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News
December 31, 1969 |Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Compiled By SMT Staff
Siemens Dematic Forms Consortium for Electronic Manufacturing Education
NORCROSS, Ga. — Siemens Dematic has formed a consortium with several major technical universities.
This consortium will work together to offer advanced manufacturing education and research, work on joint projects, and focus on offering specialized training for issues affecting electronic manufacturing. These issues include lean manufacturing, supply chain management, new product introduction, and retraining employees and management to create competitiveness in a world economy by identifying and driving out unnecessary production costs.
Members include:
- Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), Atlanta, focuses its research on interconnects for wafer-level gigascale integration conducted in the Microelectronics Research Center, next-generation electronics packaging with the Packaging Research Center (PRC), and printed circuit board (PCB) assembly pursued by faculty and students associated with the Center for Board Assembly Research (CBAR). Siemens Dematic and Georgia Tech's CBAR have maintained a close working relationship for the past decade.
- Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Rochester, N.Y., is equipped with a multi-million-dollar microelectronic fabrication and electronics packaging laboratory to support hands-on education and applied research. The Center for Electronics Manufacturing and Assembly (CEMA) offers the electronics packaging industry a combination of facilities, equipment, capabilities and technical expertise. CEMA's business focus is in providing relevant applied research and technology training in key electronics and optoelectronics packaging areas.
- George Brown College, Toronto, Canada, is a leading provider of applied education for electronics manufacturing, with unique-in-Canada facilities, faculty with industry experience and strong employer partnerships. George Brown's facilities include electronics assembly labs, featuring fully integrated Siemens Dematic technology, and Class 1000 cleanroom studios supporting semiconductor manufacturing processes.
- California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly), is a nationally ranked, comprehensive public university emphasizing a "learn by doing" educational experience for its more than 18,000 students.
- Engent is a provider of advanced electronic manufacturing and technology services. Its services comprise advanced manufacturing research and development services for the electronics industry. Engent provides solutions in advanced electronics production, product design for manufacture and assembly processes, as well as analytical, reliability and failure testing.
The consortium met at the Siemens Dematic offices in Norcross, Ga., at the end of June to discuss the advancement of electronic manufacturing education and devise a roadmap for educational programs to be offered.
PCB Book-to-Bill Ratio
May Book-to-Bill Holds Steady NORTHBROOK, Ill. — The IPC IMS/PCB book-to-bill ratio for May held steady from April at 1.11, calculated by averaging the index numbers for orders booked over the past three months and dividing it by the average index numbers for sales billed during the same period. Sales billed (shipments) in May 2004 increased 41.3 percent from May 2003, and orders booked increased 62.4 percent from May 2003.
May's book-to-bill level stayed the same as April's numbers, while orders booked for May 2004 increased 62.4 percent from May 2003.
BP Micro Partners with Chinese Government
HOUSTON — BP Microsystems has begun to implement a program, in conjunction with the Chinese government, to strengthen the company's presence in the Asian marketplace.
The program was set up by the Ministry of Information and Industry (MII) to help companies integrate into the Chinese electronics marketplace. This program includes support from national and local government agencies, and works hand-in-hand with local chapters of the Chinese SMTA. BP Microsystems sees significant opportunities to penetrate international and domestic OEMs and EMS markets within China.
In other company news, BP Microsystems has standardized its automated product offering on the Windows XP operating system platform. All automated equipment sold onward from June 1, 2004, will ship exclusively with Windows XP unless otherwise requested. BP Microsystems also will upgrade the standard computer hardware offered on all new automated machines to match XP requirements. An upgrade package also is available on some existing systems.
Cookson Electronics Launches Lead-free Process Validation Program
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Cookson Electronics is launching its CE Analytics Lead-free Process Capability Validation Program, which consists of two elements. The first is a test kit containing the company's laminates, pad finishes, stencils, lead-free solder paste and cored wire, combined with boards, lead-free components and setup software from Practical Components.
The second element is a comprehensive lead-free process capability report based on CE Analytics' analytical evaluation and process capability validation services conducted on finished assemblies tested to IPC and J-STD requirements.
The test kit contains all consumable materials needed to set up and run a lead-free SMT process. The test boards then are built and sent to CE Analytics, where lead-free process capability assessment services are conducted using Cookson laboratory technicians. The output is a detailed laboratory analysis report with recommendations for process optimization, if applicable. Companies whose assemblies meet IPC and J-STD requirements will receive a CE Analytics Lead-free Process Capability Validation Certificate.
DEK Signs on New Distributor in Ireland Richard Castle of DEK (right) with Peter Henebry of Maxem at NEPCON Brighton.
FLEMINGTON, N.J. — DEK has formed a new distribution agreement that will enhance service and support for its Irish customers.
Maxem Engineering Ltd. has been named the exclusive Irish distributor for DEK. In addition to the company's expertise and understanding of the DEK product line, Maxem has a grasp of the engineering behind all of DEK's products. This knowledge base will help to ensure that Maxem provides DEK's customers throughout Ireland with support and service.
MEMS Industry Finding Success One Step at a Time, Says In-Stat
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — While the first half of 2003 was not promising for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) suppliers, business activity picked up considerably in the fourth quarter of 2003, and has remained strong through the first half of 2004, reports In-Stat/MDR.
Venture capital funding in the first half of 2004 alone already has exceeded that provided in all of 2003, customer activity has increased significantly, existing MEMS devices continue to find new applications, and new MEMS devices continue to make strong inroads into the market, according to In-Stat. In addition, increased publicity about the sector and its customers continue to generate awareness of the products and their solutions. In-Stat/MDR believes that this momentum will continue over the next five years, as revenues are forecast to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.1 percent during this time.
Eolane Deploys Tecnomatix Solutions Across France
HERZLIA, Israel — Tecnomatix Technologies Ltd. announces that Eolane, an electronics contract manufacturer with sites throughout France and in Morocco, has finalized an agreement through a Tecnomatix Sales Channel partner, Accelonix France to deploy eMPower for Electronics solutions across all of Eolane's manufacturing sites in France.
The full scope of these deployments, which began in 2003 and were completed earlier this year, includes eMPower products and services valued at a total of US $190,000.
Eolane is implementing several key products from the eMPower PCB Assembly & Test suite, including eM-Test Expert, eM-Assembly Expert, eM-Document Expert and eM-View Expert. These products will help Eolane accelerate new product introduction (NPI), providing an environment compatible with its principal OEM partners, and facilitating the replacement of many manual systems and in-house software solutions.