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Where have all the Brits gone?
In many years of attending major international trade shows, I have never
witnessed such a low turnout of UK exhibitors as has been the case at
Nepcon South China in Shenzhen this week. China continues to boom; growth
in electronics in the PRC this year will be 12%, double the global average
for our industry.
Undoubtedly the relative strength of sterling against a weakening dollar
is a factor. It struck me however, that had the UKTI (formerly DTI),
not drastically cut its funding for aspiring exporters, the UK pavilion
would have had a much stronger presence at arguably the world's third
most important SMT show.
UK companies such as Dage, DEK & Europlacer have all benefited from
government grants to promote their technology far and wide and are now
firmly entrenched in China. The current generation of fledging UK exporters
may not be so fortunate.
Andy Kellard
Global SMT & Packaging
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The JIP
Peter Grundy
No,
it's not new slang. It's an acronym. The JIP is a Joint Industry Project.
You are probably no wiser yet, so let's develop what it is whilst at
the same time looking into the ways of making good use of hard-earned
cash.
For some time, the DTI (as was. Its new name does not exactly trip off
the tongue) has been prepared to assist industry with various part
or wholly funded projects and with ways of making better use of tax offsets
such as the R&D tax offset in conjunction with HMGCE. This is not
widely publicised and, indeed, may be difficult to publicise. Read
more ...
This article is exclusive to Global SMT & Packaging - UK/Ireland
online .
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| Regular
column: Bob Willis |
What is LEADOUT
online training?
The electronics industry in Europe has recently experienced one of the
biggest changes since it started around 1960. The combination of the
Waste Electronic & Electrical Equipments (WEEE) and Restriction of
Hazardous Substances Directives (RoHS) required the industry to change
from the tin/lead solder used to join the electronic components to the
PCB to a lead-free solder (LFS). Read
more ...
This column appeared in Global SMT & Packaging 7.7, July 2007.
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iNEMI Updates
Tin Whisker Recommendations
 The
Tin Whisker User Group of the International Electronics Manufacturing
Initiative (iNEMI) released a major update of its publication "Recommendations
on Lead-Free Finishes for Components Used in High-Reliability Products"
at the end of last year. Read
more ...
This article was originally published in Global SMT & Packaging
Vol. 7 No. 6 - June 2007.
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Speedline
to Present Webinar on High Speed Paste Inspection
On Thursday, September 13, 2007, a webcast will be offered on high speed
solder paste inspection techniques and tools.
Koizumi
Appointed Vice President/General Manager of Speedline
Mr. Koizumi holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the
University of Washington in Seattle, and an MBA from the Schiller International
University in Heidelberg, Germany.
AWS
Electronics Group has acquired Instem Technologies Ltd
A deal that positions them as the largest UK independent Electronics Manufacturing
Services (EMS) provider.
SMART
Group Scotland - Improving Product Reliability
Workshop & Table-Top Exhibition
Tuesday 11th September 2007
Deer Park Golf and Country Club, Livingston, Scotland
New
Consortium Group is Launched in Scotland
SMC sees great potential to build our business going forward through the
unique capability the partnership will be able to offer its customers.
2007
Annual Symposium and Tabletop Exhibition
The Institute of Circuit Technology announce their 2007 Annual Symposium
and Tabletop Exhibition, to be held at The National Physical Laboratory
at Teddington, on the 20th September.
More
industry news...
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Wave soldering:
Solder mask discoloration
We have found that after selective soldering dark
stripes remain (figure 1) on the solder mask for our 8 layer board
(2,4mm thickness). Do you have any explanation or info that might help
to solve this problem? Can you tell us if this is a quality problem? Read
the answer here .
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OK
International launches new array package rework system
The APR-5000-DZ system has a US-patented, dual convection bottom-side heater
that enables faster rework while controlling the temperature to levels required
by component and material manufacturers' specifications.
New
Henkel dicing die attach films deliver exceptional performance
Designed to streamline the die attach process, particularly for stacked die
applications, Hysol QMI5100's and Hysol QMI5200's unique formulations combine
the properties and functions of die attach film and dicing tape into one product.
KIC
introduces new KIC Explorer thermal profiler
You can depend on this rugged, innovative hardware to endure the harsh conditions
of real-world factory use.
More
new products ...
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2007 August
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
Jade Po Kellard at jkellard@globalsmt.net.
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