Circuits Assembly - April 2008 - (Page 12)

NEWS People Norbert Socolowski, 85, longtime Alpha Metals chemist and inventor, died Feb. 15 in Las Vegas. He was the first president of the SMTA, and received that organization’s Founder’s Award in 1998. He was a key member and former chairmen of numerous industry standards task groups, including ones for solder and flux. He was granted patents for thermoelectric coolers and solder preforms, and a prolific author and presenter. The family asks donations be made to SMTA’s Charles Hutchins Educational Grant. Siemens Energy & Automation named Butch Garrison vice president and general manager, Electronics Assembly Systems Division. The acting vice president since December, Garrison joined Siemens in January 1996 as project engineer, and has held positions in quality, operations and sales. Koh Young Technology named André Myny global marketing director. He was director of global marketing for Vitronics Soltec from 1994 to 2007, and also worked in operations at Philips. He has a bachelor’s in industrial engineering and several marketing degrees. IEC Electronics Corp. named Michael Schlehr corporate vice president and CFO. IPC inducted Microtek Laboratories chairman and CTO Bob Neves into its Hall of Fame. Neves has been active in IPC since 1986, having chaired numerous committees and represented the US at IEC meetings. Winland Electronics promoted Jeffrey Ocker to director of operations and Steve Trnka to director of manufacturing. Ocker was manager of manufacturing test engineering. Trnka, an eight-year veteran of Winland, was a program manager and strategic account manager. Winland also named Warren Mitchell executive supply chain leader. He was formerly with HiRel Systems and Pemstar Inc. Landrex Technologies appointed Michael Triber Eastern regional manager. The US and EU said they would cooperate with importers to discover how fakes enter the market, and would initiate investigations, focusing on China, a large hub for counterfeit components. Some of the fakes found, however, came from Taiwan and Hong Kong, most arriving by plane through couriers, according to John Pulford, a European Commission official. The customs operation took place in German airports, France’s Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport, London’s Heathrow, and many hubs in the US – Chelsey Drysdale Industry Union to Fight Flex Plant Closure in Montreal MONTREAL – If Flextronics (flextronics.com) wants to close its Montreal assembly plant, it won’t happen without a fight from Teamsters Canada. The workers union said it would challenge Flextronics’ decision to close the factory and layoff some 700 workers, the Montreal Gazette reported on Feb. 27. According to the report, Flextronics is cutting staff and moving production to Mexico to cut costs for Nortel Networks (nortel.com), a major customer. The moves will take place over the next several months, culminating in September. “We are going to fight until the end to make sure these jobs stay in Montreal. We think Nortel’s behavior in this is unacceptable,” the report quoted Stéphane Lacroix, a Quebec-based union spokesman. The report claimed an internal memo stated, “Over (the) coming months, the work done on behalf of Nortel by Flextronics in St. Laurent will transition to Flextronics’ Guadalajara facility, to other contract manufacturers and, in some cases, back into Nortel itself. Ironically, Flextronics purchased the site from Nortel two years ago. Nortel and Flextronics did not comment for the report. – Mike Buetow Bush Signs Export Control Reforms WASHINGTON – President George Bush in January signed a package of directives reforming US dualuse export control policies and practices. According to a White House press release, these directives are intended to clarify and strengthen the ability of the US government to monitor and deny US-controlled goods, services and technologies to potential enemies. They also aim to promote US competitiveness by advancing a more efficient and transparent export licensing process, enhancing dispute resolution mechanisms and ensuring proper levels of control. In the statement, the administration said the directives address the following: Foreign end-users. To adapt to the changing threat environment and the globalization of technology and markets, the dual-use export control system will increasingly focus on foreign end-users of US high technology products. This focus will facilitate trade to reliable foreign customers through initiatives such as the validated end-user program. It will also use measures such as the expansion of the Entity List to deny access to sensitive technologies to proliferators, international terrorists and other foreign parties acting contrary to US national security and foreign policy interests. Competitiveness. To sustain its economic competitiveness and innovation, the US needs to constantly reassess its export controls to ensure the most sensitive items are controlled. This focus includes developing a regular process for systematic review of the Commerce Control List, easing controls on intra-company transfers, revising controls on encryption products and reviewing re-export controls. Transparency. The focus on transparency includes the posting of advisory opinions on the Department of Commerce’s Web site, as well as the publication of lists of foreign parties warranting higher scrutiny. Defense trade. With respect to exports of items controlled on the US Munitions List, the directives provide that: • Additional financial resources and intelligence support will be made available for the timely adjudication of defense trade licenses. • Guidelines will be issued that generally require a decision on defense trade export license applications within 60 days. circuitsassembly.com 12 Circuits Assembly APRIL 2008 http://flextronics.com http://nortel.com http://circuitsassembly.com

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

Circuits Assembly - April 2008 Contents Caveat Lector Industry News Market Watch Talking Heads Screen Printing Better Manufacturing Design and Modeling of High-Speed, High-Density 3-D CSPs and Memory Modules The ‘Big Brush Off’ Revisited Impact of Soldering Atmosphere on Solder Joint Formation Beyond Moore’s Law ESD Control For Class 0 ESDS Devices Growing Your Brand This Year’s Model Tech Tips Reflow Soldering Process Doctor Pb-Free Lessons Learned Getting Lean Equipment Advances Apex Product Preview Ad Index Assembly Insider Technical Abstracts

Circuits Assembly - April 2008

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