Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - News

News

SMT Resource Group LLC (SMTR, Wake Forest, NC), a reseller and integrator of new and refurbished electronics assembly equipment, is celebrating its fifth year of operations.

SMTR has delivered approximately 500 machines to customers worldwide during its first five years. The majority has been sold internationally, especially to Asia, where China is the biggest market, followed closely by Korea. The mix of customers includes local customers and North American companies manufacturing in Asia.

SMTR has increased profits every year, converting them into inventory and leveraging them into financial relationships with banks.

SMTR's Eastern Technical Center with 6,000 sq. ft. is located in Wake Forest, NC, and includes the company's administrative offices. The Central Technical Center in Temple, TX, has 50,000 sq. ft.; the Western Technical Center has 12,000 sq. ft. and is located in Concord, CA. SMTR has over 100 major pieces of equipment in inventory. Additionally, the company has sold 200 machines during the past year.

Eric Berg founded Encore Trading East LLC in December 1998, after a career with GE Capital, Universal Instruments and Texas Instruments. Chris Thornton founded Encore Trading West LLC in early 1999 with the intention of working with Encore Trading East. This resulted in the joint formation of Encore Trading International on April 15, 1999.

Malcolm Montanjees owner of Equipment Services LLC worked with Berg and Thornton at GE Capital and assisted Encore Trading Intl., which lead to formation of SMTR on Jan 1, 2002.

SMTR wants to recognize Dave Heller, who began with Encore Trading on April 15, 1999. Heller has worked in the used equipment business, beginning with Universal Instruments close to 20 years ago after being employed at IBM. He is now the Tech Center Manager for SMTR's Eastern facility.

www.smtresource.com

The second phase of the Kester University Program is commencing May 21 at Kester's DesPlaines, IL, facility. Kester is offering a two-day, hands on training seminar at its headquarters.

Kester recognizes the many changes required to effectively implement lead-free assembly reliably without reduction in production output and has created a program to assist customers wishing to go lead free. Courses are offered to train personnel in lead-free surface-mount technology, wave soldering and rework. The courses bring practical knowledge and experience to the user, enabling the fulfillment of a company's training requirements and the rapid implementation of lead-free assembly.

Kester University also offers consulting services to companies wishing to troubleshoot specific soldering assembly issues with lead-free or traditional tin-lead soldering. These services include solderability analysis, x-ray analysis, micro-sectioning, line audits, soldering process implementation and optimization.

Before beginning any project, Kester's engineers assess a company's specific issues and recommend a detailed action plan. At the project's completion, the company is supplied with a complete engineering report.

www.kester.com

According to IPC (Northbrook, IL), the North American Interconnect Manufacturing Services (IMS)/ Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Industry book-to-bill ratio for March rose to 1.12, up slightly from February.

The ratio is calculated by averaging the index numbers for orders booked over the past three months and dividing by the average index numbers for sales billed during the same period. A ratio of more than 1.00 suggests that current demand is ahead of supply, which indicates probable near-term growth.

Shipments in March 2004 increased 41.1% year-on year, while orders booked increased 47.2%. Compared to 2003, shipments of PCBs are up 32.6% year-to-date, with bookings up 42.8 %.

The shipment index was up 15.3% sequentially to 151.5. However, the booking index decreased 2% from 164.1 in February. A shipment index of 117.0, for example, indicates that shipments are 17% higher than average shipments for the same time period in 1992.

According to IPC, participating companies report that their shipments increased 32.9% year-on-year and that their orders booked increased 37.1%.

Year-to-date, current survey participants report shipments up 30.2% and bookings up 41.1% over the same period in 2003.

The monthly statistics are based on data provided by PCB manufacturers that participate in IPC's monthly program. These companies reportedly represent approximately 60% of the U.S. IMS industry.

www.ipc.org

Technology Forecasters Inc. (TFI, Alameda, CA) has release version 9.0 of the Global Pricing Workshop, which gives reliable prices for electronics manufacturing and design services in nearly 20 countries. Subtitles, "A Guide to the Global Outsourcing Landscape," the updated workshop and accompanying workbook draw on detailed pricing data elicited on a confidential basis from dozens of large, mid-size and small contract manufacturers (CMs), as well as original design manufacturers (ODMs).

TFI senior consultant Charlie Barnhart--who served as a n executive at CMs for more than 20 years, most recently at Sanmina-SCI--managed the research team and scrutinized more than 60 case studies covering all industries and regions.

"Electronic companies that outsource some or all of their products' manufacturing need to focus on total cost of ownership and compare these numbers with estimates that are based on sound financial principles," said Barnhart. "Actual costs versus those presented in contract manufacturer's quotes would surprise most customers."

Barnhart warns, for example, that in the largest cost category--materials--considerable variation among electronic manufacturers exists as to how they account for charges for items such as incoming freight, planned attrition, packaging and other expendable supplies, which can add as much as several percentage points to the overall cost of goods.

"Complicating the matter further, other materials-related costs such as supply-chain management and cost of procurement are sometimes accrued in SG&A, then allocated back into the operational overhead, thus making it very difficult to determine and understand the actual cost of labor," said Barnhart.

The new version of the workshop introduces more categories of design and manufacturing services, explains cost-model differences between CMs and ODMs and compares total pricing data for additional countries including India, Vietnam and Russia. Workshop participants also learn how relatively constant capital costs, hidden regional costs and levels of risk sway total cost of ownership in surprising direction--given the nature of the product and market.

Normally, the workshop is customized for individual electronic-product companies and CMs and held at each company's facility. On June 9, a special presentation of the workshop will be given to members of TFI's Quarterly Forum for Electronics Manufacturers Outsourcing and Supply Chain. The workshop will be held in Red Bank, NJ--the day following the Quarterly Forum hosted in nearby Holmdel by Lucent Technologies.

To schedule the workshop at your facility, or to attend the June 9 workshop, contact TFI president Pamela Gordon: (510) 601-9107; email: pgordon@techforecasters.com.

www.techforecasters.com

Indium Corp. (Utica, NY) is marking its 70^th year in business. Founded in 1934, the company originally focused on the applications of the newly discovered element indium. The physical properties of indium quickly led to applications in numerous industries. As new markets were entered, the company expanded its materials base.

Now, the company produces a variety of products, such as specialty metal fabrications, solders, fluxes, epoxies, polymers and inorganic compounds to markets including consumer electronics, aerospace, medical, display, energy delivery, telecommunications, computing and military.

In addition to providing a range of materials to these markets, the company is still a supplier of refined indium metal and indium compounds.

Celebrations honoring the company's heritage, its achievement and its people are being held throughout the company's various locations.

www.indium.com

On May 25-26, Henkel Corp., Engent, KIC, Speedline Technologies and Siemens Dematic will present a two-day Hands-On Lead Free Technology Workshop in Norcross, GA. In support of the electronics industry's efforts to eliminate lead from products and processes, this program will provide participants with a broad knowledge of lead-free materials and a more complete understanding of the process requirements.

Unlike other lead-free workshops, the program will consist of hands-on training on the production floor, showing the process line, rework and building boards. Dr. Neil Poole of Henkel, Dr. Daniel Baldwin of Engent, MaryBeth Allen of KIC and Keith Howell of Speedline will lead the discussions on lead-free solder technology.

The workshop will offer electronics industry engineering management and staff including design, process, system and manufacturing engineers, an opportunity to learn about lead-free solders simultaneously from a solder developer and equipment manufacturers.

Workshop hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. both days. The program will be held at Engent, 3140 Northwoods Parkway in Norcross, Georgia. Registration for the program will be $495. Advance registration is required by May 10. To register, visit www.kicthermal.com.

View Engineering Inc. (Simi Valley, CA), a designer and manufacturer of vision measurement systems, has announced the integration of linear motors into their View Summit series of large format, vision measurement/inspection systems. Linear motors are not subject to the same velocity and acceleration limitations inherent in systems converting rotary to linear motion, such as lead screw systems.

The integration of linear motors provides the platform with the higher velocities and accelerations needed to satisfy near-line measurement/inspection requirements. The systems operate precisely to 0.1 micron at velocities ranging from 400 to 500 mm/sec. The combination of precision and speed is critical in addressing the process monitoring and quality improvement needs of manufacturers challenged by higher manufacturing volumes, decreased design geometries and tighter tolerances.

The inspection system's design features include a fixed bridge design with a heavy-duty granite base and arch, passive vibration isolation system and non-contact stage encoders offering 0.1-micron resolution. Available in a variety of sizes, it can measure large footprint parts such as printed circuit boards (PCBs), stencils, flat panel displays, etching sheets and mask patterns, as well as nested groups of smaller parts.

www.vieweng.com

Cookson Group plc (London, UK), an international materials technology group, has announced that John Sussens joined the Board as a non-executive director on May 1, 2004. He has been an executive director of Misys plc, a software products and solutions company, since July 1989 and group managing director since 1998.

Sussens has a long record in the manufacturing sector. He started his career with the Ford Motor Co., and prior to joining Misys was managing director of JCB Manufacturing, a construction and agricultural equipment manufacturing company.

The company also recently released its results for the first quarter of 2004. The electronics division continued to benefit from the recovery in the electronics industry that began to take hold in the second half of 2003, as well as from the actions taken over the past three years to reduce its cost base and optimize capacity.

Sales for Q1 were 18% higher than the same quarter last year at constant exchange rates and up 10% at reported rates. First quarter sales were also marginally higher sequentially. Activity in the Asia-Pacific region continued to grow strongly; in the U.S., a gradual improvement has been underway since the end of the third quarter of 2003; however, in Europe no improvement in underlying demand has yet been seen. As a result of increased levels of activity and a lower cost base, operating profit of $19.5 million for the first quarter of 2004 was more than $16 million higher than the same period last year, at both constant and reported exchange rates.

Q1 sales of laminates were 21% higher than the same quarter last year. Having operated at a loss of some $8.9 million in the first quarter of 2003 and near break-even in Q4 2003, the sector's profitability continued to improve and a modest profit was recorded in the month of March 2004. Further improvements are expected to arise in the second quarter as the program to optimize production capacity at the sector's U.S. West Coast facility nears completion and in-house production of the GETEK product range increases in both the U.S. and Asia-Pacific.

In the chemistry division, sales for the quarter were 16% higher than last year. Profitability improved markedly, more than doubling year-on-year, although profits were boosted in the first quarter by a surge in high margin sales in the sector's Japanese joint venture.

Assembly materials sales were 18% ahead of last year. Sales were inflated by a 45% year-on-year increase in the price of tin although the sector was better able to pass on the impact of this than in the fourth quarter of 2003.

Operating profit for the Group's continuing operations was $42.5 million, $23 million higher than Q1 2003. Profit before tax in the first quarter was $32 million, compared to a loss of $1.7 million in the first quarter of 2003.

www.cooksongroup.co.uk

UP Media Group Inc. (UPMG, Atlanta, GA) has announced that PCB Design Conference West, the annual West Coast conference and exhibition for printed circuit board (PCB) engineering, design and manufacturing professionals, will return to the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, on March 7-11, 2005. Long held in Santa Clara, PCB West has been held at the San Jose Convention Center for the last two years.

"The San Jose Convention Center is a terrific venue and we really enjoyed holding the show there," said UPMG president Pete Waddell. "However, there are a lot of positives about the Santa Clara Convention Center that our attendees, exhibitors and staff alike appreciate. For example, the SCCC facility is located just off Highway 101 on Great America Parkway, which results in easy access from all parts of Silicon Valley by rail or car. Parking is free, and two great hotels—the Westin Hotel Santa Clara and Hilton Santa Clara—are literally only steps away from the convention center lobby."

Sponsored by industry trade magazines Printed Circuit Design & Manufacture and Circuits Assembly, PCB West annually provides attendees and vendors with a conference and exhibition for the design and manufacture of advanced circuits, printed circuit boards (PCBs) and related technologies.

PCB West will provide attendees with a five-day conference program featuring a three-day Technical Conference of short courses and papers and two days of in-depth Professional Development Certificate Curriculum courses. The two-day product and service exhibition will be held on March 8-9.

UPMG is a privately held company that specializes in magazine publishing and trade show and conference production. UPMG currently publishes Printed Circuit Design & Manufacture and Circuits Assembly. In addition, UPMG produces two annual conferences and trade shows for the design and manufacture industry—PCB Design Conference West and PCB Design Conference East in the Boston area. UPMG also hosts the PCB Design Conference Road Series of courses in cities throughout the U.S.

www.pcbwest.com

The National Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (NEMI, Herndon, VA) will sponsor a tin whisker workshop and a component supplier/large user meeting at the upcoming IEEE Electronic Components and Technology Conference (ECTC) in Las Vegas, NV, June 1-4.

An all-day session on June 1 will review all of the NEMI tin whisker project activities to date. Two half-day sessions are scheduled for June 2. Users and suppliers will discuss mitigation strategies and acceptance test plans for high-reliability critical systems applications in the morning session, followed by an open meeting of the Tin Whisker Accelerated Test Project in the afternoon.

With the move toward lead-free electronics, tin is considered a drop-in replacement for the tin-lead finish currently used for component terminations. However, pure tin coatings may have a tendency to grow small filaments, known as whiskers, which could bridge adjacent terminals, causing system failures. NEMI has three projects that are working on various aspects of this phenomenon: accelerated test (attempting to develop tests to predict tin whiskers), modeling (attempting to understand basic cause of whiskers) and a user group (addressing how high-reliability, long-life systems or critical applications can be protected).

The Tuesday workshop will provide an overview of more than three years' work by the three projects, including discussion of an annotated bibliography, a set of tests recommended to JEDEC, basic theories behind whisker formation and how to protect critical applications and systems given what is known today.

On Wednesday, the Tin Whisker User Group will focus on the need for mitigation practices when pure tin is used as a component terminal coating. The concern with tin whiskers in high-reliability, critical systems applications will be discussed, potential solutions outlined and tests to demonstrate compliance will be proposed.

Carol Handwerker, chief of the Metallurgy Division of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), will moderate the Tuesday workshop and Wednesday user/supplier discussions on whisker mitigation and test acceptance. Nick Vo, Motorola, will chair the Wednesday test method standardization evaluation and discussions.

All meetings will be held in the same venue as the ECTC. Anyone registered for ECTC can attend the NEMI tin whisker meetings. Individuals wishing to attend only the NEMI meetings should contact the NEMI secretariat for information (703-834-0330).

www.ectc.net

www.nemi.org

Electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider Flextronics (Singapore) has announced results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended March 31, 2004. Net sales for the quarter were a record $3.8 billion, a 23% increase over the March 2003 quarter. Net sales for the fiscal year reached $14.5 billion, up $1.2 billion, or 9%, from 2003.

Proforma net income was $72.8 million, or $0.13 per diluted share for Q4, up $47.4 million from Q4 2003. Including after-tax amortization expense of $8.8 million and restructuring costs of $48.0 million, net income was $16.0 million, or $0.03 per diluted share, down from $19.5 million, or $0.04 per diluted share, year-on-year..

"Our financial results continue to improve as we realize the earnings leverage embedded in our business, said Michael E. Marks, chief executive officer of Flextronics. "Quarterly revenues grew 23% on a year-over-year basis, while proforma profits nearly tripled. Both operating margin and revenues were stronger than expected, as the quarter ended less seasonal than expected for handsets and other consumer related products."

Flextronics also announced that it intends to convert all of the outstanding 0% Convertible Junior Subordinated Notes issued in March 2003 into approximately 19 million shares of common stock. The company filed a Registration Statement on Form S-3 to register the shares, and the conversion will be completed after the Securities and Exchange Commission declares the Form S-3 effective. The conversion will not impact Flextronics' diluted EPS, as the stock equivalents have always been included in the diluted EPS calculation.

www.flextronics.com

Intellon Corp. (Ocala, FL), a provider of integrated circuits (ICs) for high-speed powerline networking, has shipped its one millionth HomePlug IC. According to the company, virtually all of the HomePlug powerline communications products in the global market today are powered by Intellon's integrated circuits.

The ICs enable high-speed communications over existing powerlines in homes and small businesses. They power over 50 products from more than 24 equipment manufacturers. These products can be purchased at retail outlets such as Best Buy, CompUSA, Circuit City, Mediamarket and Radio Shack.

Intellon customers are continuing to develop new products that take advantage of the ICs with applications as WiFi extension, online gaming, whole-house audio and security. The ICs are also being used for broadband over powerline (BPL) access applications, opening a third pipe (in addition to cable and DSL) to deliver broadband to homes and multi-dwelling units such as apartments and hotel rooms.

Intellon is extending the capability of its HomePlug product line to enable HDTV distribution over home powerlines. By the end of the year, Intellon will launch its PowerAV chipsets, which support application speeds in excess of 100 Mbps, allowing transmission of multiple audio, standard-definition video and HDTV video streams over powerlines.

Intellon Corp.is a privately-held fabless semiconductor company specializing in powerline networking and communications.

www.intellon.com