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Greetings!
APEX moves to Las Vegas
For those of you who haven't heard the news, APEX has confirmed that it
will
move to Las Vegas in 2008, 1-4 April. This is a bold move and one that
is
welcomed by most people in the industry. I am sure there will be a
significantly higher visitor count next year.
My only concern surrounds the dates in early April, moving from the
traditional dates in Q1. This is likely to have a negative effect on
some
smaller suppliers who rely on the boost in business they receive early
in
the year. That said, Las Vegas has an abundance of good restaurants,
entertainment and infrastructure that will certainly put the fun back
into
APEX in 2008!

Trevor Galbraith Editor-in-Chief
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| Download
the May Issue (7.5) |
The May issue examines the global impact of rising metals costs, the
reliability of tacky fluxes in varying solder applications, measuring
true temperatures in lead-free assembly, an economical alternative to
boundary-scan devices and managing distributed development & NPI across
global supply chains. Don't miss the regular columns, industry and association
news and new products spotlight as well. Download
now.
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Are you measuring
the true temperature with your thermocouple?
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Your questions
answered at APEX 2007
Bob Willis
IPC and Global SMT & Packaging magazine, along with four sponsoring
companies, Dage, Kester, KIC and RMD, provided a special visitor feature
at this year’s APEX Exhibition in downtown Los Angles, California.
Your Global columnist organised and ran this special feature for three
days of the show, offering advice and answering questions on production
problems, including lead-free and RoHS.
Read the column for some of the interesting process issues discussed
and some of the general answers given during this unique event. Read
the full column...
This column appeared in Global SMT & Packaging magazine issue 7.4
- April 2007.
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In conjunction
with the SMTA Boston Academy & tabletop exposition
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| Henkel:
Advanced die attach |
Advanced die
attach spacer technology solves
common packaging challenges
by Michael Buckley and Jeremy Alonte
With the need for increasing amounts of memory in handheld devices, and in
order to place larger amounts of memory in fixed format memory cards, the stacking
of thinned memory die has emerged as the technology choice to meet these demanding
requirements. When using die attach paste for stacked die packages, a packaging
specialist can stack the die like a staircase, a pyramid, or cris-cross the
die. If packagers wish to use paste, currently, there are two choices for creating the die
to die space required for adequate wire bond attachment: a spacer (or dummy) die or the
use of die attach materials that contain spacer material, usually in the form of
polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), which is gentle on the die face. Read
more...
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The prospective
benefits of mirroring IC package pinout
Joe Fjelstad
IC packages are a vital element in the electronics interconnection hierarchy.
They serve the very important function of die protection, of course, but
their primary role is to transform the I/O terminals on the chip to second
terminal locations that establish pin assignments at a pitch that can be
more easily used by the rest of the electronics industry from design to assembly.
Once pinout is established for a chip package, the locations are locked in
and they are not to be changed for the life of the product in whichever package
format(s) it is released. That concept is, however, being challenged by a
new player now entering the packaging realm.... Read
the full column...
This column appeared in Global SMT & Packaging magazine issue 7.4
- April 2007.
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| 2007
Global
Technology Awards |
The 3rd annual
Global Technology Awards
Global SMT & Packaging is proud to
announce the third annual GLOBAL
Technology Awards, which recognize
the world’s best new innovations in the
printed circuit assembly and packaging
industries.
Showcase your products and
services
Entries are invited from equipment,
materials and EMS companies of all
sizes. Entries will judged by an
independent, international panel
based on:
• Innovation
• Speed/throughput improvements
• Quality contribution
• Cost benefits
• Environmental consideration
• Ease of use/implementation
• Maintainability/repairability
Awards mean exposure
Winning companies will be
presented at a ceremony to be
held at Productronica in November.
Winners will receive a crystal
award, publicity through Global
SMT & Packaging’s print & online
magazines, winner’s logo, winner’s
poster and more.Learn
more
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Zestron opens
US headquarters
Dr. Oscar Wack, president of Zestron, presided at a ribbon cutting
ceremony at Zestron’s new headquarters in Manassas, Virginia, on
May 11.
Indium Corporation
wins Premiere Advertising Award
In addition to winning the award, the ad, titled "INDIUM CORPORATION:
We Know SMT Inside and Out" was also voted "Best of Division."
Jim Manzi named
chairman of Thermo Fisher Scientific
Mr. Manzi assumes the role previously held by Paul M. Meister, who retired
as chairman on April 10, 2007.
Flextronics
leases space in Milpitas industrial facility
Flextronics has signed a five-year lease for more than 100,000 square
feet in an industrial facility in the Milpitas Business Center, Milpitas,
Calif.
Northrop Grumman
to close Interconnect Technologies
The closure, effective July 31, 2007, will end Northrop Grumman's business
of manufacturing PCBs for third parties. The plant employs 265
workers.
Henkel’s
Loctite® 3508 Cornerbond™ Underfill secures two industry honors
Just launched in February of this year, Henkel’s new Cornerbond™ underfill
system is already collecting industry accolades and customer kudos.
Siemens A&D
Electronics Assembly Systems under new leadership
Günter Lauber will succeed Tilo Brandis as new president of the Electronics
Assembly Systems (EA) at Siemens A&D.
Dage honors
Ascentek with President’s Award
Dage Precision Industries presented its President’s Award to Ascentek
International Company Ltd. for their outstanding contribution during 2001-2006
for the sales of Dage x-ray systems.
More Industry News...
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Cookson announces
ALPHA WS-819 paste for ultra-high reliability assembly applications
New ALPHA WS-819 water-soluble, lead-free solder paste delivers excellent printing
characteristics over a wide range of humidity conditions while offering excellent
cleanability and resistance to voiding.
BPM Microsystems
device programming support for Luminary Micro's Stellaris®
Luminary Micro and BPM Microsystems announced today the availability of device
programming support of Luminary Micro’s Stellaris™ family of ARM® microcontrollers
across BPM Microsystems’ entire line of production equipment.
Asymtek introduces
new Axiom X-1030 series
The X-1030 series dispensing system is designed for selective jetting
of traditional flux, no-clean solder fluxes and other precise coating applications.
DEK announces
new addition to VectorGuard® stencil range
While maintaining compatibility with the standard VectorGuard frame, OptiGuard
provides an alternative mounting process that is especially helpful when stepped
or multi-level stencils are deployed.
More New Products...
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May 28 , 2007



Have something to say?
Global SMT & Packaging is currently accepting submissions
of original, previously unpublished technical articles, industry-related
book reviews, and articles that offer insight into industry trends
and developments. For more information, or to submit a query, contact
Trevor Galbraith at editor@globalsmt.net.
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