Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - Features

LAGUNA, PHILIPPINES - Electronics manufacturing services provider IMI has achieved registration to the ISO/TS 16949:2002 quality standard, the highest international quality standard for the automotive industry. The company said it will increase its pursuit of automotive business.

In a press release, president and CEO Arthur R. Tan said, "Our ISO/TS 16949 certification ... improves our competitiveness in the automotive electronics market segment, which is anticipated by analysts to offer tremendous outsourcing opportunities in the coming years."

"The road has been paved for our increased presence in the automotive market and expanded business with our existing automotive electronics OEM customers."

IMI was certified in 2000 to QS 9000, the American automotive industry's quality standard.

ISO/TS 16949 is an international quality management system certification that harmonizes existing American, German, French, and Italian automotive standards into a single standard, eliminating the need for multiple certifications. It was developed by the International Automotive Task Force, which represents major automotive manufacturers in the world, in collaboration with the International Standards Organization.

ST. LOUIS -- Viasystems Group, once the largest PCB maker in North America, will shutter its remaining circuit board plants outside Asia while adding even more capacity in China.

The company will spend $60 million toward expanding its China operations. These funds will primarily be used to further expand its Chinese PCB production capabilities and enhance its technological capabilities.

FRAMINGHAM, MA - Worldwide factory sales of servers grew 5.1% to $14.4 billion in the fourth quarter, the seventh consecutive quarter of growth, according to research firm IDC.

Unit shipments slowed 15.7% year-on-year, IDC said.

For the year, worldwide server revenue grew 6.2% to $49 billion, while worldwide unit shipments grew 19.3% to 6.3 million units.

Meanwhile, a competing research firm, Gartner Group, pegged server growth at 7.2%, at $49.5 billion in 2004.

IBM led the overall server market in 2004 with 33.3 percent revenue share, followed by HP with 26.6 percent share, said IDC. Sun, Dell and Fujitsu/Fujitsu-Siemens round out the top five.

For the quarter, sales of volume servers (servers priced less than $25,000) rose, IDC said, the only segment to do so. Midrange and high-end enterprise servers fell, reflecting lower unit shipments and pricing pressures.

The volume servers lead in both revenue and unit shipment growth, demonstrating the impact these systems are having on the worldwide server marketplace.

Unix server unit shipments grew, with IBM retaking the lead worldwide, with a 36.3%. HP is no. 2 (27.6%), followed by Sun (25.3%). Linux server revenue grew 35.6% year-on-year, while unit shipments were up 29.1%.

BINGHAMTON, NY - Universal Instruments' SMT Laboratory has committed over $10 million in research grants and stipends, as well as mentoring research projects and providing access to equipment and facilities.

The investment has accrued over 14 years, during which the SMT Lab has supported leading-edge research into second-level packaging and sponsored the activities of the Area Array Consortium.

The AAC has historically consisted of up to 32 large member companies which support the lab's research.

UTICA, NY -- Indium Corp. has completed its third audit since transitioning to ISO9001:2000. The process involved over 20 individuals at its manufacturing facilities in Utica and Clinton, NY, and resulted in no "minor" or "major" findings, the company said.

"This success does not just happen." said Bill Jackson, director of corporate quality, in a statement, "It is the result of people working together to improve the effectiveness of our processes and systems to increase our ability to fulfill customers requirements."

SANTA CLARA, CA - Sierra Proto Express next week will roll out what it calls the "first true lead-free PCBs guaranteed not to fail in process or use."

The maker of quickturn prototype PCBs will put discuss its methods next week at the Printed Circuit Board Design Conference West, in Santa Clara.

In the seminar, the company says it will cover compliance with Europe's RoHS initiative for electronics products, and fabrication of high reliability PCBs intended for extreme environments and life-sensitive applications. The boards, Sierra Proto says, can withstand up to 2000 cycles of -45˚ to 145˚C.

The seminar will review the needs associated with lead-free printed circuits and discuss materials suitable for meeting the lead-free directives. The seminar also provides a new solution for boards for space, aeronautical, military, transportation, medical, and oil exploration applications.

The seminars will take place during PCB Design Conference West in the exhibits area each day of the show.

To register: call 800-763-7503 x500, or email frankd@protoexpress.com.