Santa Clara, CA -- Dimensions Consulting Inc. (DCI) has doubled the size of its headquarters in Santa Clara, CA, to include an in-house manufacturing division for test sockets. At full utilization, the facility will triple the company's production volume of sockets.   
 
"The demand for our sockets has increased to the level where we'd now like to have complete control over manufacturing," said Zaid Ayoub, president. "We have customers that need custom sockets as well as quick turn sockets, and having control over the capacity, materials and quality will give us the ability to respond immediately with reliable sockets."  
 
The facility will accommodate extreme fine pitch for next generation packages.
 
The company has hired Donald Hayes as manufacturing manager of the new division. 

Binghamton, NY -- A Texas court has entered final judgement in favor of Universal Instruments Corp., a subsidiary of Dover Corp., following a three-week jury trial in Houston.  All 17 claims of the asserted software patent were found invalid and not infringed. 

According to Universal, the suit, filed in 2002, is one of an increasing number of patent cases brought by companies whose primary business model is licensing and litigation of patent assets—typically, with the assistance of contingency fee lawyers. In this case, the plaintiffs alleged that the GSM Platform for surface mount placement of components on PCBs infringed U.S. Patent 5,283,943. The plaintiffs waived their right to appeal in return for Universal's agreement not to seek costs or attorney fees.

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Nuremberg, Germany --Siemens Logistics and Assembly Systems has opened a training facility on the campus of Senai University in Manaus, Brazil. Siemens will conduct SMT technology training for students and customers in the region. 

Close cooperation between the university and company will enable research results to directly benefit the development of new Siplace machines. Siemens also equipped the center with a new SMT placement machine.
           
Siemens also has a training facility on the Senai Campus in Campenas, Brazil, and the same course curriculum will be offered at both locations.

Framingham, MA -- Global ODMs reached a combined $4.37 billion in revenues last year, up 37.9% from 2003, according to a recent report from International Data Corp. (IDC). The top-three ODMs are all Taiwan-based players: Quanta Computer, Compal Electronics and Lite-On Technology.

Quanta led with a 24% share of the market, with Compal garnering a 15% share and Lite-On capturing 12%, said IDC.

Notebooks contributed 48% of ODM revenues, followed by the monitor and display segment with 15%.

For Taiwan-based notebook PC ODMs, 14 to 14.9" notebooks accounted for the largest proportion of shipments last year, according to IDC.

Framingham, MA -- Electronics manufacturing services provider Foxconn Electronics (the registered trade name of Hon Hai Precision Industry) overtook US-based Sanmina-SCI to become the second-largest EMS vendor worldwide, according to a recent report by International Data Corporation (IDC).

Solectron also moved down a notch from third largest in 2003 to fourth in 2004. Singapore-based Flextronics is still the largest.

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Nam Tai Electronics Inc. has merged two of its subsidiaries, Nam Tai Electronic & Electrical Products Ltd. and Namtek Software Development Co. Ltd.

NTEEP has entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Nam Tai and Asano Co. for the acquisition of 80% and 20% interests in Namtek, respectively. The total cost of the acquisition is approx. $26.7 million, and will be satisfied by issuance of new shares of NTEEP to Nam Tai and Asano. The merger should be complete by the end of May 2005.

" We believe the merger of NTEEP and Namtek will enable the company to simplify its corporate structure, strengthen its management team, which will in turn support its continuous growth," said Joseph Li, CEO of Nam Tai. "Integration of NTEEP's manufacturing capability with Namtek's software development capability will result in significant competitive advantages. By sharing resources, the two operations will also be able to achieve higher operational efficiency, capabilities, profitablities and scalabilities."

Namtek offers a range of services on software development, data processing and compression and electronic hardware design and development, specializing in digital dictionaries and car navigation systems. It will become a wholly owned subsidiary of NTEEP after the acquisition is completed.

GLASSBORO, NJ -- Essemtec (essemtec.com), an SMT production equipment manufacturer, will be one of the exhibitors at the 9^th Annual SMTA Atlanta Expo, scheduled for April 21 at the Gwinnett Center in Duluth, GA.

The company, represented in the Circuit Technology Inc. booth, will showcase its pick-and-place machine with dispenser.
 
In 1997, the Surfact Mount Technology Association (smta.org) offered its first tabletop Vendor Day at several chapter locations and has continued to hold new and annual Vendor Days. The one-day events are popular among industry suppliers. The Atlanta Expo will take place from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., and will offer six free technical sessions on lead-free and other topics.

The mini peak season for air freight that started in early March -- and then built momentum -- is expected to continue through the end of April. To date, all regions of Asia and the Indian Subcontinent have experienced strong demand for airlift, rate pressure from carriers and longer transit times, according to Hong Kong-based Trans Global Logistics (www.tglogistics.net).

Many origin gateways that had adequate space to meet demand have had to contend with cargo backlogs at transit hubs. The greatest rate pressure has been felt in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Taiwan.

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Bannockburn, IL -- Four new committee members have been elected to the IPC SMEMA (Surface Mount Equipment Manufacturers Association) Council Steering Committee.

 

The following were elected to three-year terms: Alec Babiarz, senior vice president, Asymtek; Robert Muller, general manager commercial products, Teradyne Assembly Test Division; Marc Peo, president, Heller Industries; and Jay Stepleton, general manager and vice president, Agilent Technologies Manufacturing Test Business Unit.

 

Pierre de Villeméjane, president of Speedline Technologies and the new chairman-elect, will begin his term at Apex 2006. Gerhard Meese, executive VP of Dover Technologies, currently serves as steering committee chairman and representative to the IPC Board of Directors.

The committee sets the agenda for the SMEMA Council and creates other initiatives to improve supply chain efficiencies in the electronics manufacturing industry. It also organizes the Apex show.

Oyster Bay, NY -- Tiny TVs have been around for decades without having much impact. That's about to change, as new technologies will enable mobile phone users to watch high quality, full-motion video on their small screens, according to a new report.

ABI Research predicts subscribers will also be able to access linked content and buy program-related products and services from their wireless service providers.

Analyst Ken Hyers says that the new services will be based on a one-to-many model like conventional broadcast TV, rather than using the restricted bandwidth of mobile data networks.

Next month these digital video broadcast networks will launch in Japan and South Korea, with similar services to debut in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere by early 2007. The content will largely mimic that of the short clips now available from some mobile services: news headlines, sports, children's programs, drama "Mobisodes" and music videos.

Mobile broadcast video networks won't be run by mobile operators. In the U.S., Qualcomm and Crown Castle are launching the first services. Mobile operators will provide enhanced content -- ringtones, sports statistics, fan club materials, etc -- linked to the topic they've just viewed as TV.

"This is going to be spectacular," Hyers said in a press release. "It's going to be worth a lot of money. It's not an understatement to say that this is going to be a new goldmine for wireless operators."

Teddington, UK, April 11 -- With the forthcoming ban on the use of lead, there is a need to develop a test method to measure the internal stresses in the coatings of electronic components, based on the XRD technique. These internal stresses are a potential cause of whisker growth in lead-free finishes.

According to a recently released report, XRD measurement correlates to measured compressive residual stress on coatings with whisker growth. Three coatings with high compressive residual stress also exhibited whiskering. However, the coatings evaluated were all at least twice as thick as penetration depth of the XRD measurement system, and the measured compressive residual stress values did not start to increase until after the formation of tin whiskers. However, the XRD method did provide some correlation between residual stress in the coatings and the extent of whisker growth.

The findings were released as a part of the National Physical Laboratory's Phase 2 Studio Project to understand tin whiskers.

 

For more information contact Dr. Chris Hunt: Lchris.hunt@npl.co.uk.

 

 

Willow Grove, PA - Albert Soffa, co-founder of Kulicke & Soffa Industries and pioneer of the first wire bonder, died on Sunday.  He was 84.
 
An engineering maverick who helped shape today's modern IC packaging industry, Soffa formed a partnership with Frederick W. Kulicke, Jr. in 1951, which eventually became Kulicke & Soffa Industries.
 
"Al Soffa was one of the true pioneers in the development of modern semiconductor equipment," noted K& S chairman and CEO Scott Kulicke. "Through his innovation with my father, they introduced the first manual and automatic wire bonders, which opened the doors to the manufacture of more advanced IC technology."
 

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