News
In a press statement Siemens L&A EA chief executive Tilo Brandis said, "The partnership between ASYS and Siemens is defined by developing creative, flexible solutions and the permanent optimization of the business relationship."
The relationship between ASYS and Siemens dates to 1995. In 1997 ASYS designed and developed a lift system for connecting a line of Siemens' placement systems in a parallel manner. To date ASYS has supplied more than 1,000 of the systems to Siemens.
The Siplace Partnership Award recognizes business partners that benefit users of Siemens' products or services.
The electronics company has chosen a SnAgCuIn alloy for its high-reliability communications and medical gear and larger PCBs, according to Nikkei Shinbum News.
The company chose the solder for its melting temperature, tensile strength, thermal cycling and aging characteristics, the report said. SnAgCuIn melts at 204C, well below the point of other lead-free alloys. The alloy is supplied by Singapore Asahi Chemical and Solder Industries Ltd.
According to the report, another lead-free alloy -- this one SnZn -- failed to pass Hitachi's tests.
Hitachi said that while indium costs more than other metals, the price point is "only 20 to 30%" higher and that all lead-free alloys cost more than SnPb solder.
Japanese OEMs have been early adopters of lead-free alloys. According to the report, NEC, Sharp and Fujitsu use SnZn, while Panasonic uses SnAgBiIn.
The award honors SMTA members who stand out as leaders within the association.
In a press release, SMTA said Tsoi's devoted hours of time, personal financial support and leadership so that colleagues could benefit from SMTA membership via a local chapter. He was the first student from China to earn SMTA Certification and joined other chapter officers in Minneapolis for a Leadership Forum last March.
Frank, of FeinFocus GmbH, received the award for his paper "Detecting and Analyzing Wafer Bump Voids with X-ray Inspection," in which he disclosed an x-ray imaging technology said to detect and measure voids within solder bumps on chips. The paper also revealed software that determines component viability based on preset threshold values.
The event was sponsored by SMTA. Papers detailed leading-edge IC packaging and test technologies with special emphasis on 3D stacked packaging.
The x-ray inspection system detailed in Frank's paper converts 3D voids to measurable 2D images, enabling the system to calculate the ratio of the size of the void within a solder bump to the total mass of the ball. The system can also determine the largest linear distance between two points in the void and compare the result with the diameter of the ball.
The paper will soon be online in at smta.org.
Hangzhou Eastcom Cellular Phone Co. will purchase $20 million worth of SMT equipment and maintenance over the next three years, Autron Pte. said. Autron will also help manage Hangzhou's spare parts inventories.
The new center houses process R&D and remanufacturing facilities, spare parts, component engineering and demo lines.
With the refurbished equipment, the company also provides original documentation, genuine spare parts, software and component upgrade, and warranty and service support.
Engineers are trained at the original manufacturer's factories, Autron said.
The company estimates the market for refurbished equipment will reach $500 million in 2005.
In a statement, C. L Tan, group executive chairman, said ""We have spent the last 1½ years tediously building on our product and process knowledge, market research in the industry and working closely with customers to understand their concerns, fears and needs. The rebuilt equipment division is an important high margin growth engine of our solutions business model and we intend to dominate this space for long time to come."
Autron provides electronics assembly equipment and services including distribution services and manufacturing.
