Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - News

News

Jersey City, NJ - Cookson Electronics Assembly Materials has launched an RoHS Materials Declaration Service on its Website to provide access to information for many of its lead-free products.

The site -- alphametals.com/lead_free/rohs.html - should facilitate the search for RoHS-compliant materials (RoHS Directive 2002/95/EC restricts the use of six hazardous materials, including lead, from electrical and electronic equipment).

The format for declarations is based on the design of the joint industry group of EIA, EICTA and JGPSSI. The library of declarations will be updated regularly.

Harrisburg, PA - Phoenix Contact Inc., a manufacturer of specialized electronic components and connection systems, has added a second Infomobile for use at customer sites and trade shows.

The Infomobile is an informational and educational vehicle that provides hands-on demonstrations of the company's products. The newest vehicle features a simulated control room where products interact to produce real-time industrial solutions.

The Infomobile is available to visit all types of businesses, including manufacturing plants and engineering firms. The vehicles currently visit more than a dozen countries.

Visit www.phoenixcon.com/info for a complete schedule of stops.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Nortech Systems Inc. reported net sales of $19.1 million for the first quarter ended March 31, up 27% over the same period in 2004.

Operating income rose 64% to $315,333, while net income more than doubled to $98,892.

"This year has started very well, with positive momentum continuing from the second half of 2004," says Mike Degen, President and CEO of Nortech Systems. "Our diverse customer base remains a core strength."

Sales growth was led by aerospace systems and electronics assembly.

As previously announced, the company expects revenues in fiscal 2005 to increase eight to 10%, in the range of $78 million to $80 million.

NORWALK, CT -- The global auto-ID market, worth approx. $13.9 billion in 2005, is expected to grow at an AAGR (average annual growth rate) of 15.8% to reach $28.9 billion by 2010, according to a new report.

Research from The Business Communication Company shows that the high growth rate of the market can be attributed to a higher demand for strong security solutions in different market verticals, such as government installations, financial services and mobile telephony. The need to automate business processes to minimize costs is another reason for the growth in the automobiles, aviation, retail and transportation sectors.

Some primary technologies in the market include smart cards, optical cards, RFID, barcodes and biometrics. The smart cards market is developing rapidly to accommodate the demands of immigration control. In the near future, biometric identification is expected to be used as the primary tool of identification.

BCC suggests that since it is intimately connected to the semiconductor industry, developments in areas such as high-density memory will boost growth in the auto-ID industry. The decrease in chip size and increase in processing power have led to the development of more complex applications. Therefore, auto-ID players have to keep up with new technologies to stay competitive.

Some older auto-ID technologies, such as barcodes, are expected to lose their market share to new technologies, such as RFID (which boasts greater storage capacity and more efficient data-capturing ability). Biometric identification may be integrated with smart cards in the form of passports and visas. Biometrics will also be used as a standalone application to provide security solutions to government installations and other sensitive locations.

San Diego — KIC, Henkel Technologies, Engent, Speedline Technologies, Cogiscan and OK International will co-sponsor a lead-free workshop on May 18-19, at the Henkel Technologies facility in Irvine, CA.

The hands-on training program is designed for engineers and engineering management, and will provide a broad knowledge of lead-free materials interactions, and an understanding of the process (including advantages and limitations). A sample lead-free board will be produced and taken away by each attendee.

· Dr. Neil Poole and Dr. Brian Toleno of Henkel Technologies will present on material interactions, surface mount adhesives, underfills, conformal coatings and alloy reliability.
· Dr. Daniel Baldwin of Engent will discuss process engineering methods, analytical tools and design of experiment (DOE).
· Francois Monette of Cogiscan Inc. will present on material logistics and identification, component compatibility and the impact of MSD.
· Marybeth Allen of KIC will discuss management of the thermal processes as they relate to the conversion to lead-free manufacturing.
· Grant Miller of OK International will present on rework with lead-free devices.
· Keith Howell of Speedline Technologies will present on wave and reflow processes.

The workshop will feature hands-on production floor training in the following areas:

· Screen printing surface mount adhesives and solder paste, and placement
· Reflow profiling
· Inspection/analytical
· Rework
· Wave.

Additional info is available at www.kicthermal.com/index.html.

HERNDON, VA— The International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI) has added seven new members.

The following companies have joined the group in the past few months:
Coherent Inc. (Santa Clara, CA)— produces photonics-based solutions for commercial markets and scientific research.
Henkel Corp. (Irvine, CA) —electronics material solutions from wafer-level to board-level and final assembly.
NanoDynamics Inc. (Buffalo, NY) — produces nanomaterials for improved functionality and performance of a wide range of industrial and consumer products.
Nihon Superior Co. Ltd. (Osaka, Japan) — provides advanced soldering and brazing technologies and products for the metal-joining industry.
PCNalert (Pasadena, CA) — specializes in component event management, a discipline that synthesizes content, software applications and business processes.
Symbol Technologies Inc. (Holtsville, NY) - develops enterprise mobility products such as mobile computers, wireless infrastructure, barcode scanners and kiosks.
Total Parts Plus Inc. (Fort Walton Beach, FL) — offers obsolescence management products and services as well as detailed material content information services.

"iNEMI's success is directly attributable to the diversity and participation of our members. These new members represent both the global reach and the variation of companies that make up the industry's supply chain," said iNEMI CEO Jim McElroy.

SHANGHAI - Enthone Inc., the chemistries arm of Cookson Electronics, opened a $3 million technical service center in Shanghai. The facility will process functional and decorative coatings for use in automotive, plumbing and other surface finishing applications. In total, five plating lines will be installed for pre-treatment, plating and post-treatment chemical processing.

Hubb van Dun, president, said, "In 2004, Enthone achieved a breakthrough market position in aluminum wheel plating in Asia. We will continue to evaluate and invest in technologies, applications and markets that expand our Enthone chemistry business and support the needs of our worldwide customers."

The center, home to about 60 employees, is equipped with advanced instrumentation analysis, including AAS, UV/VIS, CVS and a CASS test chamber that will analyze a range of materials, including decorative accessories, functional items and electronics components.

KENOSHA, WI — Pro-Mation Inc. is producing a monthly newsletter to deliver industry news and company news and products. The company, which makes PCB handling equipment, selective laser soldering, conveyers and other equipment, will distribute the newsletter via email.

The first issue, released this month, provides updated product information the company's magazine handler, selective laser solder system and in-line placement work cell. It also includes info on the company's Dynalab integration efforts.

President and CEO Gary Goldberg also shares his thoughts on industry news.

For more info or to subscribe, contact Gary Goldberg: 262-942-4177.

SAN JOSE - Worldwide sales of semiconductors grew 13.2% in the first quarter compared to the same period of 2004, the SIA reported today. Global sales of semiconductors in the first three months were $55.3 billion, up 0.4% sequentially from the fourth quarter of 2004.

March sales, at $18.4 billion, were up 2.2% from February, on heavy consumer spending.

FRAMINGHAM, MA -- A monthly poll of the nation's top information officers revealed strong signs of growth in projected IT spending.

In the April poll by CIO Magazine, released today, respondents predict spending will grow 7.9% during the next 12 months, up from 6.4% last month.

The poll was conducted from April 7-14. It marks the third consecutive month that CIOs predicted increasing spending.

Growth is forecast for software, and for equipment for telecom and data networking.

"IT budgets are starting to bloom along with the tulips," says Dr. Ed Yardeni, chief investment strategist for Oak Associates. "April's poll results suggest business may be warming up to more technology spending in the spring."

"While overall projections from CIOs are more positive this month, spending projections for computer hardware fell slightly and storage was flat," says Chris Whitmore, director, IT hardware research for Deutsche Bank. "We continue to expect most areas of hardware to experience slower growth in 2005 versus 2004. We believe the combination of rising interest rates, slowing economic growth and an aging replacement cycle will all dampen hardware growth this year." DB forecasts IT spend to grow 4 to 5% this year, versus 6% in 2004.

CIOs of companies osf less than 100 employees projected spending to rise 16.5%, versus 8.4% last month. Companies of 5,000 or more employees increased projections to 6%, versus 5% in March.

PHILADELPHIA - Kimball Electronics Group, an EMS company with divisions worldwide, plans to purchase Aegis Industrial Software Corp. NPI and MES software modules for all divisions. Kimball's goal is to first integrate all operations at their headquarters in Jasper, IN, and then expand the software interface to their divisions worldwide within one year.

Greg Carmer, CAD/CAM engineering & document control manager at Kimball said, "We're beginning an international rollout. We have plants in Poland, Thailand and Mexico, two plants in Jasper and one in Auburn, Indiana. We're 'going live' with the software in Thailand by the end of June following the successful implementation at Poland in March. We're doing a phased approach to the software, choosing those plants that would most benefit from the capabilities - those with the most urgent business needs."

Kimball selected Aegis CircuitCAM, CheckPoint, Fusion iServer and iView modules with multiple machine interfaces for this project.

TEMPE, AZ - New orders and backlogs for manufacturers grew for the 23d straight month in April although the rate of growth slipped again. New orders were down 3.4 points and inventories fell 6.2 points, yet production rose 0.2 points, said the Institute for Supply Management.

The Electronic Components and Equipment sector failed to grow during the month.

The 23-month streak marks the longest period of growth in 16 years. "However, ISM chairman Norbert Ore said, "the rate of growth slowed to its lowest level since July 2003. The trend is definitely toward a slower pace of growth, and that should relieve some of the pricing pressure that the sector has experienced during 2004 and 2005."

The PMI measure of economic activity fell for the fifth month in a row, slipping 1.9 points sequentially to 53.3%. Employment was down 1 point, to 52.3%.