The Surface-Mount Technology Association (SMTA, Minneapolis, MN) has announced the formation of the SMTA International (SMTAI) technical committee for 2004. The SMTA will again co-locate its SMTAI conference on Sept. 26-30 with Assembly Tech Expo (ATExpo) in Chicago, IL, at the Donald Stephens Convention Center.
The 2004 team of industry professionals includes Gerry Adams; Donald Banks; Dr. Srinivas Chada; Dr. John Evans; Gail Flower; Rich Freiberger; Dr. Reza Ghaffarian; Dr. Ken Gilleo; Steve Greathouse; Lisa Hamburg-Bastin; Jeff Kennedy; Andrew Mawer; Dr. Julian Partridge; Dr. Viswanadham Puligandla; Greg Reed; and Dr. Paul Vianco.
They will be led by veteran conference chair, RadiSys process engineering manager Rob Rowland. Rowland is the primary author of Applied Surface Mount Assembly, and he has conducted classes for the SMTA Academy and the SMTA annual conferences at SMI and SMTAI.
Tracks for this year's conference include Assembly, Business Issues, Components, Emerging Technologies, PCB Technology and Process Control. New topics for 2004 include Design for Success, Battery Interaction, Lean Manufacturing, Medical Electronics, Setup Reduction, Process Modeling and Supplier Engineering.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
IPC (Northbrook, IL) has announced the release of IPC-2581, Generic Requirements Printed Board Assembly Products Manufacturing Description Data and Transfer Methodology, and recognizes Valor Computerized Systems Ltd.'s (Yvane, Israel) commitment to this effort.
The IPC-2581 standard is the result of three years of industry effort, initially started by the National Electronic Manufacturing Initiative (NEMI) and then followed by IPC's standardization effort. The standard is in XML schema and was built on Valor's ODB++ format, with added data concepts from IPC's GenCAM standard (IPC-2511B). The committee effort, chaired by Dana Korf, Sanmina-SCI Corp., put the final touches on the IPC-2581 in February.
"By donating their ODB++ format to the IPC committee working on IPC-2581 and by providing volunteer committee support from their development group in Israel, Valor made tremendous contributions to the development of this new standard," said David Bergman, IPC's vice president of standards and technology. "The time and travel commitment to the two-year standard was significant on Valor's behalf, and IPC would like to recognize Valor's support of the industry."
Bergman added, "With the release of the new standard comes the need for implementation efforts. The goal has always been to develop more intelligent data transfer, and now verification vehicles need to be developed, as well as a large numbers of translators. With Valor's support, IPC has completed the format. Next, it's critical that the companies that set the direction for this effort to push for adoption and now commit themselves to use the new format."
IPC plans to include the development of golden boards of product in the IPC-2581 standard format. These examples will facilitate the industry's implementation of the new format. The National Institute of Science and Technology will then check the quality of the golden boards prior to release.
For more information, contact DavidBergman@ipc.org.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
Vectron Inc. (San Diego, CA), a provider of automated optical inspection (AOI) for semiconductor and electronics assembly, has announced the appointment of Joe Vilella, president and chief executive officer, as co-chairman of the IPC 7-32 Automated Inspection Technologies committee.
The industry subcommittee was formed to help surface-mount technology manufacturers deal with the present and future challenges posed by the continued trend of miniaturization in this industry through the proper application of state-of-the-art inspection technologies.
Vilella is responsible for the efforts to create up-to-date industry standards for the proper evaluation and implementation of AOI, automated x-ray inspection (AXI) and automated paste inspection (API) technologies to the surface-mount process. Amit Verma, who co-chairs the 7-32 subcommittee with Vilella, is responsible for the efforts to translate IPC-A-610 solder joint acceptance criteria into a language that is directly measurable by automated inspection machines through the correlation of data from AOI/AXI inspection methods to the reliability of lead-free solder joints via thermo-cycling. Both Vilella and Verma report to John Perry, who is the IPC staff liaison responsible for the oversight of this as well as several other committees related to the improvement of surface-mount methodologies and processes.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
Meriton Networks Inc. (Ottawa, Canada), a provider of carrier-class wavelength networking systems, announced that it has selected Sanmina-SCI (San Jose, CA), an electronics manufacturing services (EMS) company, to be its engineering and manufacturing partner. Under the terms of the partnership, Sanmina-SCI will provide end-to-end services from optical design engineering to fabrication, assembly and chassis integration and test for Meriton Networks.
The formation of the alliance signals Meriton's transformation from an early stage to a mid-stage, commercial organization. With its High- Speed Metro (HSM) Services Architecture and strong customer traction, Meriton Networks hopes the agreement will fortify its position in next-generation metro WDM solutions.
Additionally, Meriton Networks announced the appointment of Robert K. Webster as chief financial officer.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
NACOM Corp. (Griffin, GA), a manufacturer of automotive electronics and junction block components, is adopting computer-aided manufacturing using XML (CAMX), an exchange framework that will allow all of its equipment and applications to speak the same language. NACOM had announced that any equipment or software it purchases in the future must be CAMX compliant.
NACOM has partnered with several of its suppliers and the Georgia Institute of Technology's Manufacturing Research Center (Georgia Tech's MARC, Atlanta, GA) to develop a CAMX application program interface (API).
"We are essentially writing a piece of software that will speak CAMX," said Andrew Dugenske, manager of research services at MARC. "Companies will then be able to embed this software into their equipment and applications and become CAMX compliant at a much lower cost and with much less risk than going it alone."
The participants in the CAMX API project include Agilent, BTU International, DEK Printing Machines, IPTE, Orbotech, Panasonic, Pillarhouse International, Universal Instruments and Visiprise.
At the heart of CAMX is a framework with an intermediary-a message broker-that handles information exchange and complies with IPC-approved, internationally accepted standards. Dugenske likens it to a mail server. "If you send me an e-mail, you don't connect your computer directly to mine," said Dugenske. "You send it to a server and I retrieve it when I want."
With the CAMX system, the factory's equipment and applications all communicate directly only with the message broker. When people or equipment need information, they get it from the broker-in real-time and in the correct format. Terms and codes are all standardized so there is no chance for misinterpretation. The factory manager will have access to information such as work in progress, throughput and equipment utilization.
One of the major strengths of CAMX is its plug-and-play characteristic. CAMX allows any piece of equipment on the floor to plug into a common framework and begin to exchange information with little effort.
NACOM is working with Georgia Tech to make CAMX more accessible to its vendors. The interface will be IPC-2501, IPC-2541, IPC-2546 and IPC-2547 compliant.
NACOM has reviewed several data formats and various vendors in the electronic manufacturing industry in its quest to establish an open source standard's based solution. Since none existed, IPC is actively working on the IPC 25XX series, of which CAMX is a part.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
BTU International (North Billerica, MA) showcased the newest version of its Pyramax solder reflow oven for surface-mount processing, the Pyramax 150 X5, at APEX 2004.
The new machine features lead-free process, low cost of ownership and a closed loop convection control for unmatched process control and repeatability. The 10-zone air or nitrogen capability, combined with 350°C maximum temperature and 24-in. board processing, provides process flexibility and throughput for high volume, high mix applications.
With increased heating and cooling performance and repeatable process control, the oven ensures an easy transition to lead-free production.
Reduced power consumption and nitrogen consumption as low as 500CFH decreases the cost of ownership. In addition, the available self-contained on-board water supply eliminates the need for a facility water supply.
The oven also offers a closed loop convection process to offer continuous monitoring and feedback of heating and cooling convection rates, with adjustments being made automatically through the system's operating software. The process control will be critical for lead-free processing.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
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