Optimism shines at the Fleck Connection Congress
By VALERIE COFFEY
It was more than the lights of the strip. With more than 150 attendees, the Fleck Connection Congress (FCC) held at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, NV, Oct. 28–30, lit up with optimism about the future of interconnects. Positive trends within the industry abounded, with the global semiconductor market predicted to expand 16.8% in 2004, and notebook sales increasing 75% year to year, according to FCC founder and chairman Ken Fleck. In his opening address, "Having Survived 2001 to 2002—Now, What is Ahead for the Industry?" Fleck also noted that digital camera sales are up 63% year to year, and other consumer electronics such as mobile phones, DVD systems, and PDAs are driving growth.
 Attendees mingle during a break at the Fleck Connection Congress at Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas, NV. |
Other presentations on the state of the wireless and PC markets were also hopeful. Hirose's manager of the overseas business development group in Tokyo, Tats Arai, predicted that major wireless applications are on the horizon, such as home entertainment and cell phones for music, video camera, fingerprint identification, and mobile TV. While board-to-board connectors in cell phones have become four times slimmer in recent years, said Arai, the plethora of connectors in the cell-phone realm begs for standardization. Meanwhile, "The next standard to be addressed is the W.FL for personal computers," said Arai.
A less optimistic topic squarely in the spotlight was the manufacturing growth in Asia. Speaking on "How to survive" in the face of increasing competition, Wolfgang Jacobi of Germany-based ODU said he believes that "the growth in Asia is completely outstripping estimates." Timothy Conlon of Viasystems Group, presenting on "China and the Evolving Backplane Market," concurred, noting that Walmart's advertising campaign no longer claims to buy American. "Now virtually every product at Walmart is from Taiwan, Korea, and China," said Conlon. "Our Christmas comes from China."
Business for electronics manufacturing services (EMSs) is expected to grow, especially in the medical, automotive, and industrial markets. Korea, in particular, is expanding in original design manufacturers (ODMs), said Matt Sheerin of Thomas Weisel Partners, who spoke about the electronics supply chain. More and more, Asian companies excel in copying original designs and hiring EMSs to manufacture products at cut-rate prices. This can be bad news for the U.S. economy as technology follows manufacturing to Asia. However, North American EMS companies are also expanding into design manufacturing. Said Sheerin, "The delineation between ODMs and EMSs will become blurred in the next few years."
Distributors are expected to continue to consolidate. While Avnet has acquired Kent, Pioneer sold its electronics unit to Arrow, and Canadian contract electronics manufacturer Celestica acquired U.S. rival Manufacturers' Services Limited (MSL). The consolidations ultimately help gross margins even during the downturn, so "the future looks bright," said Sheerin.
On the technical side, Josh Nickel of Silicon Bandwidth (SBI; San Jose, CA) presented "Next-Generation OEM System Performance Requirements and Signal Integrity Issues." Nickel said that system performance bottlenecks are now in passive interconnects, not chips. His message: Legacy connector technology is the limitation in next-generation backplane performance. Solutions involve shortening the traces of large backplanes to reduce cost, board space, power, and the active signaling required. High-speed connector technology from SBI replaces plated through-holes (PTHs) with "partial through-holes," or drilled holes filled with conductor, eliminating the PTH stub. The result is optimal signal integrity at data rates of 15 Gbit/s or higher, reduced process steps, and 25% lower system cost.
With a strong diversity of topics, this year's Fleck line-up drew a sound attendance from the top connector companies, including Molex, FCI, and Delphi Connections. Conspicuously absent was any sign of number one connector company Tyco Electronics. According to Monalisa Berbey, president and CEO of Fleck Research (Santa Ana, CA), next year's Congress is planned for Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas again in late October. Maybe next year, Tyco.
Ticona licenses polymer to make plastic circuits
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WILSONVILLE, OR — LPKF Laser & Electronics has entered an agreement with Ticona (Kelsterbach, Germany) to license the Vectra liquid-crystal-polymer (LCP) technology. The agreement enables Ticona to modift its LCP material for the LPKF laser-direct-structuring (LDS) process to produce three-dimensional MID circuits.
Depositing conductive paths directly on molded plastic structures combines the electrical and mechanical functions into a single injection-molded circuit carrier. The combination of the LPKF LDS process and the Vectra polymer material enables the electronics housing to substitute for a conventional circuit board, encouraging miniaturization.
In this laser-based process, the desired interconnect pattern is directly written on the Vectra plastic structure using an LPKF laser system, and the conductive paths are plated using industry-standard methods. The plating adheres only where the laser has activated the plastic. Due to the high temperature resistance, the circuit structures on the LCP material are solderable. This technology is ideal for mobile communication devices, hearing aids, and sensory technology for automobile electronics.
"The new contract will positively influence LPKF's chances to establish this new technology worldwide," said Stephan Schmidt, vice president of LPKF Laser & Electronics North America.
General Cable closes plant
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, KY — General Cable Corporation, a leader in the development, design, manufacture, marketing, and distribution of copper, aluminum, and fiberoptic wire and cable products for the energy, industrial, specialty, and communications markets, announced that it is closing its 131,000 sq-ft Taunton, MA, manufacturing facility. The facility, which employs 77 associates, produces bare copper strand and PVC jacketing compounds for other General Cable manufacturing facilities to produce a variety of wire and cable products, primarily in the company's Industrial & Specialty segment. The company will incur a charge in the fourth quarter of 2003 related to the closure of the plant and estimates the amount of the charge to be approximately $7.0 million, of which about $4.0 million will be cash costs.
The company also announced it has initiated feasibility studies at its South Hadley, MA, and Marion, IN, manufacturing facilities. The studies will consider whether operations should continue at these locations or whether the product lines should be moved to other company facilities or, with regard to the South Hadley facility, outsourced to a wire conductor fabricator. The company plans to announce the results of its studies either later this quarter or early next year and would take additional charges over the period the operations are wound down. The estimated cost to rationalize these facilities could approximate $20 million, with cash costs about one-third of this amount.
The decision to close the facility was based on economies of scale and the highly competitive industrial cable market. "The unprecedented decline in North American industrial activity over the last several years has resulted in a significant reduction in the production loads in our industrial cable plants. This decline in production volume has had a negative impact on the Taunton plant's competitive cost position and has necessitated this action," said Gregory B. Kenny, president and chief executive officer of General Cable. "The Taunton plant closure will reduce our overall fixed costs as we outsource the products the plant makes at a lower cost than we can manufacture them ourselves."
Added Kenny: "Our associates in Taunton have worked hard to improve manufacturing efficiencies and reduce costs over the past several years and I would like to thank them for their efforts and dedication to General Cable during these difficult times."
Four new subscribers added to industry database
NORTHBROOK, IL — IPC–Association Connecting Electronics Industries (Northbrook, IL) and printed-circuit-industry data provider Conductor Analysis Technologies, Inc. (CAT) have announced four new subscribers to their joint Printed Board Process Capability, Quality and Relative Reliability (PCQR2) Benchmark database. The groups announced that BAE Systems North America, Raytheon Company, Rockwell Collins, and Sandia National Laboratories—three major original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and the first government-owned/contractor-operated (GOCO) facility—list their supplier capabilities in the PCQR2 Benchmark database. All four of the new subscribers supply the aerospace and defense electronics business segment.
"The PCQR2 Benchmark database is becoming the de-facto standard for comparing the process capability, quality, and relative reliability of PCB suppliers," said David Wolf, CAT vice president of technical marketing in Northfield, MN. The addition of BAE Systems North America, Raytheon, Rockwell Collins, and Sandia brings the total number of subscribers to nine. After just two years of existence, the database contains 63 submissions from 41 PCB suppliers worldwide. Given the current level of activity, says Wolf, the total submissions posted in the database will grow to over 120 within two months.
The PCQR2 database provides a detailed snapshot of supplier fabrication capabilities in five different areas: conductor/space formation; via structure formation; via structure reliability; soldermask registration; and controlled impedance. Circuit-board designers can outsource from the PCQR2 Benchmark database to improve circuit board design for manufacturability, lower sourcing costs, raise reliability, and increase on-time delivery. Subscribers are also able to collect quantifiable, statistically significant data on supplier process capabilities; find, screen, and select PCB manufacturers based on technology requirements; tailor design for manufacturability (DFM) guidelines; and obtain quantitative data for roadmaps.
Conversely, participating PCB manufacturers receive access to potential customers seeking suppliers of quality and obtain detailed quantitative data on their company's manufacturing process capabilities. Participants can also lower costs by producing one standardized set of test panels, rather than expensive customized panels for a variety of current and potential customers.
WHAT'S NEW:
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WATERPROOF USB CONNECTORS — Based around the standard USB interface, these Buccaneer four-pole hot-pluggable connectors offer high-speed data transfer up to 480 Mbit/s. Robustly housed in an over-molded body using UL94V-0 rated PVC, the connectors are environmentally sealed to IP68. Three formats of single- and double-ended cables are used in industrial applications and between PC and peripherals. Each is available in 2-, 3- and 5-m lengths. The cable connector features over-molding technology that molds the connector body directly over the cable. BULGIN COMPONENTS, ESSEX, ENGLAND.
www.Bulgin.co.uk
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MINIATURE BNC JACK — The UCBBJR256-N, an insulated 75-Ω PCB-mount right-angle bulkhead jack, enables a 40% increase in connector density and is ideal for OEM equipment applications that involve high data rates, high bandwidth, or high frequencies. Design features include fully enclosed beryllium copper spring fingers, gold-plated beryllium copper center contacts with plating weep hole, and a nail-head feature with tapered lead-in for center wire. TROMPETER, WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA.
www.trompeter.com
Tech-Etch buys photoetching equipment
Tech-Etch (Plymouth, MA) has purchased the business and assets of the Buckbee-Mears Hybrid Manufacturing Line (Cortland, NY) from BMC Industries, Inc. Not included in the transaction is the Buckbee-Mears group's mask operation. The Hybrid Line operation will be relocated to Tech-Etch's plant in Plymouth. The Hybrid Line produces mid- to high-volume photoetched precision parts from a continuous coil process prior to being sheared for flat-panel etching in widths up to 24 in. The acquisition of this technology and equipment will augment Tech-Etch's photoetching business for the medical, automotive, computer, aerospace, and electronic markets. Tech-Etch also manufactures flexible circuits and custom shielding products for the commercial and military markets. www.tech-etch.com
Elma opens second office
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Elma Electronic (Fremont, CA), a global manufacturer of electronic packaging products, has opened a new office in N. Chelmsford, MA. The new office, which complements Elma's facility in Columbia, MD, will primarily focus on sales, applications, and design. The Massachusetts office is in the center of New England's active embedded computing community. Elma's goal is to improve its East Coast logistical service and support. The facility is integrated with Elma's U.S. headquarters in Fremont, CA, via a Product Data Management system that connects all its U.S. offices. The system provides information on product designs, deliveries, and other issues in real-time. Elma designs and manufactures system platforms, backplanes, cabinets, switches, and LEDs. The MA office will initially focus more on system platforms and backplane applications. The new office opened its doors in September of 2003.
www.elma.com
Distressed town empowers WPI
The U.S. Small Business Administration has certified connector and cable assembly manufacturer Wire Pro, Inc. (WPI; Salem, NJ) as a HUBZone Small Business Concern through the HUBZone Empowerment Contracting Program. A HUBZone is a Historically Underutilized Business Zone, a designation that makes WPI eligible to receive additional federal contract opportunities. The program, enacted in 1997, certifies small business concerns located in distressed communities to encourage economic development.
www.wpi-interconnect.com
NEWSMAKERS:
 Michael Munroe |
Bustronic Corporation (Fremont, CA), designer and manufacturer of high-performance backplanes, expands its technical support group in hiring Michael Munroe, previously director of business development at ERNI Components (Chester, VA). Munroe is a well-known industry expert with a wealth of experience in electronics packaging. Munroe will provide support to both Bustronic and Elma out of the newly opened Maryland regional sales office.
Fiber Optic Network Solutions (FONS; Northboro, MA), a provider of passive fiber connectivity products and solutions, announced the addition of Rick Arsenault to its executive management team. Arsenault joins the company as vice president of business development.
 Raj Lakhotia |
DEK (San Jose, CA), provider of high-accuracy mass imaging solutions and innovative deposition technologies for a range of electronic materials, has appointed Raj Lakhotia to the position of financial controller for the company's U.S. operations.
UniSpot (St. Louis, MO), manufacturer of industrial spot cooling systems, has appointed Stewart Intagliata as division vice president. Intagliata will oversee sales in the U.S. and Canada, manage general business operations, and contribute to product development.
 Robert Meliska |
Connector company WAGO Corporation (Germantown, WI) has announced the addition of Robert Meliska to regional sales manager covering the Chicago metro area as well as northern Illinois.
Namics Technologies (Santa Clara, CA), a sales and service support group to Namics Corporation (Niigata, Japan), manufacturers of semiconductor devices and electronic components, has named Richard C. Jensen as vice president/general manager. Prior to joining Namics Technologies, Jensen was senior vice president of sales and marketing for the Electronic Packaging Products division of Henkel Loctite (Rocky Hill, CT).
FKI Logistex Alvey Systems (St. Louis, MO), an FKI Logistex member company and integrator of automated material flow solutions, announces the appointment of George Reyher as account manager, Latin America. Reyher will focus on expanding the company's presence in Latin America, including the launch of a new international office in South America.
Wire and cable company Draka USA (Franklin, MA), has announced the addition of Andrew Hemingway as the new corporate vice president of sales and marketing for the datacom, utility, transit, irrigation, telecommunications, and industrial/automation markets.
The TR-42 Engineering Committee on User Premises Telecommunications Infrastructure of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA; Arlington, VA) recently announced that Herb Congdon of Tyco Electronics (Harrisburg, PA) has been named chairman of TR-42.1, Commercial Building Cabling subcommittee.
Osprey Metals (Neath, UK), manufacturer of carrier plates and housings for use in electronic packaging, has signed an agreement with manufacturer's representative D-TecH (Rochester, MA). D-TecH will represent Osprey's aluminum and silicon alloys to the military, aerospace, and communication markets in New England and the mid-Atlantic states.
