Tyco Electronics (Willow Grove, PA), a business segment of Tyco International Ltd, announced today that the company is offering Q-Series and APS-1H customers the ability to upgrade their machines to the Windows XP operating system.

According to Tyco, Windows XP's ease of use and dependability are benefits to customers, as well as factors such as:

• advanced security: Windows XP Professional builds on the security model in Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000, making system security easier to manage. Additionally, users can protect data transmitted across a network. IPSec is a key part of providing security for vital private networks (VPN), which allow organizations to transmit data securely over the Internet.
•  increased application compatibility: Numerous operations that cannot run in Windows 2000 will run on Windows XP Professional, right out of the box. If an application is not natively supported by Windows XP Professional, a user or system administrator can specify if the application needs to run in either a Windows NT 4.0 or a Windows 95/98/ME compatibility mode. 
• Windows File Protection: This feature protects core system files from being overwritten by application installations. If a file is overwritten, Windows File Protection will restore the correct version.
• availability: This upgrade will be available on June 1, 2004. The availability date depends on the user's current system configuration, and a CPU, hard drive or memory upgrade may be required.

http://automation.tycoelectronics.com

The Surface Mount Technology Association (SMTA, Minneapolis, MN) recently announced the Best of Conference paper for the Ninth Annual Pan Pacific Microelectronics Symposium, held in February in Kahuku, Oahu, HI. As rated by the attendees, the award was presented to Charlie Barnhart of Technology Forecasters Inc. (Alameda, CA).

In his paper, "Contract Manufacturing Strategies: Addressing the Changing Global Landscape," Barnhart discusses "today's market preference for China, the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) industry's fascination with off-the-shelf product solutions and the impact of these trends on the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) and original design manufacturer (ODM) industries, as well as their probable reactions and their likely successes."

While the clear message is electronic manufacturing is expanding in China and shrinking in the Americas, Europe and even other Asian locations, China is not a panacea for manufacturing all types of electronic products.  Issues concerning logistics, management of program, employee skill level, labor conditions, infrastructure, business culture and government practices are adding unexpected costs.

The paper also looks at projected growth rates over the next five years, especially considering that net global capacity may actually decrease during the period.

The 2005 Pan Pacific Microelectronics Symposium will be held on Kauai, Hawaii, Jan. 25-27, 2005. 

www.smta.org/pan_pac/

Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.

Tecnomatix Technologies Ltd. (Herzlia, Israel), a provider of manufacturing process management (MPM), has introduced eM-Execution, the latest solution in the company's eMPower for electronics offerings. The Web-based software solution was created specifically to meet the production management and analytical needs of electronics circuit board manufacturers and their supply chain partners.

The system helps electronics manufacturers act on critical production data to better serve their customers and meet regulatory demands by masking the complexity of gathering and managing critical manufacturing information. It creates customizable information and status reports targeted to multiple audiences, from the shop floor to the executive suite.

Electronics manufacturers can configure the solution to meet their specific needs and business objectives. Some of the key functionalities available include: traceability; electronic records and signatures; material management; process verification; repair; production analytics; and quality management.

www.tecnomatix.com

Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.

Pentaplex, Inc. (Elgin, IL, www.pentaplexinc.com), a small, privately owned printed circuit board (PCB) fabricator, recently reported that it has finished pilot testing a lead-free hot air leveling (HAL) process that meets its customers' requirements with a minimum of disruption to its manufacturing processes. The company claims to be the first PCB facility to use this process in the U.S.

This lead-free HAL process is a result of the collaboration between Pentaplex and Florida Cirtech, (Greeley, CO, www.floridacirtech.com), a manufacturer and supplier of proprietary chemistries to both the electronics assembly and PCB fabrication industries. Because of the technical background of Chuck Lawrence—the founder and chief process engineer of Pentaplex, the experience of the company's employees, and the unique features of one of its two hot air levelers, Glenn Sikorcin, a Florida Cirtech representative, felt that Pentaplex would be ideal for a pilot operation of Cirtech's SN100CL process.

This product is a form of eutectic tin-copper that was developed and patented by Nihon Superior as a wave solder replacement. It involves the addition of trace nickel to the alloy, which seems to have eliminated many of the problems associated with the tin-copper alloy. SN100CL is a version of this alloy that was created for hot air leveling applications.

The major challenge in hot air leveling with lead-free solders is the heat lost at the board surface-solder interface. The temperature of the molten solder has to be maintained there during application for results to be acceptable, which means a rapid molten metal turnover and strong heat transfer capability. Pentaplex's older Quicksilver model HAL machine had both of these design features.

To convert the hot air leveler for lead-free solder, the 63-37 eutectic solder was drained from the bath, the stainless steel tank surfaces were scoured clean and reoxidized, the air supply was upgraded and the temperature controller's sensitivity was improved. Then the HAL machines' operating parameters were fine-tuned, with bath temperature and dwell time the biggest concerns. Once those had been optimized, the testing of various panel types for compliance to standards began.

The results were excellent. Several types of PCBs were tested: high-density; fine-line; multilayers up to 24 layers; vias; large panels; small panels; thick and thin panels; and copper thicknesses up to 10 oz. copper. According to the companies, all of these types passed through the lead-free hot air solder process with results comparable to normal solder. Both tin-copper and tin-lead-coated component leads were tested in soldering studies, with joint strength and metallurgical structures proving satisfactory. Similar tests run with panels exposed to simulated one-year storage conditions had similar results with good wetting and joint strength.

When the tests were completed, the companies determined that using SN100CL in the Quicksilver hot air leveler produced a solderable surface that was smooth, bright and relatively flat and easily cleared from through holes while leaving a sufficient thickness of solder for component solderability. The lead-free coating seems to maintain these characteristics for up to one year under the same conditions as tin-lead solder.

The critical factor in successfully adapting the SN100CL system was having a hot air leveler that can replace lost heat fast enough to keep the solder temperature steady. All other preparatory and fluxing operations were the same as for the prior tin-lead HAL operations, keeping the cost of installation fairly low.