Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - News

News

ATLANTA – UP Media Group Inc., parent company of Circuits Assembly and Printed Circuit Design & Manufacture, has issued a call for abstracts for PCB East 2008, which will be held May 11-16 at the Holiday Inn Select and Convention Center in Tinley Park, IL.

STOCKHOLM – Note will acquire 50% of a Philippines-based Ionics EMS facility in China, the company said today. The deal is expected to be accretive to sales and earnings starting in 2008. No other financial terms were disclosed.

BEIJING – The China Communications Standards Association has created a task force to study an e-waste recycling standard and a mandatory standard for testing detrimental chemicals in electronic products.

The latter will require all electronics communications products manufactured in the region to be tested prior to being available, according to a ChinaTechNews.com report.

The standard will emulate WEEE and RoHS to help China firms maintain components that comply with EU policies, especially companies that export products to Europe.

The study team will help the association supervise environment testing capabilities in China.

BINGHAMTON, NY – The parent company of Universal Instruments and Vitronics Soltec named group chairman Jean-Luc Pelissier chief executive, effective Oct. 1.

ROME, NY – The ESD Association and Canada’s Automated Learning Corp. have announced a training course in electrostatic discharge control.

The course is intended for electronics manufacturers who require controls for ESD-sensitive components and assemblies, and can be custom-tailored to meet company-specific ESD control program needs.

ESDA Operator Training is reportedly the first computer-delivered ESD training to provide this content-tailoring feature.

While primarily intended for assembly operators and semiconductor technicians, this comprehensive ESD training course can benefit anyone involved in electronics manufacturing, the companies suggest.

The course features the ALC LearnTech computer-based training system that delivers course content over a corporate network and includes automated registration and record keeping.

For more information, visit http://www.automatedlearning.com/products/ESDAOperatorTraining.cfm.

TAIPEI – Arima Computer plans to sell its notebook PC and server operations to Flextronics for $191.5 million.

VANCOUVER, WA – Antares Advanced Test Technologies, a global supplier of integrated semiconductor test consumables, announced it has integrated the R&D, manufacturing and support operations of Antares conTech and UMD Advanced Test Technologies following the companies' merger in the third quarter of 2006.

Antares’ 11 acquisitions since 1988 have reportedly left the company the world's largest supplier of high-end semiconductor sockets and connectors and a global supplier of burn-in sockets, automated test equipment consumables and thermal management solutions.

SAN DIEGO – IBM executive Paul R. Brody will keynote the 11th Annual ESCA Conference and Expo, Oct. 29-31, in Santa Clara, CA.

Brody, partner at IBM Global Business Services and global lead, Electronics Industry Strategy Practice, will speak on optimization through collaboration, sharing insights on trends from both the supply side (cost, complexity, competition, commoditization) and the demand side (convergence, connectedness, consumerization, content) that are reshaping the electronics industry.

Also, Karen Butner, supply chain expert and member of the IBM Institute for Business Value, and Jane Barrett, research director and analyst with AMR Research’s Value Chain Strategies Service, will join others to guide an interactive session on Agility and the Globally Integrated Enterprise with a special look at strategies for Taming China's Dragons: When China is part of your supply chain.

For more information, visit www.electronicssupplychain.org.

DERBYSHIRE, UK – Electrochemical manufacturer Electrolube, a division of HK Wentworth Ltd., has received £1.1million in additional funding from Fortis, a large European financial institution.

Fortis provided the funds worth to HK Wentworth following the development of a five-year business plan, and has to date invested £2 million into the group.

The initial affiliation will run for two years, with the possibility of extension. Fortis’ investment is set to impact Electrolube’s international sales, technical support and research and development capability.

WASHINGTON – A lobbying effort began Thursday to curb or halt patent legislation that passed the U.S. House of Representative two weeks ago.

Opponents, namely biotech and pharmaceutical firms, claim the bill would undermine current patent protections and deter investors from taking chances with innovative ideas.

The pending legislation has had support from Microsoft, Cisco, Intel and other big tech firms. It is designed to control excessive litigation; however, detractors claim it would benefit large corporations at the expense of startups.

Inventors and CEOs from more than a dozen companies said they object to the provision that would permit companies to challenge patents after awarded in a subsequent review process.

At a briefing Thursday, several executives said they were concerned that because the esoteric, technical details of patent law are difficult to understand, a bad bill might get through Congress.

Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), a chief sponsor of the House bill, said he would continue to "tweak" provisions when Congress negotiates the details of a final bill.

First, the Senate would have to pass its own bill, which Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), said could happen in the next few weeks.

ATLANTA – Stencils are often overlooked or taken for granted, but offer ample opportunities for process improvement and even cost savings.

Those were the takeaways from Photo Stencil regional sales manager Skye McDaniel, who on Thursday offered up an informative and occasionally humorous presentation on stencil selection at the Atlanta SMTA chapter meeting.

SAN JOSE, CA – North American manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.39 billion in orders in August and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.83, according to SEMI.