DES PLAINES, IL — Kester will host a lead-free seminar titled, "Project 2005: Achieving Lead-free RoHS Assembly" on May 10 in Orange County, CA and May 12 in Tijuana, Mexico. Guest speakers will present on behalf of KIC and Metcal.

The seminar claims to offer proven, practical information on both lead-free assembly and RoHS compliance. The seminar does not concentrate on specific consumer applications. It offers information and case studies to make reliable lead-free products that are RoHS compliant.

Presentations and discussions will include: lead-free and RoHS directive overview; supply changes and procurement issues; board/component requirements; lead-free alloy selection for SMT, wave and rework; lead-free wave and SMT process optimization; impact of dual systems; BGA rework practices; hand soldering process changes; lead-free RoHS reliability; field rework and training; and training and documentation.

Lunch and refreshments will be provided. Attendees will receive a lead-free assembly technical manual containing presentation materials; technical white papers; and a free subscription to the Lead-Free Connection Newsletter.

For more info, visit www.kester.com. 

Minneapolis -- Sponsored by the SMTA, the Pan Pacific Microelectronics symposium focuses on the critical business markets and technologies of microelectronic packaging, interconnection, microsystems, nanotechnology,and assembly. The symposium is scheduled for January 17-19, 2006 at the Marriott Waikola Hotel, Hawaii.

The program committee seeking participants to present recent research results on the following topics:
Business:
Cross Cultural Management, Economics and Cost Analysis, Green Manufacturing (Energy Conservation, Pb- and Halogen-free, etc.), Manufacturing Management, Outsourcing Strategies, Roadmaps.
 
Packaging:
3-D and Stacked Packages, BGA, Chip Scale, Display Drivers, Embedded Devices, Flip Chip, Integrated Passive Devices (IPDs), MCM/SiP, RF and Microwave, Thermal Management, Wafer Level Assembly.

Interconnection:
Advanced PWBs, Co-Fired Ceramics, Flat Panel Displays, Flex / Flex Rigid, HDI, Microvias, Shaped Circuits, Thin and Thick Film Materials.

Assembly:
Automation Control, Component Placement, Direct Chip Attach, Materials and Processes, Repair and Rework, Test and Troubleshooting.

West Conshohocken, PA -- At the end of March, Heraeus Circuit Materials Division acquired the ultra-fine-pitch solder powder technology and business from Welco GmbH (Potsdam, Germany). 

WASHINGTON -- Manufacturing output edged down 0.1% in March, and the factory operating rate fell to 78%, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve. Durable goods declined 0.2%, reflecting a drop in the output of motor vehicles and parts and in the production of nonmetallic mineral products.

Computer and electronics products advanced 1.1% and rose at an annual rate of 22.6% in the first quarter. Computer and peripheral equipment rose at an annual rate of 12.7%, and the output of semiconductors and related components advanced at an annual rate of 39%.

Although the production of communications equipment fell in March, the index increased at an annual rate of more than 24%, the Federal Reserve said.

BANNOCKBURN, IL - The 90-day moving average shipments of all types of circuit boards fell 4.5% year-on-year in March, according to the latest poll of U.S. PCB fabricators. Bookings fell 10%, continuing their first-quarter slog.

A large percentage of the production includes boards built offshore and distributed by North American vendors. According to IPC, which takes the poll, 30% of the shipments reported were produced offshore, down three points from February.

The domestic book-to-bill ratio dropped 0.03 points to 1.05, remaining above 1.0 for the fourth month in a row. The ratio is based on data collected by IPC from rigid and flex producers and is calculated by dividing three months worth of orders by sales. A ratio over 1.0 is considered an indicator of rising demand.

The ratio for rigid PCBs was flat at 1.04, while that of flexible circuits dropped 0.16 points to 1.07.

Rigid board shipments, estimated by IPC to make up 75% of all domestic PCBs, were down 9% in March vs. a year ago. Bookings were down 2.7% for the month. Flex sales grew 21.3%, but bookings fell 35.9%. Value-added services made up 55% of the shipment value of flex circuits.

Year-to-date flex bookings are down 2.3% and shipments are up 29.5%. Rigid shipments are down 4.6% and bookings are off 4.8%. Shipments of all boards are up just 1% and bookings are down 4.3%.

Sequentially, combined shipments were up 7.1% over February, while bookings were up 8.3%. Rigid shipments were up 8.7% and bookings climbed 11.1% sequentially. Flex shipments were up 0.6% and bookings were down 4.8% against revised February numbers.

Seventy percent of PCB shipments reported were domestically produced. Domestic production accounted for 75% of rigid PCB and 47% of flexible circuit shipments in March, IPC said.

In a statement, IPC cautioned that month-to-month comparisons should be made with caution as they may reflect cyclical effects.

Jersey City, NJ - To assist electronics assemblers in the transition to lead-free processing, Cookson Electronics Assembly Materials Group and Speedline Technologies have developed a Lead-Free Implementation Checklist. The list provides details that should be confirmed for assembly equipment, materials, shop floor segregation, training of personnel, process validation, process refinement and yield enhancement.
 
The list was compiled based on the process engineering and R&D experience gathered by Joe Belmonte, product manager of Speedline's Advanced Technology Group, and Chrys Shea, manager of R&D Applications Engineering at Cookson.
 
According to Shea, "Our informal discussion on the subject very quickly evolved into a formal process of collecting and cataloging all of the information required to run lead-free processes.  Our overriding goal was to help our customers plan and execute the lead-free transition by not only providing a methodical framework to follow, but also alerting them to some of the potential pitfalls they may not have previously envisioned."
 
The list is available at: alphametals.com/lead_free/tech_learning3.html and speedlinetech.com/lead_free/index.aspx. 

PHOENIX - Avnet Inc. has agreed to acquire Memec Group Holdings LTD in a stock and cash transaction valued at $676 million, including the assumption of $194 million of Memec debt. Combined, the distributors will have annual sales of more than $8.5 billion.

MANKATO, MN - Winland Electronics Inc., an EMS firm, announced first quarter revenue of $7 million, up 35.3% from last year. Net income increased 71.4% to $374,535 for the same period.

The increase was related to new product line items integrated from OEM customers during 2004 combined with improved sales of the company's proprietary products.

It was a record quarter for the company, and its 13th consecutive profitable quarter.

Gross profits for the quarter were $1.7 million, up 24.3%. Gross profit decreased as a percentage of net sales from 26.4% in Q1 2004 to 24.2% in the first quarter of 2005, due to higher costs from new product designs and billable engineering projects.

Income from operations increased 68.9% to $629,203 due to a significant increase in sales. Total operating expenses increased 7.5% for the first quarter to $1.1 million.

During the quarter Winland's largest customer, Select Comfort, increased its purchase commitments by $4.5 million.

The company completed the quarter with $587,007 in cash and a current ratio of 2.75 to 1.

SAN JOSE - Outsourcing of IC packaging assembly has fully resumed as unit growth reached double-digits the past three years. Contractors will continue to inherit a growing percentage of the IC packaging business as semiconductor manufacturers focus on the front end.

That's according to Electronic Trend Publications, a San Jose-based research firm. In a just released report, "The Worldwide IC Packaging Market," ETP finds that the worldwide IC market grew 28% in 2004 to $179 billion - surpassing the 2000 peak of $177 billion. IC units hit 105 billion, up 53% since 2001.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. high-tech industry lost 25,000 jobs in 2004, dropping to 5.6 million, say a study released today by AeA. The decline represents a considerable slowdown in technology jobs lost, compared to the 333,000 jobs lost in 2003 and the 612,000 jobs lost in 2002.

"The good news is that the technology industry looks to have turned a corner," said AeA president and CEO William T. Archey. "For the first time since 2000, both software services and engineering and tech services added jobs. Each of these tech sectors added over 30,000 net new jobs to the economy in 2004. This is especially positive news because tech jobs pay 84% more than the average private sector job."

AeA found that all but four states lost high-tech jobs in 2003, the most recent year for which state data are available. California and Texas lost the greatest number of tech jobs, shedding some 67,800 and 32,900 jobs, respectively. Despite these losses, California and Texas remained the leading cyberstates by employment, followed by New York and Florida. However, Virginia displaced Massachusetts in 2003, becoming the fifth largest state by technology employment. And, while Colorado remained the nation's leading cyberstate by concentration of high-tech workers, Virginia also moved up by this metric to second place.