Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - Features

Ray Prasad Consultancy has announced that a detailed lead-free course will take place on May 17-18, 2004, in Beaverton, OR, presented by Ray Prasad and Dr. Raiyo Aspandiar of Intel.

The course, Lead Free Technology For Electronic Assemblies: Problems and Promises, is led by instructors that have years of hands-on experience in implementing surface-mount and lead free in small and large companies to help identify business and technical issues in lead-free conversion. This is not a theoretical course. Actual Intel case studies will show the pitfalls and successes of lead-free implementation.

In addition to discussing the details of in-house lead free implementation, the course will also show you the questions to should ask your contract manufacturer (CM) if you plan to outsource/off-shore your product. Technical details, including wave and reflow profile development, paste selection, inspection and rework using both conventional and diode laser of lead-free solder joints, will be presented. The course will also give the status of legislation banning lead around the world including Europe, Japan, China and the U.S., and how participants can improve their company's profile and benefit from this disruptive technology.

Engineers and Managers who are either already into lead free or thinking of getting into lead free will benefit from this course. Participants will get an insight into the details of lead-free soldering technology to successfully implement lead free in your process and products.

Prasad will also offer a course on Surface-Mount Technology and Ball Grid Array (BGA) Design and Manufacturing on May 11-14, 2004.

www.rayprasad.com/coursedescs/intensive.html

www.rayprasad.com/course_link.html

phoenix|x-ray Systems + Services Inc. (Camarillo, CA) has introduced beryllium-free targets in all x-ray systems with open tubes. The new targets build on the company's commitment to produce an environmentally safe line of open tube x-ray systems. The new targets eliminate the potential harmful residual effect that can react from x-ray exposure to a beryllium target, resulting in possible operator exposure due to stress of long-term target exposure and or breakage.

The beryllium-free targets provide an advantage to boards and components that have a concern for over exposure and irradiation—such as hi-reel products—because new material used in the targets act as a filter to absorb a portion of the x-ray and minimize potential damages to samples. Combined with the company's low-dose|mode process that only exposes samples for the time that is obligatory to achieve a proper image, test samples will not receive any additional radiation than necessary to complete the inspection. This process and use of a beryllium-free target makes it easy to ensure the trace exposure to various radiations are lessened to ensure long-life operation.

As in space, the applications are on the extremes and require concern for operations in a variety of severe conditions and environments. Since the exposures are cumulative, production, test and inspection of the components and boards must take into consideration all aspects of this exposure during the manufacturing process.

phoenix|x-ray Systems + Services Inc. is the North American sales, service and applications engineering subsidiary of the Germany-based microfocus x-ray system manufacturer, phoenix|x-ray Systems + Services GmbH. This group of companies offers sealed tube and open tube microfocus/nanofocus x-ray systems dedicated to printed circuit board (PCB) assembly, back-end and multilayer inspection applications.

www.phoenix-xray.com

Elcoteq Network Corp. (Irving,TX), a provider of electronics manufacturing services (EMS) for the communications technology industry, announced that Joe Foster has been chosen as director operations for Elcoteq Americas.

Formerly vice president, general manager of EMS provider Solectron, Foster will oversee present and future operations in the Americas which include Elcoteq's manufacturing operations in Monterrey, Mexico, and its new product introduction (NPI) centers in Dallas, TX, and San Jose, CA.

Foster has over 25 years of domestic and international engineering, manufacturing and operations experience. Prior to Solectron, he was Director of Engineering Services at Alcatel/DSC, general manager at Tandy Computers and director of manufacturing at Wang Labs/Intecom during which he launched several computer and telecommunications products in the U.S. and overseas.

"Elcoteq Americas' business in Monterrey has grown dramatically during the past two years requiring addition of new surface-mount lines and doubling headcount," said Doug Brenner, president of Elcoteq Americas. "We are confident that Joe has the right mix of operational and business experience to meet the multiple challenges we have undertaken to drive profitability with explosive growth in meeting our goal of balancing business from the Americas with that of Europe and APAC."

www.elcoteq.com

Fabrinet (Bangkok Thailand), an engineering and electromechanical manufacturing services company, announced the planned expansion of its operations in Thailand with the investment of $25 million (1 billion baht) in additional manufacturing facilities, equipment and training.

A portion of the funds was used in the acquisition of Fabrinet's new 115,000 sq. ft. factory outside of Bangkok, Thailand, completed in early April. Additional funds will be used to facilitate the new factory, which will be available to customers in June 2004. In addition, construction will begin later this year to expand the new factory space into a 340,000 sq. ft. campus, increasing the company's aggregate footprint to approximately 575,000 sq. ft.

The new factories will include complete automated assembly lines for the manufacture of optoelectronic components—from fiber align through assembly—and will include a full range of test capabilities. The factories will support a range of services, including design for manufacture, prototyping, product transfer and qualification, process development and optimization, test development, assembly and fulfillment.

As part of its investment in Thailand, the company plans to hire and train over 2,500 engineers, operators and technicians to support customer manufacturing requirements. The company will provide new employees with technical training, lean manufacturing and six sigma disciplines as required for the manufacture of precision optical and optoelectronic devices for the telecommunications, data communications, automotive, data storage, industrial and imaging markets.

Fabrinet currently operates a 232,000 sq. ft. facility with over 3,200 employees in Bangkok, Thailand.

www.fabrinet.com

Alan Rae, Cookson Electronics' (Foxborough, MA) vice president of technology, has been named director of research by the National Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (NEMI), an industry-led consortium focused on strengthening the global electronics manufacturing supply chain. Rae will head NEMI's newly organized research committee, which was created to stimulate research that will address gaps identified by NEMI's biannual roadmap.

Rae and the committee are responsible for organizing and publishing NEMI research priorities, presenting those priorities to research institutes and funding organizations, identifying funding opportunities, monitoring industry progress toward roadmap goals and monitoring progress in nanotechnology research.

Jim McElroy, executive director and chief executive officer of NEMI, said, "NEMI has always worked with academic research centers and government funding agencies to identify industry research needs, but we are formalizing and increasing our focus on these efforts. The appointment of Alan as director of research and the formation of the research committee are the first steps toward this goal."

"As an industry, electronics manufacturers want to avoid being blindsided by new technologies that may emerge," said Rae. "We need to effectively identify and prioritize research and development programs and then work with the appropriate government agencies, universities and other consortia to ensure the work is properly funded and executed."

Other members of NEMI's Research Committee are Bill Ballard, 3M; D.H.R. Sarma, Delphi Electronics & Safety; Rao Tummala, Georgia Institute of Technology; Frank Robertson, Intel; Carol Handwerker, NIST; and Srinivas Rao, Solectron.

www.cooksongroup.co.uk

www.nemi.org

Celestica Inc. (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), an electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider, announced that Stephen W.Delaney has been appointed Celestica's new chief executive officer (CEO), effective immediately, by the company's Board of Directors.

Delaney has been acting as CEO since Jan. 28, 2004, when Eugene V. Polistuk retired as chairman and CEO. Robert L. Crandall will remain in the role of chairman of the Board of Directors.

Celestica's board conducted a thorough review of internal and external candidates as part of the search for a new CEO.

"Since joining Celestica three years ago, Steve has distinguished himself as a very strong leader, with a relentless focus on execution and a demonstrated ability to drive operating performance and build strong relationships with customers," said Crandall. "The board looks forward to working closely with Steve as Celestica moves ahead."

"I am honoured to be selected as Celestica's CEO," said Delaney. "I am firmly committed to collaborating with our valued customers, employees, partners, and the Board to effectively position Celestica for future success.."

Since joining Celestica in 2001, Delaney has held positions including president of Americas Operations. Prior to 2001, he held executive and senior management roles in operations at Visteon Automotive Systems, AlliedSignal's Electronic Systems business, Ford's Electronics division and IBM's Telecommunications division.

The company also recently announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2004. Revenue was $2,017 million, up 27% from last quarter. Net loss on a GAAP basis for the first quarter was $8.4 million or $(0.06) per share, which includes a pre-tax $11 million charge associated primarily with the company's previously announced restructuring activities. This compares to net earnings of $3.2 million or $0.02 per share for the same period last year.

Adjusted net earnings (loss) was $8.2 million, compared to $12.8 million for the same period last year.

Delaney said, "Earnings are beginning to reflect some operating leverage, which we expect to gain momentum and drive steady margin improvement throughout 2004. To accelerate improvement in profitability, we
plan to further restructure our operations to better align capacity with customers' requirements. In this regard, we expect further pre-tax charges
in the range of $175 - $200 million. This will represent a 10-15% reduction
of the company's workforce (approximately 5,000 people) over the next 12
months."

On March 12, 2004, the company acquired Manufacturers' Services Ltd. (MSL, Concord, MA), a full-service global electronics manufacturing and supply chain services company for a purchase price of $321 million.

www.celestica.com