News
December 31, 1969 |Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
Speedline is Sold, Reorganizes
FRANKLIN, Mass. — On November 4, 2003, KPS Special Situations Fund II purchased Speedline Technologies Inc. for $10 million from Cookson Group plc. The sale took place in a record 94 days.
"They purchased us on a debt-free basis," said Pierre de Villeméjane, president, Speedline Technologies. "And at the level of sales that we're experiencing today, we'll be profitable out of the gate."
The company's operating plans include focusing on core product lines — Accel, CAMALOT, ELECTROVERT, MPM and Protect. The new streamlined approach will include moving the ELECTROVERT reflow oven products from Camdenton, Mo., to Franklin; however, specialty product lines including wave and cleaning ELECTROVERT products will remain in Camdenton. The company will exit the logistics and training center in Elgin, Ill., moving parts and logistics to their respective production facilities. Only a small training center will be established in Elgin. CAMALOT engineering will remain in Londonderry, N.H. European and Asian headquarters will stay in Drierich, Germany and Singapore. Speedline will continue to operate the Cookson-owned process development lab in Foxborough, Mass. Speedline will maintain relations with Cookson Electronics for R&D in SMT applications and for semiconductor packaging.
In streamlining operations, Speedline reduced its workforce 25 percent over a 90-day period.
On November 11, 2003, at the Productronica trade show in Munich, Germany, the company displayed its creative capabilities by launching four electronics manufacturing systems. The innovative new products included an MPM MicroFlex semiautomatic stencil printer, a CAMALOT multi-piston pump, a CAMALOT XyflexPro DLM dispensing system and an ELECTROVERT Selectra selective soldering system. The MPM Microflex printer is aimed at batch-level production and prototype printing applications. Its tool-less magnetic workholder system with vacuum support allows for flexibility and quick product changeovers. CAMALOT's new multi-piston pump provides positive displacement and digital control for repeatable dispense precision of ±1 percent at three standard deviations, reportedly without the need for weight scale correction. ELECTROVERT Selectra selective soldering system processes individual through-hole terminations on PCBs. The XyflexPro DLM dispensing system minimizes dispense head idle time by processing product in the opposite lane while dispensed material flows under the die.
"Things will change," says de Villeméjane. "We're focusing on the equipment marketing and trying to remain flexible while coming up with technology solutions. I'd say that we're positioned for rapid growth in this recovering economy."
PCB Book-to-Bill Ratio
October Book-to-Bill Continues Its Six-month Climb
NORTHBROOK, Ill. — The IPC IMS/PCB book-to-bill ratio for October was 1.18, meaning $118 worth of orders for new boards were received for every $100 billed (shipped). A ratio of more than 1.00 suggests that current demand is ahead of supply, which indicates probable near-term growth. The ratio increased from the September level of 1.15. Sales billed (shipments) in October 2003 decreased 6.6 percent from October 2002, and orders booked increased 20.4 percent from October 2002. Compared to 2002, PCB bookings are down 10.2 percent YTD, while PCB shipments are down 20.8 percent YTD.
October's book-to-bill level increased from September's numbers, and orders booked for October 2003 increased 20.4 percent from October 2002.
Universal Forms Partnerships
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — Universal Instruments has formed two recent strategic partnerships.
Universal and Morrisville, S.C.-based JUKI Corp. have signed a Comprehensive Business Alliance Agreement. In this agreement, development and manufacturing of subassembly parts and optional units are stipulated as the first collaboration. Both JUKI and Universal started technical discussions for the initial collaboration efforts after the Productronica show.
To cope with the market situation, Universal and JUKI have been discussing how they can collaborate with each other by analyzing where the advantages of products and strengths of each company stand. As a result of this analysis, both companies reached an agreement to sign this Comprehensive Business Alliance Agreement.
In other Universal news, the company agreed to provide SMT placement capabilities at service centers owned by WC Heraeus GmbH & Co KG in Germany and China.
The equipment resources put in place by Universal will be used by Heraeus to test its own products and processes as well as strengthening its sales presentations to customers. Similarly, Universal will use the advanced process facilities of the Heraeus service centers to train its own customers.
The Universal equipment will be installed at the Heraeus service centers in Hanau, Germany and Suzhou, China. Universal will also train Heraeus technical staff at each location to use its machines.
Dynatech Technology Provides Sales and Service for Samsung Techwin
EDGEWOOD, N.Y. — Citing its successful customer service relationship between the two companies, Samsung Techwin Ltd., formerly Samsung Aerospace, has given Dynatech International Corp. exclusive North American sales and service responsibilities for Samsung Techwin's SMT pick-and-place equipment.
Dynatech International formed Dynatech Technology Corp. to handle the role. The companies developed their relationship in Dynatech's servicing of Samsung Techwin's mission-critical customers in the aerospace industries.
Dynatech wants to become a major product and service provider in the North American medium-speed SMT placement equipment market, which is expected to grow by 10 percent annually through 2008. Samsung Techwin has enjoyed a reputation for high product quality from its loyal customers but recognized the need to focus on distribution and support infrastructure. Both companies are banking on a combination of high value and a low cost structure to reach their price-conscious market.
Primarily serving the market for small to medium EMS and OEM shops, the Samsung Techwin line includes the newly introduced CPL 60 compact high-speed chipshooter, CP45F full vision assembly system and a variety of entry-level placement systems, plus machine control software that can tie into line manufacturing and enterprise information systems.
Sony TiMMS, Router Solutions Form Strategic Partnership Agreement
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. and LONDON — Router Solutions Inc. (RSI) and Sony TiMMS have established a strategic partnership.
This partnership creates a powerful integration resulting in a single end-to-end solution for managing data and processes from PCB design throughout the complete manufacturing process. Users can capture and prepare ECAD data from a variety of sources. This is then integrated into the comprehensive, lean manufacturing system, resulting in extremely rapid and high quality new product introduction. The leading-edge automation capabilities of Sony TiMMS and RSI reportedly enable manufacturers to improve use of existing value-added processes.
The two companies are engaged in several joint projects currently providing solutions for new product introduction (NPI) for vertically integrated manufacturers as well as electronics manufacturing services providers. In all instances, the partnership enables users to adopt lean manufacturing and incorporate rapid new product introduction with a well-integrated end-to-end PCB manufacturing solution.
Tyco Electronics Introduces Limited Warranty Machine Program
WILLOW GROVE, Pa. — The Tyco Electronics Automation Group (TEAG) at Tyco Electronics, a business segment of Tyco International Ltd. has launched a limited warranty machine program.
The goal of the program is to address the cost-conscious customer who has a limited budget, yet prefers to deal directly with an OEM. Dealing directly with TEAG provides professional and timely responses to technical questions and the availability of factory training services for the life of the equipment from the company that builds the machines. Additionally, by purchasing through TEAG, customers are able to obtain original parts and accessories and avoid the $10,000 registration fee for machines purchased through third party sources.
Additionally, TEAG will no longer offer full coverage 90-day warranty machines. Rather, TEAG will offer two classes of equipment: factory certified pre-owned and limited warranty pre-owned.
Data I/O Appoints Li President of Data I/O China
REDMOND, Wash. — Data I/O Corp. has appointed Robert C. M. Li, Ph.D. as president of Data I/O China effective November 1, 2003.
Li grew up in China and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese as well as English. He obtained his bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle. He received his masters and Ph.D. at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute in New York. Li spent several years in academia where he taught at Brooklyn Polytechnic and later worked at MIT's Lincoln Laboratory.
In 1977, Li joined Tektronix Inc., where he managed the Electronic Systems Laboratory and later became chief operating officer of Precision Interconnect in Portland, Ore.
IMAPS ATW Report
By Julia Goldstein, Ph.D.
PALO ALTO, Calif. — Thermal interface materials (TIMs) were a hot topic at IMAPS' Thermal Management Advanced Technology Workshop (ATW) in October.
General chair Dave Saums noted that while last year's Thermal Management workshop contained no presentations on solder as a TIM, most of the TIM session this year focused on solder.
Gary Nicholls (Kester) described the use of a low melting, lead-free solder preform to directly attach a heat sink to a microprocessor die. While he did not specify the alloy used, he mentioned that special surface treatment and fluxes were used to produce a reliable, void-free connection. For less temperature-sensitive applications, such as attaching fins to heat sinks, S-Bond produces tin- and zinc-based alloys that bond with heat (250° to 420°C) and shear force to break up the oxide layer without flux. Speaker Randall Redd promoted the alloys as alternatives to silver or gold brazes.
One of the most fascinating innovations presented was a multilayer reactive foil that produces localized heating to create a solder bond without excessively heating sensitive components. Tim Weihs and Omar Knio of Reactive Nano Technologies (RNT) described the foil and some applications. The foil consists of alternating layers of Ni and Al, each about 30 nm thick. Igniting the foil with a spark, laser or hot filament (Weihs demonstrated the effect with a match) starts a self-propagating chemical reaction that heats the foil to 1,500°C and back to room temperature in approximately 1 second. By inserting a foil between two pre-soldered components or layering components and solder performs, applying slight pressure and igniting the foil, a solder bond forms. Applications include bonding Au-plated connectors to printed circuit boards (PCB) with AuSn solder and bonding a heat sink to a chip package with PbSn solder (peak junction temperature of the chip during the joining process was measured at 75°C).