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News

HERNDON, VA – Industry-led consortium iNEMI today announced a majority of its OEM and EMS members strongly support unique part numbers for BGA components to differentiate any Pb-free ball metallurgies other than SAC 305 or SAC 405.

Concerned about changes in metallurgies, iNEMI informs that variations can impact the manufacturing process, including form, fit and function of a device. According to members, they should be documented by the issuance of a part change notice and should be associated with a change in manufacturing part number. In this way, the manufacturing assembly process can be properly controlled prior to actual assembly to ensure reliable attachment of the BGA to the next higher assembly and to help minimize ship holds as a result of unknown parts, iNEMI says.

iNEMI members in support of this proposal include Agilent, Celestica, HP, Intel, Jabil Circuit, Microsoft, Plexus, Sanmina-SCI, Solectron and Tyco Electronics, among others.

In 2004, iNEMI called for the use of unique part numbers for RoHS-compliant components, as defined by JEDEC/IPC standards. The consortium is also calling for continued availability of SnPb BGAs for use in high-reliability products, which are currently exempt from the EU RoHS Directive. Manufacturers of these high-reliability products will continue to use SnPb processes until long-life reliability concerns regarding Pb-free are resolved, and Pb-free BGAs are not compatible with these processes, says the consortium.

ARMONK, NY – IBM this week claimed to be first to apply a self-assembling nanotechnology to conventional chip manufacturing. The company expects to have the technology ready for wide-scale use by 2009.

The natural pattern-creating process that forms seashells, snowflakes and enamel on teeth reportedly has been harnessed to form trillions of holes to create insulating vacuums around the miles of nano-scale wires packed next to each other inside each computer chip.

The new technique to make airgaps by self-assembly skips the masking and light-etching process. Instead, IBM scientists discovered a mix of compounds they pour onto a silicon wafer with wired chip patterns before baking it.

Compounds assemble in a directed manner, creating trillions of uniform, nano-scale holes across an entire 300 mm wafer. These holes are just 20 nm in diameter, up to five times smaller than those using today’s lithography technique.

Researchers have proven electrical signals on the chips can flow 35% faster, or the chips can consume 15% less energy compared to advanced chips using conventional techniques.

The self-assembly process has been integrated with IBM's manufacturing line in East Fishkill, NY, and is expected to be fully incorporated in IBM’s manufacturing lines and used in chips in 2009. The chips will be used in IBM's server product lines and thereafter for chips IBM builds for other companies.

ATLANTA — Siemens Energy and Automation, Inc. this week appointed Dennis Sadlowski president and CEO. Sadlowski succeeds Aubert Martin, retiring after 40 years with Siemens.

Sadlowski started at SE&A in 2000 as a VP and GM in Atlanta. From 2003 to 2006, Sadlowski led the Siemens Automation and Drives Sensors business in Germany. In 2006, he returned to Atlanta as COO, while concurrently managing the Power Distribution & Controls Division.

BERKSHIRE, UK – A just-released NPL report describes developments using a surface insulation resistance test method to assess conformal coating protection performance on electronics assemblies.

In the report, authors Dr. Chris Hunt and L. Zou of the NPL maintain SIR is sensitive in detecting circuit reliability underneath coatings.

In the study, a test vehicle featuring a range of components was used to identify coating protection problems. The procedure on how to choose and apply contaminants to test coupons to simulate the contaminants effect from harsh environments on underlying circuit reliability is detailed, as well as the test parameter settings for SIR test and SO2 exposure testing. The method provides a measurement tool to discriminate between coatings.

The use of this method to investigate the protection performance of seven different types of coatings (two water-based acrylics, solvent-based acrylic, fluoroacrylate, silicone, polyurethane, and epoxy) against solvent-based flux, surfactant and SO2 gas, is included in the appendix.

For more information contact Hunt at chris.hunt@npl.co.uk.

RUSHVILLE, IN – Fujitsu Ten Corp. of America plans to move its manufacturing operation from Rushville, IN, to Reynosa, Mexico.

FTCA says approximately 130 local employees will lose jobs by 2008 because of the move. Roughly 60 workers will continue to work in Rushville in distribution and customer service. The factory makes automotive electronics.

MANILA – Texas Instruments will invest $1 billion over 10 years on an assembly/test site in the Philippines that aims to be the most environmentally efficient in the world. At 77,000 sq. meters, the site within the Clark Freeport Zone is expected to eventually employ about 3,000 workers and will double the capacity that TI has in the Philippines.

The site will incorporate many of the environmental and energy design features first used in the U.S. at TI’s newest semiconductor facility. Reducing water, energy and waste will be given priority consideration, and it will be the first ground-up facility to be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) registered in the Philippines.
Construction is expected to start in the second half of 2007, with initial production in the second half of 2008.

TI first entered the Philippines in 1979 in Baguio City. It conducts final assembly and testing of semiconductors for customers in the computer, aerospace, telecommunications, and automotive industries in the United States, Asia, and Europe.

EDINA, MN – SMTA has issued a call for papers for the 2008 Pan Pacific Microelectronics Symposium. The symposium will take place Jan. 22-24 in Kauai.

Pan Pac focuses on business and technologies of microelectronic packaging, interconnection, microsystems technology and assembly.

Abstracts are due July 20.

For information, visit http://www.smta.org/pan_pac/call_for_papers.cfm or contact JoAnn Stromberg at joann@smta.org.

SPOKANE, WA – EMS firm Key Tronic Corp. reported third-quarter revenue of $47.2 million, up 4% year-over-year. For the first nine months of fiscal 2007, total revenue was $152.6 million, up 13% from last year.

Net income for the quarter was $700,000, down 22% from 2006. Year to-date net income was $2.5 million, down 3.8%.

The company expects fourth quarter revenue of $45 million to $49 million, excluding an anticipated $2.7 million gain from the sale of its Las Cruces facility.

ELKHART, IN – CTS Corp. reported fourth-quarter net earnings rose 2.7% to $7.7 million on a 1% hike in revenues to $173.5 million.

Revenues were boosted by a 17% increase in EMS sales to the defense/aerospace, medical and communications markets, the company said. Components and Sensors sales increased 5%, primarily for automotive products. Sales were partially offset by weakness in electronic component demand and lower component sales for handset applications, CTS reported.

ATLANTA – Mentor Graphics VP and GM Henry Potts’ PCB Design Conference West keynote is now available for free online.

In his talk, Cross Currents: Where PCB Design Meets ICs and Hardware, Potts discusses industry trends such as company and market globalization, outsourcing and new manufacturing technologies.

The 45-minute Webinar was originally presented at PCB West in March and is suitable for engineers, corporate managers, sales and marketing professionals and researchers.

Register at https://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/EventLobbyServlet?target=registration.jsp&eventid=40276&sessionid=1&key=95601077BB15A4EA6D05013F3FF00640&sourcepage=register.

TAIPEI – Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) reported another stellar first quarter, with net earnings of $15.6 billion, up 48.9% year-over-year.

SAN JOSE, CA – Monthly worldwide semiconductor sales rose 1% sequentially to $20.3 billion in March, 3.2% higher than the $19.7 billion reported in March 2006, SIA reported today.