Circuits Assembly - February 2008 - (Page 12)

NEWS In Brief Fawn Electronics Co. (fawn-ind.com) completed its move to a new manufacturing site in the Nashville Business Center in Nash County, NC. The 47,000 sq. ft. facility employs 90 to 100 workers. BPM Microsystems (bpmmicro.com) has dramatically cut programming time for STMicroelectronics’ (stmicroelectronics. com) NAND flash large page family. A new software feature uses factory cache programming modes in conjunction with the Flashstream’s Vector Engine co-processor to boost programming speed. Syncro Corp. (syncroems.com) has added an SMT line to support new customer requirements. The company also added a dedicated RoHS-compliant productionline. Milwaukee Electronics Corp. (meccompanies.com) named QuadRep Technologies (quadreptech.com) its manufacturer’s representative in Southern California. Software provider Optimal Electronics (optelco.com) has partnered with Calavista Software (calavista.com) to extend the capabilities of the former’s MES software suite. Data I/O Corp. (dataio.com) received a purchase order for multiple units of the ProLINE RoadRunner JIT programmer from Vestel (vestel.com). Lightspeed Manufacturing (lightspeedmfg.com) will perform all component replacement and repair work for Avici Systems’ router products. Exerra Inc. (exerra-na.com) named B. R. Peterson and Associates, Electronic Assembly Products, Southwest Systems Technology and Techsystems International its manufacturer's representatives in North America. Aqueous Technologies released its latest e-learning presentation: Trident Automatic Defluxing and Cleanliness Testing System. It is available on-demand at aqueoustech.com. Industry Edited by Mike Buetow Cogiscan Receives Patent for Tracking System BROMONT, CANADA – The US Patent & Trade Office has issued Cogiscan (cogiscan.com) a second patent for its automated manufacturing control system. The system uses a combination of barcode and RFID to track, trace and control materials on the production floor. The patent (no. 7,286,888), a continuation of patent no. 7,069,100 granted in 2006, addresses the monitoring and controlling of several stages of the manufacturing process, including the input of materials or components, the assembly action and the discharge of assembled output materials or components. – Chelsey Drysdale Quanta Latest to Head to Vietnam TAIPEI – Quanta Computer (quanta.com.tw), the largest contract assembler of PCs, plans to begin building notebook PCs in Vietnam, with production scheduled to start in the second half of this year. Quanta also operates a PC assembly factory in Songjiang, China, and has operations in Taiwan and Shanghai. Quanta has a 34% share of the outsourced PC market, according to various published reports. The firm joins competitors Foxconn (fih-foxconn.com) and Compal Electronics (compal.com) among those planning to invest in Vietnam. – Chelsey Drysdale Asymtek, YesTech Team on Dispensing Validation Process CARLSBAD, CA – Asymtek (asymtek.com) and YesTech (yestechinc.com) in January announced a jointly developed process for tracking and validating placement and accuracy of dispensed fluid dots. The process, which uses Asymtek’s dispensing capabilities and YesTech’s AOI, is said to reveal when fluid droplets are accurately dispensed and placed in the correct location. Asymtek and YesTech are both owned by Nordson Corp. – Chelsey Drysdale Foxconn Disputes Damage to PWB Plant YANTAI, CHINA – Foxconn (fih-foxconn.com) in late December claimed a fire on its Yantai PWB campus has not disrupted production. However, a Commercial Times report claimed the fire destroyed more than one-third of the Yantai plant’s capacity, a reported monthly output of 2.6 million sq. ft. A spokesman for Hon Hai, Foxconn’s parent company, said, “Immediately after the fire, the unit made adjustments to accommodate any possible production hiatus.” The spokesman said no one was hurt in the fire and damage is still being determined. The Commercial Times is reporting the fire damaged some 1 million sq. ft. of capacity, and it may take four months to return those lines to full capacity. Foxconn is the world’s 33d largest PWB supplier, with sales of $360 million in 2006, according to N.T. Information. – Mike Buetow SIA ‘Disappointed’ in Bush, Congress SAN JOSE – “A year that started with great promise of bipartisan action to enhance American competitiveness in the global economy appears about to end with no significant action on any of the key elements,” Semiconductor Industry Association (sia-online.org) president George Scalise said in December. “To say that we are keenly disappointed would be a huge understatement.” In a statement, the trade group noted failures by President Bush and Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives to follow through on commitments to increase funding for basic research, reforming visa programs to ease the hiring of the best and brightest foreign-born scholars with advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and modernizing and extending the R&D tax credit. “Both Congress and the Administration have taken bows for their strong commitment to enhancing U.S. competitiveness and innovative capabilities, but the rhetoric has greatly outstripped the action,” Scalise said. circuitsassembly.com 12 Circuits Assembly FEBRUARY 2008 http://www.cogiscan.com http://www.fawn-ind.com http://www.bpmmicro.com http://www.stmicroelectronics.com http://www.stmicroelectronics.com http://www.quanta.com.tw http://www.syncroems.com http://www.fih-foxconn.com http://www.compal.com http://www.meccompanies.com http://www.asymtek.com http://www.yestechinc.com http://www.meccompanies.com http://www.quadreptech.com http://www.optelco.com http://www.calavista.com http://www.fih-foxconn.com http://www.dataio.com http://www.vestel.com http://www.lightspeedmfg.com http://www.lightspeedmfg.com http://www.exerra-na.com http://www.sia-online.org http://www.aqueoustech.com http://circuitsassembly.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Circuits Assembly - February 2008

Circuits Assembly - February 2008 Contents Caveat Lector Letters Industry News Market Watch Global Sourcing Better Manufacturing Maximizing Lean Copper As a Viable Solution for IC Packaging Embedded Active Components for High-Rel Products Cover Story: XRF Equipment As a RoHS Screening Tool Tech Tips Selective Soldering Test and Inspection Process Doctor Pb-Free Lessons Learned Product Spotlight Ad Index Assembly Insider Technical Abstracts

Circuits Assembly - February 2008

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