with increased TCT cycles. This Cu sintering paste can be used for both dispensing and printing applications.
WASHINGTON, MO ― SASinno Americas is pleased to announce that SMTVYS Technology is now the exclusive distributor for the company’s selective soldering business in Mexico.
“I am very pleased to have SMTVYS as our exclusive partner in Mexico for our Sasinno selective soldering machines,” stated Mike Young, SASinno Americas. “To help our customers achieve quality soldering products, both high quality machines and high quality support is necessary.”
SMTVYS was born out of the need for support and value for the manufacturing industry back in 2014. The leading professional group offers solutions ranging from industrial equipment, spare parts, technical support, consulting, world-known brands of industrial equipment, automation, peripheral devices, electrostatic and discharge (ESD) solutions.
Young added, “We are impressed by SMTVYS’ professionalism and how they put their customers first. We are excited to expand our partnership and for SMTVYS to offer the full range of Sasinno equipment in Mexico. Meanwhile, Sasinnno will do our best to support SMTVYS and service the market well.”
For more information about SMTVYS, contact Victor Madero at vhmadero@smtvys.com or visit www.smtvys.com.
For more information about SASInno Americas, visit www.sasinnoamericas.com.
HANOVER, GERMANY – Viscom AG’s Technology Forum has a reputation for offering participants wide-ranging content with valuable practical relevance in a compact format. Looking at the big picture is a key aspect as well. Held at the beginning of October, the event on Viscom’s campus in Hanover, Germany, again offered extensive opportunities to experience cutting-edge inspection solutions for electronics manufacturing live and discuss important topics with fellow specialists, just as before the pandemic. Those unable to attend the Forum in person had the chance to participate in the interactive online program.
How much can our experience help us in a time when changes are happening faster than we were used to in the past? Why do we need a culture today in which it’s also okay to make mistakes? In his talk “Never get lost – the art of making difficult decisions,” well-known keynote speaker Peter Brandl discussed at this year’s Viscom Technology Forum how we can establish more clarity and direction in order to actually achieve the goals we have set for ourselves. Brandl noted that many projects take on an incredible dynamic of their own. Discussions center on problems and difficulties, and everything goes around in circles without moving forwards.
Brandl is a consultant, pilot, author, and entrepreneur, and he highlighted various decision-making pitfalls to be avoided. Some examples include entrenched habits or the familiar bubble that happens online in particular, where we’re soon surrounded only by people who have opinions and attitudes similar to our own. Brandl urged his listeners to be more prepared to take risks and to build teams that bring together various strengths and affinities.
One hotly debated issue that requires clear decisions and rapid action in our current times is the question of which climate strategies are the right ones. Karsten Schischke from the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration offered a fascinating insight into this issue at the Viscom Technology Forum. His talk focused on approaches that can be effectively put into action in companies today, from their own production through to the delivery chain. These considerations should take into account the company’s own vehicles, heating using fossil fuels, process emissions, electricity consumption, and upstream and downstream activities. At the same time, Schischke also specifically addressed PCB manufacturing and mentioned related influencing factors such as the number of layers in the product or the energy mix the company uses at its production site.
Both Brandl and Schischke as well as the speakers from Viscom presented their topics in the traditional way, live in front of an audience. In 2021, the Viscom Technology Forum had to be held completely online. It goes without saying that no one involved in the planning could be completely certain that COVID-19 wouldn’t put the in-person component of this year’s hybrid event at risk at the last minute. However, the provisions in place together with appropriate preventive measures made it possible to successfully link this event back to those held in the years prior to the pandemic, and Viscom was able to present a wide range of innovations in front of a large audience of interested attendees.
“We showed our best side and can be proud of how we’ve moved forward. That’s something that becomes particularly clear at an event like this,” says Carsten Salewski, Head of Sales, Marketing, and International Business at Viscom.
This year’s motto was “New Horizons in Electronics Production – an Innovative Approach to Automation with Smart Inspection, AI and Process Networking.” A corresponding English version of the two-day event was held online directly afterward.
The chosen motto intentionally brings to mind that quality control needs to always stay one step ahead of market requirements in the production of cutting-edge electronics, an area that never stands still. The Viscom Technology Forum responded by offering concrete solutions that open up new horizons. One example is a cleverly designed status monitoring solution for the inspection systems and associated peripheral equipment being used, such as offered by Viscom as part of its modular vConnect platform. This creates the conditions for forward-looking action in keeping with modern predictive maintenance. Central IT management and efficient handling of large quantities of data are other elements in this comprehensive toolbox which was examined from various perspectives during a presentation.
Artificial intelligence is one of many terms that comes up in connection with vConnect. The Viscom Technology Forum 2022 placed a separate focus on this topic. Customers had the chance to discover what AI is capable of on production lines today during one of the workshops on offer. Whether it’s verifying inspection results or segmenting voids – artificial intelligence can provide production staff with effective support in detecting errors and helps to make their work more flexible. Other topics covered in the wide range of talks, workshops, and meet-the-expert sessions included, for example, the use of ECAD data as the basis for creating inspection programs, 3D layer analyses and volumetric display in the area of manual and automated X-ray imaging, the right way to handle radiation loads in inline X-rays with the help of a special dosing server, ensuring the repeat accuracy of 3D AXI inspection results or rapidly transferring 3D AOI data via the open IPC CFX interface.
The industry itself wasn’t the only source of interest in the Viscom Technology Forum. The field of politics was also represented by well- known figures from Germany’s Social Democratic Party, with member of the Bundestag and party head Lars Klingbeil, member of the Bundestag Adis Ahmetovic, deputy chairman of the parliamentary group in the state parliament of Lower Saxony Stefan Politze, and president of the Hanover region Steffen Krach making a visit to the event. An intensive discussion focused on various aspects, including where policymakers can provide effective support to companies like Viscom. In addition, a short tour provided a vivid look at Viscom’s way of working and the special features of the inspection systems produced by its employees.
Those at the Viscom Technology Forum who were interested in taking a detailed look behind the scenes of the company had the chance to go on an extensive tour that offered an exclusive insight into production and logistics. Items on the agenda included, for example, a visit to the competence center for microfocus X-ray tubes, where a wide range of closely interlinked tasks have been located since June 2019, ranging from development, to production and final approval, and all the way to custom adaptations of the tubes. The center is home to three radiation shielding rooms for conducting fatigue and stress tests on the products. Meanwhile, tailored tours focusing on innovation at Viscom provided a compact look at the current highlights of the 3D SPI, 3D AOI, 3D AXI, 3D MXI, 3D Bond, and CCI inspection technologies. Key information was provided directly at each of the inspection systems in the form of a quick overview.
