Printed Circuit Design & Fab - April 2008 - (Page Insert3)

A WALSH WELCOME A Look Back – and Aggressive Move Forward Thanks to our growing number of great customers and distributors, Uyemura-USA nearly equaled the sales record set in 2006. We came MIGHTY close, despite a softening in several major markets during 2007. Due to our unique product offerings and reputation for excellent service, we were once again able to outperform the competition. In fact, we added the most new customers in any one year in our history. Of particular interest throughout 2007 was our ENIG process, which produces a uniform mid-phos EN deposit with a thin topcoat of immersion gold over copper. The finish is highly corrosion-resistant, solderable and aluminum wire bondable. It is an ideal contacting surface, runs at least 10° below the competition, is compatible with the latest soldermasks, AND doesn’t require dummy plating! (What’s not to like?) 2007 was our best year to date for ENIG chemistry, and October our best “We were concerned at the start month for that process. about control issues, changeover Also garnering great difficulties, and making sure the interest were Uyemura acid dreaded black pad didn’t appear. coppers, which had their best year, with December Performance, repeatability, reliability an all-time record month. and quality were ‘as-advertised’ and RMK immersion tin set its we had no issues.” own record for North Hunter management was also American markets, as did concerned about water usage and RGA immersion silver, flow, “since we had no history with thanks in part to the ENIG,” says O’Neil. “But Uyemura prevalence of high density came out and we dialed-down with mounting, which precludes their assistance. Our primary markets the use of HASL products. are military/aerospace and medical, Our via fill coppers have and these customers value high long been the leaders in North America, and we are reliability above all other concerns. happy to report that, after “Because Hunter not only does PCB years of selling MEC prodfabrication, but assembly as well, we ucts, 2007 was also record are our own customer for many proyear for that product family. grams – and a very tough one at that. We are acutely aware of the impact of More companies have any change in process. This one has recognized that the only proved to be an excellent one.” way to accomplish fine line definitions and peel The price of gold, $650 when the strength advantage is change was implemented, is now at with these exceptional MEC solutions. least 40% higher and climbing. One final product note regards our rising star, ENEPIG. Often referred to as the universal finish, ENEPIG is a good soldering surface, a gold wire bondable surface, an aluminum wire bondable surface and a contacting surface. It’s formed by the deposition of EN, followed by electroless Pd with an immersion gold flash. ENEPIG is transitioning well into the leadfree SAC alloy assembly environment. We believe it will be the star of 2008, with exceptional growth in all sectors. Other major 2007 developments included, once again, the addition of professional staff, as well as the doubling of our California headquarters. The Uyemura group invested substantially in new, larger facilities in 5 countries. The major impetus for these moves is our rocksolid commitment to R&D, and dedication to helping customers worldwide achieve their objectives. Uyemura is based on R&D. Uyemura-USA provides its customers with access to the extensive R&D resources of two German companies (Umicore-Galvanotechnik and CL Technologies) and Japan-based MEC. Uyemura continues to invest at record levels in Asia, with huge expansions in Taiwan, Japan and mainland China, and a new R&D facility in Malaysia that focuses on decorative and functional processes. Uyemura’s Central Research Labs have for 4 decades, been the plating industry’s most extensive investment in new product development. Uyemura-USA provides customers with access to all this knowledge, while developing a steady stream of our own products. It is Uyemura’s commitment to use record years to invest aggressively in new technologies that directly benefit customers. Visit our website (www.uyemura.com) for the newest announcements. And, again, thanks. – Don Walsh, Director of Operations http://www.uyemura.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Printed Circuit Design & Fab - April 2008

Printed Circuit Design & Fab - April 2008 Contents Our Line Market Watch Around the World Happenings ROI Tip Jar Interconnect Strategies Positive Plating Improving Fabrication Yields by Design Solve Design Problems with Signal Integrity Optimization Laser Direct Imaging Made Easy Troubleshooting the Innerlayer Process SIPS Give More to Moore Off the Shelf Marketplace Ad Index BGA Bulletin

Printed Circuit Design & Fab - April 2008

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