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News
December 31, 1969 |Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
Compiled By SMT Staff
Universal and Asymtek Form Technology Partnership
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — Universal Instruments and Asymtek have formed a partnership that will place an Asymtek Millennium 2020 dispenser in Universal's Technology Excellence Center in Suzhou, China. The machine primarily will be used for dispensing underfill material for flip chip or chip scale package (CSP) applications.
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Universal has developed the excellence center in response to rapid electronics industry growth in Asia. This, in combination with the company's Advanced Process/Surface Mount Technology Laboratory located at their headquarters in Binghamton, will provide customers global access to advanced processes and the latest surface mount equipment.
Asymtek's dispenser is the advanced semiconductor packaging version of the company's M-2000 series dispensing machines. Typical applications include underfill as well as dam-and-fill using a dual valve bracket. The high-performance machine is capable of dispensing 50 k dots per hour and is in production at many large printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) houses.
Cogiscan Introduces MSD Program
QUEBEC, Canada — Cogiscan Inc. introduced a moisture-sensitive devices (MSD) diagnostic program that allows OEMs and contract electronics manufacturers (CEMs) to obtain an accurate and objective assessment of their current MSD control procedures relative to J-STD-033A, the joint IPC/JEDEC industry standard.
The program uses the company's MSD control system to keep track of the complete history of exposure in different environments for each tray and reel of MSDs, and constantly monitors the remaining floor life according to the J-STD-033A guidelines.
Moisture sensitivity is emerging as the single greatest threat to package integrity, presenting the danger of large-scale failures in the field. The MSD program helps companies make informed decisions about the need for such systems by providing accurate data for each specific situation.
Two Major OEMs Added as New Subscribers
NORTHBROOK, Ill. — Two major OEMs in the military/aerospace business segment, Honeywell International Inc. and Lockheed Martin Corp., have subscribed to IPC — Association Connecting Electronics Industries and Conductor Analysis Technologies Inc.'s (CAT Inc.) joint Printed Board Process Capability, Quality and Relative Reliability (PCQR2) Benchmark Database.
The PCQR2 database provides a detailed snapshot of supplier fabrication capabilities in five different areas: conductors and spaces; vias (both hole formation and registration); soldermask registration; controlled-depth drilling overshoot; and controlled impedance.
OEMs and EMS companies benefit from the PCQR2 Benchmark Database by having the added ability to improve board design for manufacturability and lower sourcing costs, while increasing reliability and on-time delivery. Subscribers also are able to collect quantifiable, statistically significant data on supplier process capabilities; find, screen and select PCB manufacturers based on technology requirements; tailor design for manufacturability (DFM) guidelines; and obtain quantitative data for roadmaps.
Newport Launches Prototype Program
IRVINE, Calif. — Custom optics now are available in as little time as a week with Newport Corp.'s new rapid prototyping program. The fast-track program is designed to manufacture and ship custom spherical lenses, aspheric lenses, windows and mirrors much faster than typical suppliers, where normal lead times are from six to 16 weeks.
The manufacture of custom optics often is considered a process bottleneck in product development. If changes are necessary to the new product's optical design, it can have disastrous consequences for the customer's development project. Newport's prototype program reportedly gives customers a "safety net," allowing them to make needed changes to their overall optical system design and still meet their target product launch dates.
Tyco, Mirae Enter Agreement
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Tyco Electronics Automation Group has entered a distribution agreement with Mirae Corp. of Korea. Under the agreement, Tyco is granted certain rights to sell and support the Mirae SMT product line in the Americas, including product engineering, field service and technical support functions. Certain select strategic accounts will continue to be covered by Mirae because of existing commitments.
The Americas agreement builds on the two companies' existing agreement in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, which also has been updated. This updated agreement allows Tyco to assume the sales, marketing and customer service responsibilities for all countries in the region, with the exception of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, Greece, Italy, Israel, Sweden, and Turkey, which Mirae will handle.
NEMI Releases Cost Model for PCA Manufacturers
HERNDON, Va. — The Test Strategy Project of the National Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (NEMI) has released a manufacturing test strategy cost model to help printed circuit assembly (PCA) manufacturers determine the financial impact of selecting a particular test strategy.
The model is intended for use on post-reflow PCA test strategies and is available to the industry free of charge at www.nemi.org/projects/TSCM/test_strat_cost_model.html.
The project was organized to address the loss of physical access and fault coverage at in-circuit test (ICT) caused by the physical space constraints of increasingly dense interconnections and package designs. Project activities were organized into three working groups: test coverage analysis, test vehicle analysis and test strategy cost model.
Six companies participated in the test cost model project team: Agilent Technologies Inc., Delphi Delco Electronics Systems, HP, Intel Corp., Solectron Corp. and Teradyne Inc. The cost model they developed estimates the costs of finding and repairing manufacturing assembly defects using various types of test and inspection strategies. Users of this model should be able to define the potential advantages and disadvantages of each test technique, and to understand the impact of removing test stages vs. sampling strategies vs. 100 percent inspection or test methods.
AIM Acquires SMT Solder Paste Assets of OMG's Microbond Division
CRANSTON, R.I. — AIM has acquired the SMT solder paste assets of OMG's Microbond Div. The assets include all SMT solder paste manufacturing equipment and intellectual property from OMG's Research Triangle Park facility in Raleigh, N.C.
The Microbond SMT line includes no-clean, water soluble and RMA solder pastes produced in a variety of solder alloys, including lead-free ones. These products allow broad process latitudes and robust print and reflow profiles, enabling them to accommodate a wide variety of SMT applications.
Microbond SMT solder pastes will continue to be available without disruption from AIM. AIM will manufacture Microbond SMT solder pastes using the same equipment, raw materials, procedures and quality standards, ensuring a seamless transition of supply for current OMG customers. Customers will benefit from increased product availability, enabling the purchase of Microbond SMT solder pastes directly from AIM or through AIM's global sales network.
PCB BOOK-TO-BILL RATIO
Book-to-Bill Bounces Back
NORTHBROOK, Ill. — The IPC PCB book-to-bill ratio for May was 1.00, meaning $100 worth of orders for new boards were received for every $100 billed (shipped). The ratio increased from the April level of 0.97. Sales billed (shipments) in May 2003 decreased 23.0 percent from May 2002, and orders booked decreased 14.2 percent from May 2002. Compared to 2002, PCB bookings are down 21.2 percent YTD, while PCB shipments are down 25.3 percent YTD.
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May's book-to-bill level increased from April's numbers, but orders booked for May 2003 decreased 14.2 percent below the level in May 2002.
Q & A: outsourcing Process development
Q: Our company is trying to determine whether or not to outsource key process development for a new project. The requirements are complex and the customer is providing a short window for delivery. What are some key factors to consider when making the decision to outsource process development?
A: There are several issues to consider. Setting up a new process can be a big commitment on both human and capital resources. The upfront costs alone can be more than most companies realize. While the market may have been slow, the complexity of requests has continued. By outsourcing strategically, designers can incorporate the latest manufacturing, interconnect and packaging strategies into their designs without being held back by manufacturing capabilities, allowing the manufacturer to remain current on the newest innovations without dedicating internal resources.
By outsourcing a project, the company can capitalize on key drivers in the marketplace today, such as market pressures to shorten time-to-market, improve asset use, reduce total cost of ownership, and the increasing complexity of understanding new process technologies.
Companies today are facing the competitive demands of time-to-market. By outsourcing a new process, the manufacturer can ramp up production much faster with a higher degree of confidence and quality, ensuring the product and process technology merge into a successful and timely product launch. As volume demand increases, the transfer of the process technology into high volumes at your production facility or even globally is well documented and can be done at a relatively low cost.
Additional ongoing challenges in today's marketplace are asset utilization and cost of ownership. It is increasingly more important to get the most not only from manufacturing equipment but human capital as well. With recent "rightsizing," personnel may be stretched to capacity. By outsourcing a project, there is no immediate need for more personnel resources or costly equipment. These additional resources can be strategically added as the product matures into volume production.
Evaluating outsourcing options and deciding on strategic process technology outsourcing can strengthen a company's competitive advantage by bringing focus to its core competencies of design and product marketing. Successful companies have learned that it is a strategic decision to work internally or outsource. They also realize that success hinges on more than just economics. Reengineering, limits on human and capital resources, and financial constraints are leading many manufacturers to analyze their core competencies and look outside.
Daniel F. Baldwin is the president of Engent Inc., Norcross, Ga.
ASSOCIATION NEWS
Electronics Assembly Document Goes Global
NORTHBROOK, Ill. — The IPC recently expanded its reach into the global marketplace with the release of four new translations of IPC-A-610C, Acceptability of Electronics Assemblies. The industry's more most invaluable tool for quality assurance and assembly departments now is available in Japanese, German, Czech and Danish.
IPC-A-610C, which has been adopted by the United States Army for use by the Department of Defense, contains more than 600 full-color photographs and illustrations of industry-accepted workmanship criteria for electronics assemblies and often is preferred by MIL-STD-2000A users because of its visual examples. The topics covered in the standard include component orientation and soldering criteria for through-hole, SMT and discrete wiring assemblies; mechanical assembly; cleaning; marking; coating; and laminate requirements. The document synchronizes to the requirements expressed in other industry consensus documents and is used with the material and process standard J-STD-001.
The 372-page document, which also is available in Chinese, English, Finnish, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish, can be purchased through the IPC Online Store at www.ipc.org/onlinestore.
SMTA Expands Advisory Council
MINNEAPOLIS — Alan Rae, vice president of technology for Cookson Electronics joined the Surface Mount Technology Association's (SMTA) Corporate Advisory Council. Rae holds a B.Sc. with honors in chemistry from the University of Aberdeen, and a Ph.D. in metallurgy and engineering materials, as well as an M.B.A. from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. He is active in NEMI and IPC — Association Connecting Electronics Industries, and he also is chair of the Optoelectronics TIG as well as an active participant in the Roadmap.
Alan Rae, Ph.D.
Rae joins Council representatives Hans-Juergen Albrecht, Sr., Ph.D., senior principal research scientist, Siemens Berlin; Alec Babiarz, senior vice president, Asymtek; Jim Blankenhorn, president, SMT Plus; Craig Brown, general manager and vice president, DEK; Kim Hyland, director of engineering, Solectron; Jeff Kennedy, director of Advanced Manufacturing Engineering, Manufacturers' Services Ltd.; Irene Lee, executive director, Seagate Singapore; Roger Savage, president, Kester Northrop; Hari Srihari, Ph.D., professor, Binghamton University; and Chris Tanner, senior principal research engineer, Nortel UK.
In other SMTA news, the association opened an office in Shenzhen to meet the needs of industry professionals in southern China. The office, managed by Tony Chu of Toptouch, will be responsible for soliciting memberships and planning technical programs. The SMTA currently is working with this office to establish an Internet portal to SMTA Mandarin-translated literature.