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BANNOCKBURN, IL – The first draft of a proposed standard covering protection of IP designed into PCBs will be released next month during Apex.

The Intellectual Property Committee will release the draft during its scheduled meeting on April 6.

Members from all segments of electronics manufacturing are invited to attend to review the draft standard and provide input.

The draft, Best Industry Practices for Intellectual Property Protection, is intended to assist printed board manufacturers in the protection of IP for their customers in commercial, industrial and military/high reliability markets.

Developed as a high-level roadmap to best industry practices for printed board manufacturers, the draft IP standard addresses issues such physical and information security, employee data access, computer networks, destruction of scrap material, and more.

Also, under direction from Congress, the Department of Defense’s new executive agent for PCBs will develop a trusted source program for PCB manufacturers supplying the DoD. Similarly, many leading OEMs in the commercial sector are auditing their supply chain to ensure protection of their IP, says IPC, under whose auspices the standard is being written.

HAVERHILL, MA – DKN Research has developed a process for screen-printing resistors and capacitors using fine silver thick-film circuits on flexible substrates.

The new technique mimics traditional etched circuits, the inventors say, and is made possible through an advanced screen-printing process using special silver, carbon and dielectric inks and related materials that include substrates and insulating materials as the fundamental technology for printable electronics.

Technical advances with ink materials and printing equipment over the past few years have trickled down, and the wiring capabilities from the new thick-film circuits are closer to traditional etched copper circuits, says DKN.

The firm developed the advanced screen-printing technology, and can build functional thick-film circuits by partnering with equipment and material manufacturers.

The process reportedly can produce silver traces down to 30 µm lines and spaces for double and multilayer circuits with 80 µm via holes.

The conductivity of the new silver traces is one order higher compared to traditional thick-film circuits, the firm says. The traces also are solderable.

NEVADA CITY, CA -- IC revenue will stage a comeback this year, growing 18.8%, with unit growth a tick lower at 18%. Both figures are considerably better than the 8.8% decline in revenue and 6.9% decline in shipments in 2009.

MANASSAS, VA – Brady Worldwide and Zestron have teamed to conduct extensive chemical compatibility testing on Brady’s line of polyimide labels, commonly used as PCB ID labels.

ARLINGTON, VA -- Electronics component orders slowed in February after a big leap in January, an industry trade group said today.

SURREY, UK – TT Electronics’ Integrated Manufacturing Services division reported 2009 revenues of GBP 75.1 million, down 27.4% from a year ago.

The firm’s overall pretax profit for 2009 – which includes its electronics and sensors divisions – was GBP 17.2 million, compared to GBP 17.3 million for the prior year.

"An improvement in the fourth quarter has continued into the first two months of 2010," said chief executive Geraint Anderson.

TT Electronics also said order growth in the fourth quarter has continued into the current quarter.

US$1 = GBP 0.6579

MINNEAPOLIS -- Nortech Systems today reported fourth-quarter net sales of $19.8 million, down 26.7% from a year ago.

GLENVIEW, IL -- Illinois Tool Works today reported operating revenue rose 10% year-over-year for the quarter ended Feb. 28. Its Power Systems and Electronics group, which includes Kester Solder, Speedline and Vitronics-Soltec, reported sales grew 5.4%.

SALT LAKE CITY -- CirTran Corp. has transferred its open and active purchase orders relating to its contract electronics manufacturing business to a new ownership group led by its former COO.

TAIPEI – Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) posted February revenues of $3.83 billion, up 46.8% year-over-year.

NEW YORK – Electronics targeted for auto, aerospace, industrial, instrumentation, military and medical products make up a $480 billion market, of which less than 5% is outsourced.

That’s according to a new report from Barron’s. The financial media outlet believes OEMs will slowly but steadily move programs to EMS companies over the next several years.

Each segment should add 2.5% in incremental growth to the EMS sector over the next two years, Barron’s says. Coupled with macro demand forecasts, plus incremental gains for consumer electronics cellphones (another 2.5%), and the industry growth rate should reach 10%.

Furthermore, the company says, this revenue will come with higher margins than past outsourcing programs. While the industry at large tries to buck 3 to 3.5% operating margin, the new revenue sources should have 10% to 20% incremental operating margin, Barron’s says.