Breda, Holland -- One issue facing manufacturers transitioning to Pb-free soldering is the threat of cross-contamination between Pb-bearing and Pb-free materials. To help, materials supplier Cobar BV has instituted a simple, recognizable color coding standard for its solder paste products to distinguish Pb-bearing from Pb-free.
Pb-free solder pastes will now be packaged in green containers, while Pb-bearing pastes will continue to ship in white containers. There is no difference in the quality of the packaging material.
Cobar is the latest to join the ranks of solder vendors using color-coded packaging to aid in distinguishing lead and lead-free materials. Indium and Kester, among others, also package solder in similar fashion.
ATLANTA -- Industry analyst Walt Custer will present his take on the global economic situation in a free presentation over the Internet later this month.
The live two-hour Webinar takes place Feb. 28, at 2 pm EST. To register, go to www.pbrseminars.com.
SARATOGA, CA – Revenues and unit sales of
ICs worldwide are expected to be in the double digits, says a leading research firm. Revenues and unit sales grew 7.8% and 10.6%, respectively,
in 2005, Advanced Forecastingsaid.
SAN JOSE -- IBM Technology Group director Tim Collopy will keynote the IEEE International
Reliability Physics Symposium this year.
IRPS will be held March 26 to 30, in San Jose.
Collopy will address adaptating reliability methodologies to market expectations and technology roadmaps. He asserts that fundamental reliability models and qualification
methods have not changed in decades. In order to accommodate unique customer
requirements (e.g., foundry) or industry standards, Collopy
suggests enhanced quality processes and the stress, analysis and repair of
new fail modes uncovered during new technology development.
The addition of
feedback from the full spectrum of users to verify these models and methods
allows for continuous improvement of quality processes, just as customers
demand of microelectronic products and technologies.
Collopy joined IBM in 1974 and has served in his current position
since 2001. He graduated the University of
Missouri Rolla with bachelor's degrees in mathematics and electrical engineering, and a master's in operations
research, and has an MBA in plans and controls from Union College.
He has previously held management positions in
process engineering, diagnostics and characterization, manufacturing
engineering, reliability engineering and analytical services at IBM's East
Fishkill, NY ,semiconductor facility.
HAUPPAUGE, NY -- Jaco Electronics Inc. today reported second-quarter net sales of $48.1 million, down from $52 million last year, for the period ended Dec. 31.
The distributor of electronic components reported an operating loss of $180,000, down from $1.7 million a year ago. The net loss widened, however, to $7.4 million from $1.5 million last year.
During the quarter, gross profit margin and SG&A expenses improved. Gross profit margin improved to 13.9%, while SG&A expenses as a
percentage of net sales declined to 14.3% from 16% in the prior year.
In a statement, Jaco chairman and chief executive Joel Girsky said, "Early in fiscal Q3, we announced another multi-million dollar
electronic voting machine manufacturing order. The new contract was
for 5,000 flat panel touchscreen machines." Other recent orders were for gaming machines, military and medical applications, he said.