CELEBRATING OUR 5TH YEAR OF PUMANEWS™ |
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As I See It!
Taking Action
JUNE 2023
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Yesterday, senior execs from two dozen electronics companies, involved in the manufacture of printed circuit boards, met with legislators at our nation's Capitol in Washington, DC, to create some awareness and excitement around our industry. Together, fabrication, manufacturing, and distribution were represented.
In addition to this lobbying effort, a pair of letters were sent to the heads of the Appropriations Committees and Defense Appropriations Subcommittees in the House and Senate, urging that $100 million be allocated in Fiscal 2024 to implement the Title III of the Defense Production Act that urges the rebuilding of the PCB sector is critical to U.S. national security.
Insulectro is proud to participate in this endeavor and strongly supports continued legislative action to support robust funding for reinvigorating printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing.
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PCBAA LEADERSHIP SPEAKS OUT |
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SALES & OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT |
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Ken Parent Speaks Out!
Investing in the Future
of Our Marketplace
JUNE 2023
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Yesterday, I left the three-day 2023 Annual PCBAA meeting in Washington DC full of energy and optimism.
Throughout the week, TTM, Sanmina, Calumet, Amphenol, Summit, FTG, TRC Circuits, Aurora Circuits, Isola, DuPont, Denkai in addition to competitors like McDermid, Technica, Rogers, Uyemura and Chemcut were present to represent the PCB and Substrate Bill for the PCB business on Capitol Hill.
On Tuesday, this group showed a cumulative effort of a few years of work by the PCBAA members to accomplish recognition in our government the importance of PCB and IC substrate production.
The CHIPs Act is getting a tremendous amount of publicity, PCBAA is working to ensure that PCBs and IC Substrates are in the forefront as a critical and vital part of the electronics industry.
We had the privilege to discuss our cause with:
- Zach Isakowitz, Legislative Director, for Congressman Michael McCaul (R-Texas-10)
- Christine Michienzi, Senior Technology Advisor Undersecretary of Defense and Acquisition and Sustainment
- Senator Todd Young (R-Indiana)
- Congressman Nicholas LaLota (R- New York – 1)
I was fortunate to again spend the day yesterday with these PCB industry leaders who are investing in the future of our marketplace and jobs in America to support manufacturing of PCBs. We visited Capitol Hill to gather more support from our Senators and Congress. There is optimism in the future of building PCBs and substrate in North America.
I am humbled by the talented and dedicated people who come together as a consortium of American Companies supporting domestic jobs and production of PCBs and materials.
PCBAA is gathering momentum! The political process is one that requires patience, however PCBAA is gaining government support and has been successful in getting support from a number of state senators and congressmen on the bill that will support our business.
Utah and California were the first two states to sponsor the PCB and Substrates bill. This week we made progress with other states like NY, NH, TX and Delaware. Onward and upward for PCBs in the USA and Canada.
Thank you PCBAA for accomplishing so much in such a brief period of time.
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Ken Parent
Chief Operating Officer
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Livin' in a Material World!
Taking Time Off Equals Renewed Energy & Fresh Perspective
JUNE 2023
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Summer is upon us, and I was fortunate to get an early start to the typical summer vacation, just returning from 10 days in Europe.
While taking this time off from the fast-paced work supporting our PCB customers, I spent some time reflecting on the benefits that vacations have to us as individuals as well as to our employers.
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Benefits to our business include increased creativity and productivity. Regular breaks from work provide an opportunity to recharge, rejuvenate, and regain focus. By disconnecting from the feeling of being overwhelmed by the routine day-to-day tasks, vacation time can provide the time to clear our minds, gain fresh perspectives, and enhance problem-solving abilities with a fresh, creative approach.
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This was the first time I can recall taking a full two weeks away from work, but I was encouraged and supported to enjoy the time away with my husband to explore new countries and cultures, with no distractions. Based on the core Insulectro culture, I trusted the work would be covered by my teammates, and I could relax knowing team collaboration could take care of any challenges that may arise.
[LEFT: Michelle enjoying a Café Latte at Demel in Vienna]
Another benefit of taking vacation time is the focus on both physical and mental health, another Insulectro value of living healthy lives. We all recognize how work-related stress can take a toll, and vacation time allows the time to engage in activities that promote well-being, and work-life balance. I was inspired how many Europeans were relaxed in small groups in the park, engaged in conversation with each other, and most did not have their eyes glued to their phones.
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There is certainly something to be said about enjoying the present moment, a takeaway I plan to continue to reflect on. As hard as it was to realize the vacation time was coming to an end and return back to work, I was encouraged by the renewed energy and fresh perspective I was bringing back with me to approach old challenges in a new way.
I’m even more encouraged and excited about what’s coming ahead this summer and beyond from our Insulectro Team and our Suppliers to our customers- stay tuned!!
Avoid the summer doldrums, change up your routine, plan a getaway and recharge - the North American Electronics industry needs our refreshed focus!
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Michelle Walsh
Vice President of Product Management
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PumaNews™ provides a platform for thought leaders in our industry to voice their opinions. We look forward to presenting many diverse commentaries. |
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American Made Advocacy:
Taking the Fight to Capitol Hill
by PCBAA Chair, Travis Kelly
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If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.
That’s one of the reasons why, in his State of the Union address, President Biden’s praise for an emerging manufacturing renaissance was so welcome. He said, “If we invent it here, we should also make it in America.”
He sounded a lot like a microelectronics CEO.
Two decades ago, the United States had more than 2,000 companies designing and manufacturing printed circuit boards to satisfy 30% of the global demand. Today that number is less than 150 companies, representing only 4% of PCB production.
A refreshed bill from Reps. Blake Moore (R-UT-1) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA-16) aims to address this atrophy with direct government funding and tax credits that will make American printed circuit boards cost competitive with foreign sources.
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This week, the PCBAA will gather in Washington to meet with lawmakers and lobby directly for this important legislation. This conference is the culmination of a multifaceted campaign we have been leading for more than two years.
There is no substitute to for in-person advocacy, and here’s why we’re taking our fight to the halls of Congress:
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The environment is ripe for reshoring. Challenges to supply chains that began during the COVID-19 pandemic have lingered and, coupled with a tight labor market, created a challenging environment for high-tech manufacturing. Businesses are securing their sourcing and building new arrangements closer to home. New factories are under construction from Arizona to New York, and businesses are recognizing that dependence on any one region is not sustainable. Governments all over the world are competing for a share of this rebalanced portfolio.
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The competition for lawmakers’ attention is fierce. Every day in Washington our elected officials are inundated with requests for support and appeals to action. Our system empowers individuals and organizations alike to engage in the political process, and from corn growers to clothing importers, tens of thousands avail themselves of this option during every legislative session. With so many diverse interests competing, it’s important to connect the faces of your stakeholders to the arguments you’re making.
Some might argue that in our new “virtual” work environment, the need to show up is out of fashion, but I strongly disagree. Sitting across the table, shaking hands, telling the story; there is no replacing that kind of connection and the results it can bring.
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PCBAA, the Printed Circuit Board Association of America, members include: AGY, American Standard Circuits, Amphenol, Aurora Circuits, Bowman, Calumet, Chemcut, Denkai America, DuPont, FTG, Harbor Electronics, Insulectro, Isola, JPS Composite Materials, MacDermid Alpha, Nano-Dimension, Pacothane Technologies, Pro-Tech, Rogers Corporation, Sanmina, Summit Interconnect, Technica USA, TTM Technologies, and Uyemura USA.
The Printed Circuit Board Association of America is a consortium of companies, representatives, and enthusiasts who are advocating for U.S. manufacture of printed circuit boards.
Insulectro is proud to support PCBAA's effort as a founding member.
We encourage you to not stand on the sidelines but get involved to support PCBAA's three main objectives:
- Support the Domestic Production of PCBs
- Enhance Domestic Supply Chain Security
- Advocate for Initiatives that Create Fair Market Conditions
This organization is your voice in Washington.
Visit PCBAA.org today to learn more about membership. See below for more information and a link to inquire about membership.
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PRINTED ELECTRONICS INKS & PASTES,
SUBSTRATES & FILMS
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Kevin Miller Can See it!
Bob Lee & Jeff Crawford Exhibit Our PE Materials in Montreal
JUNE 2023
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Bob Lee, Insulectro Printed Electronics TAM Checks In:
"The Insulectro Printed Electronics team of Jeff Crawford and myself crossed the international border to the great city of Montreal the week of May 15th, 2023.
Insulectro proudly attended and exhibited at the Canadian Printed Electronics Symposium, Canada’s premier conference and trade show exhibition for flexible and hybrid electronics supporting business and research across the flexible, printable and wearables electronics sector.
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"IntelliFLEX sponsored the CPES2023 on May 17-18, 2023, in Montreal in partnership with the University of Quebec the symposium focused on the most relevant, state of the art technical topics and global networking.
Canada’s premier conference and trade show exhibition for flexible and hybrid electronics was attended by more than 180 people from the industry and University with the purpose of helping advance research, build supply chain relationships and develop business and partnerships, and foster diversity throughout the industry.
The 2 day event included tours of the University's Printed Electronics labs and processing center, an opportunity to collaborate with engineering students with a desire to contribute to the continued growth of the Printed Electronics technology and share knowledge.
The Insulectro team had the opportunity to promote the Celanese Micromax™ conductive ink product line as well as the various substrates and services that Insulectro offers to its customers in the range of low and high temperature inks and material processing.
"The event was culminated with the BEST Raspberry fudge cheesecake ever at Rockaberry Griffintown, OMG!"
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The Celanese Micromax® team which manufactures a portfolio of Conductive Inks announced the launch of nine new product grades for the printed electronics market. The new products Micromax® Conductive Inks developed included the PE800 series of products for consumer electronic applications such as touch sensors, busbars and EMI shielding. Additionally, the new HT series is formulated to meet customer needs for electronic inks in high temperature applications."
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We look forward to supporting your future needs and material requirements. All customers have access to our custom converting services plus rapid delivery and as well as our in-house technical assistance.
Please call Insulectro at 1-855-955-0200 with any questions regarding these product offerings or visit our E-Commerce site at https://insulectro-pe.com/.
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The People Behind the Puma
RJ Feliciano
Emerging Manufacturing Engineer
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PERSONAL COMMENT:
I feel very fortunate and excited to be able to apply the skillset I’ve honed in pursuing my bachelor’s degree in the PCB industry, a branch of materials science that I have great passion in.
I am thrilled to work with the team in implementing new designs and improvements in the PCB manufacturing process, particularly with achieving industry 4.0. It feels great to know that what I will be doing will impact the industry, even by a tiny margin!
Insulectro is a collection of team players that are experts in what they do. Everyone that I’ve met has been very knowledgeable and dependable. They believe in the values of continuous improvement and collaborative effort, which is exactly the group of people I want to surround myself with!
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Meet RJ! For him, the Future is Today. |
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When you were child, what was the first job you wanted to have when you grew up? Astronaut! I wanted to float around in zero gravity.
Name a couple of childhood nicknames? Popo, Archiebald. I have no idea how these names came about haha
You came to us fresh from college. What did you think when when you became a part of the Insulectro family of businesses? How I really love the GSD mentality. People are very willing to collaborate and see things through!
What are your three greatest strengths? Perseverance, Resourcefulness, and Curiosity!
If your best friend could change one thing about you, what would it be? How I always need something sweet to eat after having a meal
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You recently were recognized with a Six Sigma Green Belt achievement. Congratulations. Tell us a little about the recognition and what it took to earn it. Thank you! Receiving the certification was a significant milestone in my professional development! To achieve the Green Belt, I underwent rigorous training in statistical analysis, root cause analysis, and other key concepts; I also had to pass its corresponding certification exam. I can’t wait to apply what I’ve learned and continue to drive professional excellence!
What’s the most rewarding DIY project you have done? Designing and creating a reading nook in my room
How would your teammates describe you? I will always have a follow-up question
Last book you read? Last movie watched? Last book I read: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow; Last movie I watched: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
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Have you ever binge-watched a streaming series? Yes! White Lotus
Are you more at home in jeans, a suit, or yoga pants, and why? Definitely jeans. Don’t have to stress about spills and stains
Great weekend for you is? Early brunch, a whole afternoon at the beach, and dinner at home with a good movie
Best car you had you miss? I’m on my first car and I still think it’s the best car! (Subaru Impreza hatchback)
What’s your dream vehicle? My current car but with a fresh car wash
What’s biggest regret you ever had? Not thrifting earlier
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If you could go anywhere in the universe where would you go first, and why? International Space Station. I want to see how the earth looks from up there
What’s your beverage of choice? Ice cold water
If a distant uncle left you $15 million what are the first three things you would do? Buy my mom a new house and car, travel the world, and donate the rest to charity
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If they were making a movie about you, what actor would be play you? Simu Liu
In the owner’s manual for RJ, what are the first three things on the CAUTION page? Neat freak, hates the cold, and always thirsty
How would you like to be remembered? As someone who made a positive impact to those around him, in work, relationships, and community.
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OPERATIONS & SUPPLY CHAIN
WORLD-CLASS MANUFACTURING
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WCM: Asset Care
Creating Some Excitement
through “SCRUM”
JUNE 2023
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DATELINE: Lake Forest, CA |
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One of the tenets of World Class Manufacturing is Asset Care, which encompasses our operational continuous improvement (productivity) and cost management programs.
A recent success story involving asset area improvement is in our CAC operation. We had been facing some challenges with high scrap that was impacting our overall yield and cost results. The group recognized the need to formulate a problem-solving approach around the issue, that would allow us to identify and manage key actions by “story” area.
Several tools and approaches were considered in the LEAN/WCM toolkit, but it was clear that to drive rapid, focused change, we needed to “SCRUM” it. SCRUM is a framework for project management that emphasizes teamwork, accountability, and iterative progress toward a well-defined goal.
In the SCRUM process, we make visible key actions by workstream or “Story” area, and clearly present the tasks in “To Do”, “Doing”, and “Done” buckets. There is a daily SCRUM meeting (15 mins max) for each task owner to provide an update on status, and to identify any barriers that need to be addressed to advance items to completion.
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Felix Martinez, Director of Operations for Insulectro West, CAC, and LCOA notes “The SCRUM process kept us focused on the key story areas that we felt were contributing to our higher levels of scrap. These areas were Method (evaluating the quality of our standard processes), Man (our training and compliance to our standards), Machine (i.e., engineering and maintenance optimization) and Metal (the material and quality issues/variability that can lead to scrap).”
Brandon Miller, Senior Process Engineer adds “Getting really tuned in to these specific “story” areas and writing out our action items in specific workstream buckets, helped the team keep laser focused on execution as we launched this project”.
In the first month of the SCRUM team’s efforts, a 5% improvement in yield (scrap reduction) was achieved, which was the highest result CAC had posted in several years. The team continued to move key tasks by Story from “To Do” to “Done” and as a result, exceeded the target yield results in March, and then repeated in April. Back-to-back record results, driven by the cross-functional team daily SCRUM process!
After making step-change level improvements, the objective is to take the key actions implemented in the SCRUM process and integrate them into our daily standard work processes. Clarice Cordero, Supply Chain Planner notes “We have taken what we learned about optimizing production order quantities and grouping specialty item runs together to realize more efficiency. We’ve just made that our new standard for how we schedule the lines."
Mike Reyes, day-shift operations lead added “I was really thrilled that the cross-functional team started to buy in and prioritize some of the chronic issues we as operators have experienced for years. It was very satisfying seeing focus on those key areas drive significant improvement”.
Here is the Kaizen “Before & After” document summarizing the problem and results:
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Thanks to the CAC Operations SCRUM Team for working together to “make problems visible” and attack this opportunity head-on! Fantastic results achieved through Teamwork!
And the icing on the cake........we just beat the monthly goal again in May! A 3-Peat!
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Only through your daily focus and GSD attitude do we help live out our corporate purpose of “Enabling Our Customers To Build Better Circuits, Faster."
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And thanks to everyone for another remarkable month.
Jason Shuppert
Vice President of Operations
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INSULECTRO'S COPPER & COPPER FOIL OFFERINGS |
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Copper Complexity & Clarification.
Not All Copper Foils Are Created Equal
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Copper Foil is a Technology Enabler. . .
CAC ensures cleanliness and wrinkle free layup.
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Bonded copper foil is not a new product but as PCB designs evolve, the benefits supporting fabrication throughput, single operator layup and breakdown with the customization to include any copper type and panel size from 12x18 up to 26x38 all domestically produced in Lake Forest CA is worth highlighting again.
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Sealed on 4 edges - No bellows effect compared to alternative (2 open edges can suck in debris).
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Adhesive releases during lam cycle - No induced stress – very important for lead free builds.
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CAC, Inc. focus on tooling and edge quality - Eliminate metallic debris in your process.
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Cleaner edge at de-book - No weld to break – no torn copper – better incoming panel alignment.
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Fewer plates to clean & resurface – Poor separator plates surface quality impacts yields and panel flatness.
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Re-use of SS separator plates causes indentations generating imperfections and FOD concern.
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Reduces stack height and mass - enabling more panels per book by swapping out middle 62 mil plates.
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High temp & long duration cycles with .062 SS would require more than one load to complete a special resin system cycle.
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Reduction in Stack-up time by an average of 35% over conventional layup.
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Increased panels in each press opening when CAC compared to conventional component layup.
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Visit our website under the CAC & CSC products page to watch a press stack creation using all four bonded edge CAC vs components build. |
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Mark Satchwell
Product Manager, Foil, CAC® & Pacothane®
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Get to Know
DuPont Interconnect Solutions
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Insulectro distributes Riston® photoresist films, Pyralux® flex laminates, Interra™ thin copperclad laminates, Kapton® polyimide, and metallization plating chemistries - all from the portfolio of DuPont Interconnect Solutions. ICS is a leading sustainable materials solution partner for advanced interconnects.
DuPont Interconnect Solutions enables signal integrity and power transmission for advanced interconnects in everything from 5G connection to next-gen automotive to spacecraft.
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With deep material science expertise, advanced applied science and engineering capabilities, a broad product portfolio, and a commitment to sustainability, DuPont Interconnect Solutions provides total solutions and is a system design partner for organizations across consumer electronics, automotive, telecom, datacom, industrial, and aerospace and defense.
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PCB Materials Are Unique
End Mills for Your Flex Milling
Use a Tool Designed for Your Success!
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When selecting your drill supplier there are many key components to consider, such as tool quality, repointability, repeatability, support, design, and specialty tooling. Another key component is repointing capability.
Insulectro’s partner Kyocera has invested in new automated repointing equipment. With this equipment your tools will now be pointed, inspected and ring set all on one machine.
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Below are some of the key capabilities.
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Automated ranges: 0.20 mm – 1.20 mm
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Shanks sizes: 2.00mm – 3.175mm
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Point angles: 110-150 degrees
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Primary angle: 7-15 degrees
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Secondary angle: 25-30 degrees
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Equipment movement precision: 0.2 μm
- Has 12 geometric tolerances
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Can handle various configurations: Ring/Ringless drills, various 50 pack designs and euro clips
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Equipment and is also inspection report capable
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In addition to their automated repointing equipment, Kyocera has manual repointing for low volume and larger size diameters. Kyocera plans on adding additional range capacity to their automation arsenal to support the PCB market.
Kyocera has long been an industry leader in repointing and has always provided superior quality with excellent turn times to support their customer base. With this additional investment, along with their US tool manufacturing, R&D, and technical support, both Kyocera and Insulectro are an unbeatable team to support our customers across North America.
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Contact your Insulectro representative for more information details! |
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Along with our industry leading backer and entry products from LCOA™, Insulectro has what you need to build better boards faster.
Please contact me for additional information, technical support, or process related questions. Our Insulectro team looks forward to assisting in you!
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Geraldine Arseneau
Product Manager - Kyocera Precision Cutting Tools
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Lenthor Engineering CEO & President
Mark Lencioni Retires
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Insulectro Technical Account Manager Steve Piatt on hand to send him off:
"Elizabeth Lencioni held a party for Mark’ retirement last Saturday evening. 100 friends, family and a few of Lenthor’s management team. Caviar, Ling crab legs, and lobster were a few of the appetizers. Ribeye steaks and beef short ribs with several sides was dinner. Had a 6 piece Classic rock band. Quite a party!"
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Party Honoree Mark Lencioni, Rich Clemente - Lenthor General Manager, Steve Piatt - Insulectro TAM. |
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Chris Hunrath
Vice President of Technology
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A True Gamechanger for Electronics and Beyond
Galvorn: BIG Changes for Electronics
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A new technology breakthrough product has just been rolled out and it's become big news fast.
The highly conductive product is called Galvorn and is made entirely of carbon!
Galvorn transforms hydrocarbons, renewable fuels, and captured carbon into a Space Age material that vastly outperforms traditional alternatives like steel, aluminum, and copper.
It’s the promise of science fiction made into reality, thanks to research by Professor Matteo Pasquali and his team at Rice University — refined and commercialized with support from Shell Ventures, the U.S. Department of Energy, NASA, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the United States Air Force, Advanced Functional Fabrics Of America (AFFOA), ARPA-E, and others.
When adopted at scale across industries such as power, aviation, and automotive, Galvorn represents a multi-gigaton carbon reduction impact by creating the building blocks necessary for a cleaner economy.
Galvorn is an advanced carbon nanomaterial that can be formed into yarns, cables, tapes, woven fabrics, composites, and three-dimensional structures for use in industries including energy, automotive, aviation, and wearables.
Galvorn is high-strength, ultra-lightweight, conductive, flexible, corrosion resistant, and biocompatible, making it a preferable alternative to many traditional materials used in these industries.
Whats this unique is Galvorn's high strength, electrical conductivity, and thermal conductivity. For example, when compared to a copper wire of the same diameter, a Galvorn fiber produced by this method has 12 times higher strength, more than 6 times lower density, at least 25 times higher flexure tolerance, and up to 50% higher thermal conductivity.
The impact for consumers will be felt in the application. Lighter and faster vehicles, lighter wind-turbine blades, and higher conductivity in batteries to improve renewable power storage are all advantages Galvorn is set to realize
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These high-performance properties enable the development of novel applications which can displace carbon-intensive incumbent materials used in electrical wiring, EMI shielding, batteries, antennae, composite panels, electrodes, and wearable electronic garments.
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Chris Hunrath on Future Tech
Take Advantage of Our Training Resources
New Teammates? Great Talent?
Little PCB Experience?
JUNE 2023
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While IPC and PCEA has some great training content, Insulectro has much more practical fabrication and factory know how.
We would be happy to share this content and with a resurgence of great talent entering the industry, we can help reduce the “learning curve." This benefits all involved. Our success is directly connected to our customers producing high technology with high yields.
Please see the list below and if you have interest beyond, we can engage our supply base and bring even more content.
- Drill 101
- Drill 102
- Lamination process/technology and resin behavior
- Lamination tools for different PCB constructions
- PCB Metallization 101
- Plasma processes
- Wet Lamination for innerlayers and SES process
- Flex circuit materials and applications
- LDI and Outerlayer Imaging
- Surface Finishes
- Electrolytic copper plating
- All about copper foils
- mSAP and ultra HDI
- Z-axis Interconnects using Paste
- In-depth ENIG process
- Embedded passives
- Conductive Inks and Printed Electronics
We can supply this content on-site, “lunch and learn”, webinars and more. You team can visit our facilities as well as our suppliers. Let’s invest together on the PCB next generation.
I hope to hear from you soon.
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Chris Hunrath
Vice President of Technology
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Last Day Today!
Celanese Micromax® & Insulectro PE
Co-Exhibit During Microwave Show
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The IEEE IMS Microwave Show will be presented in-person, 11-16 June 2023 in San Diego, CA. The Celanese Micromax® team with join Insulectro Printed Electronics in the exhibit at the San Diego Convention Center. Find us at exhibit #2216.
IMS is the flagship event in a week dedicated to all things microwaves and RF. The week also includes the IEEE MTT-S Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits Symposium (RFIC) and the Automatic Radio Frequency Techniques Group (ARFTG).
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This year is the first time since 1994 that IMS has been held in San Diego, and they aim to make IMS2023 a show to remember. IMS is planning a live, in-person conference with an exciting technical program, with the Coolest Ideas under the Sun, and great networking opportunities for attendees and exhibitors, to re-establish old connections and make new ones.
At IMS2023 there are several focus themes to highlight a number of areas of RF and microwave engineering that are of topical interest or impact.
These themes are:
Systems & Applications
The development of RF, microwave, mmWave, and THz systems continues to expand in several areas, with many application examples. This broad topic can encompass design from semiconductor through device/module to the overall system and applications.
We are giving particular focus to:
- Wireless Communications, including 6G developments, Wi-Fi, RF and microwave system-on-chip integration, massive MIMO systems and subsystems, and more;
- Wireless Power Transfer;
- Automotive Systems;
- Model-Based Systems Engineering, including Digital Twins
Space
In this area of Aerospace, we are specifically calling out 'Space' as a focus theme. This can include such topics as satellite communications, design for reliability, radiation hardness, internet of space systems, CubeSats.
Biomedical Applications
Illustrating the use of RF and microwave techniques and technology in biomedical applications.
These technical themes will be identified with different days of the conference, to form a 'Systems Forum', and will comprise special Focused Technical Paper Sessions, Panel Sessions, Invited Speakers, and Workshops. The Exhibition will feature a Systems Pavilion illustrating several practical examples of RF through THz systems and applications.
The exhibit runs through today.
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Let us assist in organizing and boosting the efficency and performance of your lamination room while also reducing the energy costs in this area as well! |
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Looking to enhance the performance of your technical builds by having the ability to control every step of your rate of rise for optimal resin flow in your press cycle?
Looking to advance your lamination department through compact innovation and the ability to expand easily if needed?
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When it comes to high technology and the importance of controlling heat and pressure through the stack for resin flow, there is none other than the InduBond® XPress ….induction press.
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Pictured above is a test that was run with a 21x24- 40 panel high stack up using the CAC, Inc. CSC (copper/steel/copper) instead of separator sheets and the Pacothane “Paco-Clutch” to achieve this higher panel stack. Both the registration and consistent heat transfer past the test!
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Universal PCB EQUIPMENT CO, LTD |
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We have the machine to fit your needs with a proven track record of quality, performance and durability!
Lines include:
- Plating lines
- DES – With Hyper Etch Technology
- SES – With Hyper Etch Technology
- Immersion Silver/Tin
- OSP
- Desmear/PTH
- Scrubbing lines – Debur/Pumice/Jet
- Handling equipment
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We will also work with your current chemistry supplier and set up any UCE line to their specification! |
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We have over 40 installations completed in the United States and Canada alone. Our service team is at your disposal, used and new equipment!
An example of equipment manufacturers we service:
WISE / CHEMCUT / SCHMID / I.S. / IPS / DYNACHEM / DUPONT Laminator Retro-fits / TMP Presses / HAKUTO / PLASMA ETCH / INDUBOND® / UCE
- Emergency Service
- Preventative Maintenance
- Installations
- Rebuilds
- Retro-fits
- Troubleshooting
- Training
- Spare parts
- Brushes
Please reach out should you like to discuss our equipment offerings further. Thank you.
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Jon Pelletier
President, Equipment Technologies
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Kevin Barrett,
Product Manager - Equipment
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Glibrite® GB-4300
Eliminate Pumice Scrub with
Chemical Roughening
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- More consistent surface than pumice scrub
- Achieve optimal surface for soldermask adhesion
- Improve dryfilm adhesion on RA foil such as flex and RF applications
- Eliminate pumice machine service and down time.
- Improve dryfilm adhesion on flash and panel plated products.
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Jeff Johnson
Product Manager - Dry Film/Chemistry/Paste & FAE
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Don't Forget Your Contacts
Keep Souvenirs of Your Past
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Last week, Kevin Barrett and I were invited and attended a retirement lunch at Summit Interconnect Chicago, formerly Eagle Electronics.
Mike Kalaria, one of the founding owners of Eagle Electronics, was retiring after 43 plus years in the industry. Joining the celebration were employees, suppliers, and even Chicagoland competitors.
I first made sales calls to Eagle in the early 1980s but didn’t really get to know Mike until around 2004 when I was selling laminates. Mike was the managing partner of Eagle then, and from him I learned a lot about Eagle, how they did business, and how to do business with Eagle.
I can remember asking Mike a question or sharing a frustration and he would expound advice: “Ed, you need to think about………………”. Mike helped me look from a customer’s perspective and they are not all the same. In recent years, Mike helped lead Eagle Electronics into new technologies and updated their equipment and process capabilities. It was great to have the time to wish him well!
Mike and I had this joke between us. Many times when I arrived at Eagle he would ask me if I was taking him to lunch. If I said no, I owed him a lunch. If I said yes, he would say he didn’t have time but I owed him one anyway. Last count, I believe I owe him at least 14 lunches.
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The photo [right] is Kevin Barrett (Insulectro Product Manager), Mike, and I.
A better photo was the one taken right before it. It was of Mike Kalaria and his family, including grandchildren. I like to think it was a photo of his future.
The time at the party last week made me reflect on all the others in our PWB lives that have come before us, who we learned from, and with whom we became casual or even close friends. I realized how many are still in my contacts phone list but I rarely take the time to reach out. Even if they have retired, they are the same people we knew years ago. Yes, when people are out of our circle it is a challenge to stay connected. But what does it take for a phone call?
So once again a challenge for myself! I have my calendar filled with many important things. Perhaps I need to add another entry to regularly check in with my industry friends. There is a quote on the wall of a local restaurant, “Keep some souvenirs of your past, or how will you prove it wasn’t all a dream?" – Ashleigh Brilliant.
Our past includes the people we have met along the way. I have some phone calls to make and 14 lunches to buy.
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Ed Kneller
Technical Account Manager - Midwest
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Exclusive Distributor
Switchmark® Line of Membrane Switch
PSA Adhesives
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Insulectro has partnered with FLEXcon as the exclusive distributor of the Switchmark® line of membrane switch PSA adhesives. Insulectro has been able to consistently deliver products to transition accounts as well as supply new accounts.
What makes Switchmark® a great choice is their top quality standard products coupled with the abilitly to customize products to suit your unique needs.
For many jobs, you may find what you need from FLEXcon’s Value-Better-Supreme (VBS) product offering, designed to suit a wide range of applications.
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Value: Solid-performing products where price concerns are paramount and performance can be less robust.
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Better: Popular, high-quality products designed to fulfill the requirements of most applications.
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Supreme: Higher-performing solutions for your most demanding applications.
Designing custom pressure-sensitive film and adhesive products is a value add that you would be hard pressed to find at many other supliers.
From single to dual sided coatings, from rolls to sheeted products, we have the products you need. Contact us today for the best products and pricing.
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Jeff Crawford
Insulectro Printed Electronics - Advanced Substrate Specialist
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Geoff shouts: "We got it all!"
The Incredible Versatility of DuPont™ Pyralux®
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DuPont Pyralux™ flexible laminates and adhesives is North Americas only offering which offers a complete stack of materials to manufacture a flexible PCB, but the largest and most diverse Copper clad laminate constructions.
Covering all the basics from Coverlays, Bondplys, sheet adhesives and Clad laminates all made in the USA. What this means for designers and fabricators, is if you can dream it, DuPont can make it.
This diversity and flexibility of construction offerings give designers less restrictions when trying to design and create the next generation of VR Headsets, next generation satellites, or best in class health care equipment.
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Geoff Leeds
Product Manager, DuPont Flex Laminates
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Speed Matters!
Help Us Accelerate Your Orders
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It’s not something we cover nearly enough, but during an average month the Lake Forest team is shipping early, same day or next day 65-70% of the time from the moment an order is booked.
Generally speaking we do not receive great forecasts as often as we’d like but those customers who do make an effort surely get the most benefit when it comes to fast turnarounds.
Without forward looking numbers, our systems default to historical usage which fluctuates over time. Of course, nobody is perfect and that is why 20% of orders ship by three days or more from time of booking. However, our investments in great people and IT tools have allowed us to be fairly accurate without having the best forward looking data to go on.
Remember, Lake Forest has roughly 1,300 unique SKUs but we can pull from the over 4,000 available across the country.
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Therefore, we feel like all of our customers can benefit from our inventory and operational speed even without providing the level of demand guidance we’d love to see – but any incremental increase in guidance even on a job-by-job basis can give an edge to a customer and help them win more orders.
Additionally, on the speed topic we are taking 25% of our orders in Lake Forest from online tools available to anyone who wants. This helps streamline the process giving our customers and our inside sales team more time to do other things and actually helps reduce errors.
We know that for North American PCBs speed counts for a lot. Therefore, we’ve been allocating a lot of our capital to speed improvements every year. So in addition to the goal of bringing you the best products and tech support we also want to be your fastest partner.
Next time we see you at your shop please let us know how we can help more to this end.
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Sean Redfern
Technical Account Manager
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@Mike Creeden
The Excitement of Forward Progress
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New revision of the IPC-2221 Design Standard used by OEMs to design and select materials has been completed and is up for approval.
The excitement for me as an educator, and the industry at large, is the forward progress of the IPC-2221 document.
This has guided layout choices and has instructed designers to refer to the IPC-4101/Slash-sheet system when determining and documenting laminate materials. This year, this guidance will be modified as the Rev-C changes are near completion.
In the new revision, we are recommending that designers call out the specific laminate vendors spec. sheets on their drawings.
Why this is significant is the conflict of interest that has occurred for decades when using IPC-4101/Slash-sheets. If a designer requires the performance parameters of an Isola I-Speed® material, but only calls out an IPC-4101/126, the fabricator is free use the Isola 185-HR which is also an IPC-4101/126 or any other laminate that is an IPC-4101/126.
The freedom given to the fabricator to make the final selection will typically result in a lower grade material or whatever material that is in stock being used. This is to be expected because it is within the limits of the IPC-4101/126 and it helps to produce the most competitively priced quote.
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More specifically, someone will just select a material to be used by adding the IPC 4101/Slash-sheet-number. This practice is extremely flawed because the IPC-4101 /Slash-sheets are very broad in their parameter ranges. Someone will feel secure that a correct IPC callout has been made and thus feel confident that they will receive what they want. An example of this (as shown in red the above figure), is Isola’s 185HR up to I-Speed® all qualify to be categorized as an IPC4101/126. These may all be appropriate from a manufacturing build standpoint, but their performance properties are significantly different and can cause system failure.
With so many of the experienced layout staff retiring from the industry, the responsibility of performing the layout and creating circuit board tooling is transitioning to EEs who have very little layout knowledge and experience. The method used to select laminate materials is often neglected, glossed over, or rubber stamped when layout documentation is generated. It is neglected and added at the very end of the development cycle because of the demands of late schedules. It may be glossed over when someone does not understand the significance the laminate material plays in both the manufacturability and the performance of the circuit. The rubber stamping phenomena occurs when someone just accepts the materials used on a past build of another circuit.
So often in the US market, we are designing and building small quantity fabrication build numbers. The very slight cost adders that occur to use the technically correct materials should not be a major consideration to getting the circuit to perform as required. You would never allow an assembly house to use any value of resister simply because they were cheaper, available, or more manufacturable. Why should we allow the same practice to occur with values of our laminate materials?
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Make Technically Appropriate Material Selections
In the same manner, when RF designers consider PTFE with a low Df (as their only concern), PTFE can have poor copper tooth profile with significant loss. PTFE is also a dissimilar material than other resin-weave layers used in the stack-up and this can cause CTE-Z thermal stress on all vias that traverse through the mismatched stack-up. This in turn can cause serious reliability and product failure. Isola’s low loss Astra MT-77® along with very low profile copper tooth profile will provide similar or better performance based on better CU tooth profile, along with improved reliability and lowered failure rates as Astra MT-77® has a similar resin system with the other layers used in the stack-up.
Often when a designer makes a correct material decision, and the circuit works well, they will continue to make similar selections in the future, and it will keep showing up on the print. Let’s all strive to be a part of their continued success!
As we present our products and services to you and your company, we want you to know Insulectro’s Design Education Program is eager to freely support signal-integrity reviews of design circuits prior to fabrication. Also, we are ready and eager to create one or several training sessions for the OEM or your fabrication team. These will be tailored to meet the exact needs of the audience, brought by a technically appropriate presenter, with specific content to further your team’s success and provide that edge to meet the needs of advancing technology trends.
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Contact any of our Technical Account Managers or call any of our branch offices to schedule your Virtual Training Session soon.
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Reminding you to make technically appropriate material decisions and to get the best use of the best material.
Mike Creeden CID+ MIT
Technical Director, Insulectro Design & Education
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Welcome to the June Edition of
Insulectro PumaNews™ Magazine - East Coast Edition
What do you know about
General Metal Finishing?
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This month's article is provided by Chris Robinson, Technical Account Manager, who provides a brief look into the current Electronic Industrial Finishing (EIF) marketspace.
"Insulectro services several industries, one of which is Electronic Industrial Finishing (EIF) which we sometimes refer to as General Metal Finishing. EIF often runs parallel with printed circuits as the materials used are often similar, or in some case the same!
"We have been in a slowdown in the EIF marketspace for the last few months. We are seeing and hearing the same information from our customers/OEM’s who operate in completely different market spaces. From the highspeed wire platers and reel to reel contract platers to the capacitor, manufacturers everyone is feeling the same thing.
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"However, on the horizon all the different industries are expecting a large increase in orders coming in towards the end of the summer and a return to normal! The cause of the slowdown is an after-effect of the return to normalcy after these last few years.
"We saw a boom in work coming out of the pandemic as everyone was in the process of stocking up in anticipation of material shortages. These stocks are running out and all of the different industries in the EIF market are expecting the pick around the same time, Thank you," Chris concluded.
Thanks Chris, and thank you for reading!
Ron
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Ron Murdock
Director of Sales - Eastern Region/ Canada
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Last Day Today At 2023 IMS
Isola Encourages Higher-Frequency Circuits with Practical Material Solutions
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Isola Group is inviting the RF/microwave industry to find more practical circuit material solutions at the upcoming 2023 IEEE International Microwave Symposium (IMS) exhibition.
Welcoming visitors to the San Diego Convention Center (San Diego, CA) for the industry’s largest annual RF/microwave conference and exhibition during June 13-15, 2023, Isola Group is offering a sampling of its extensive lines of laminates and prepreg materials for RF, microwave, millimeter-wave (mmWave), and photonics circuits.
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Representatives from Isola Group will be on hand at exhibition booth #2235 to discuss design strategies, manufacturing methods, material testing, and how to find the best circuit material for that special project, no matter how high in frequency.
Isola’s team has tackled a wide range of applications, from ADAS automotive radars to satellite communications (satcom) receivers, and they look forward to exploring how their materials might satisfy your circuit requirements.
As the RF/microwave industry moves higher in frequency, in almost all markets including commercial, industrial, medical, and military/aerospace business, circuit materials serve as foundations and starting points for higher-frequency circuits. Those materials must transfer signals with smaller wavelengths and do so with as little loss as possible.
Circuit materials for RF and microwave circuits have long provided the characteristics needed for critical applications, including electronic warfare (EW) and radar systems. But with more systems reaching for available channels and bandwidths at mmWave frequencies, the circuit materials must exhibit outstanding thermal behavior and excellent dielectric stability to minimize performance variations at mmWave frequencies.
The circuit materials on display from Isola Group offer the characteristics and performance needed for repeatable mmWave circuits, and they have the chemistry that makes them extremely manufacturable, even for those fine circuit features needed at microwave, mmWave, and even photonic wavelengths.
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One of those materials is Astra® MT77, available in laminate and prepreg forms. The circuit materials are characterized by a low dielectric constant (Dk) of 3.00 as measured through its thickness or z-axis at 10 GHz. The material has extremely low loss when used for printed-circuit boards (PCBs) at high frequencies, denoted by a dissipation factor (Df) of 0.0017 at 10 GHz.
It maintains consistent electrical and mechanical attributes across wide operating temperature ranges in support of commercial and military applications at mmWave frequencies, including automotive ADAS radars and airborne radar systems.
For designers seeking circuit materials with higher Dk values, I-Tera® MT40 laminate and prepreg materials have a slightly higher loss, with Df of 0.0034 at 10 GHz. But these materials are available with a choice of Dk values: 3.38, 3.45, 3.60, and 3.75, all as measured through the thickness or z-axis of the material at 10 GHz. The higher Dk values enable miniaturization of circuit structures for a given frequency or wavelength, in support of reduced circuit size, weight, and power (SWaP) in military and aerospace applications.
Tachyon® 100G laminates and prepregs feature the electrical and mechanical traits that make them strong building blocks for high-speed-digital (HSD) circuits.
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They are similar in behavior to Astra® MT77, with Dk of 3.02 through the z-axis at 10 GHz and Df of 0.0021 at 10 GHz.
But they are tailored for HSD circuits operating at speeds of 100 Gb/s and more. And they exhibit thermal behavior closely matched to Astra® MT77, as evidenced by their similar coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) values for a wide operating temperature range of -55 to +125°C.
The thermal compatibility makes Astra® MT77 and Tachyon® 100G laminates and prepregs good candidates for hybrid PCBs, where one material holds RF/microwave circuits and the other handles HSD circuits.
Isola Group will also be showing its halogen-free materials at the 2023 IEEE IMS exhibition, with example circuits on its TerraGreen® laminates and TerraGreen® 400G laminates and prepregs.
TerraGreen® features a Dk of 3.45 in the z-axis of the material at 10 GHz with Df of 0.0031 also at 10 GHz.
TerraGreen® 400G laminates and prepregs exhibit lower Dk of 3.05 in the z-axis at 10 GHz and lower Df of 0.0018 at 10 GHz for outstanding performance in ultra-high-speed digital circuits requiring halogen-free circuit materials.
The materials are different but work well together and Isola Group’s representatives welcome visitors to the booth wishing to learn more about designing and manufacturing with the various circuit materials.
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Norm Berry
Director, Laminates & OEM Marketing
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For General Metal Finishing
DuPont™ Solderon™ ST-400 Introduced
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DuPont recently introduced Solderon™ ST-400 a high-speed tin-plating bath to North America. Solderon ST-400 produces a high quality and reliable tin coating for the general metal finishing industry at blindingly fast speed.
It plates so fast that using any other alternative tin additive bath, even if the alternative bath chemistry was FREE, you would still save money using DuPont’s Solderon™ ST-400 bath.
Reach out to your DuPont representative today for details on how fast you can increase productivity, maintain improve quality, and save money.
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At-A-Glance
The DuPont Chemistry Line
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With the acquisition of East Coast Electronic Material Supply (ECEMS) in late March, Insulectro has brought another best-in-class product line to our customers. The addition of the DuPont Electronics Imaging & Interconnect Solutions (ICS) chemistry line, which was legacy Dow Chemicals before the Dow-DuPont merger, adds a complimentary piece to an already robust Insulectro product offering.
DuPont ICS is innovating new metallization technologies across many platforms:
Electroplating Applications
HDI
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Microfill™ EVF-III for advanced via filling and through-hole plating
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Microfill™ LVF-IV for next generation SLP applications
MLB
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Copper Gleam™ PPR-II for high aspect ratio pulse plating
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Electroposit™ EP-1600 for high aspect ratio DC plating
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Copper Gleam™ HS-200 for horizontal DC plating in FPC applications
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Copper Gleam™ ST-920 for DC vertical continuous plating (VCP)
IC Package Substrate
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Microfill™ SFP-II & Microfill™ LVF-IV for advanced SAP applications
Making Holes Conductive
Electroless Copper Solutions:
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Circuposit™ 3350-1 Vertical Electroless Copper
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Circuposit™ 4000 Horizontal electroless copper for FPC/RFPC
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Circuposit™ 6700 Horizontal Ionic Catalyst for Advanced HDI applications
Direct Metallization Solutions:
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Next Generation Crimson™ & Conductron™ palladium-based systems
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Next Generation Graphite 2000™ carbon-based system
ENIG:
Duraposit™ SMT-88 & Aurolectroless™ SMT 520
Process Chemistries:
DuPont offers a full line of cleaners, developers, strippers and other ancillary products to support printed circuit applications.
General Metal Finishing:
Full line engineering, decorative and precious metal offerings
As you can see, through this addition of the DuPont ICS chemistry line, Insulectro is now providing chemistry and technical support to the general metal finishing, plating-on-plastics, and wire plating industries, which we see as an area of growth.
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Geoff Leeds
Product Manager, DuPont Chemistry
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Ormet® PCB-710
Eliminate Lamination and Plating Steps
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Ormet® PCB-710 is a lead-free, copper-based, paste formulated for creating microvias in printed circuit boards. This can be done to replace stacked via designs with multiple lamination steps, or to bond subs together without requiring a through-hole drill to electrically connect the subs.
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The Ormet® paste is processed at normal PCB lamination temperatures. The final product offers superior thermal and electrical performance.
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For more information on Ormet®, please contact me. |
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Jeff Johnson
Product Manager - Dry Film/Chemistry/Paste & FAE
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FocusTech™ CR-2180 (Half Etch)
Do You Micro-etch Copper Foil Down to Meet Wrap Plating Requirements?
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If so, you need a micro-etch that delivers superior etch control along with etch uniformity across the panel.
That’s where Focus Tech’s CR-2180 comes in. This is a proprietary hydrogen peroxide based micro etch that allows for maximum etch control along with high copper loading (up to 50g/L).
FocusTech™ CR-2180
Copper Reduction Process
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If you are ready for a better copper reduction process, please contact me.
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Jeff Johnson
Product Manager - Dry Film/Chemistry/Paste & FAE
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Join our
Puma Team!
Help us define the future of Printed Circuit Boards and Printed Electronics!
Join our Puma team and be a part of our growth.
Business Development
Operations
Pricing
Production
Warehouse
Others
Click on the ad (left) to see various positions we are recruiting.
As advertised in i-connect007's PCB Magazine
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Click-Out our
Pyralux® Flexible Laminates Selector Guide. . .
(click on product name)
The standard copper clad laminate systems for any flex or rigid flex designs.
The standard copper clad laminate systems for any flex or rigid flex designs.
Single sided flex copper clad substrate
Standard acrylic adhesives for building multi-layer flex designs. Offered as coverlay, sheet adhesives and bondplys.
Standard acrylic adhesives for building multi-layer flex designs. Offered as coverlay, sheet adhesives and bondplys.
An epoxy-based adhesive system demonstrating both low loss and high reliability, specifically designed for OEMs and PCB design manufacturers. Offered as coverlay and sheet adhesive.
High temperature flexible adhesive system with an MOT of 225C.
Featuring a unique Kapton Polyimide and Fluoropolymer film base double-sided dielectric offered as a clad laminate or bondply. Ideal for RF designs.
Embedded resistance double sided laminate
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Geoffrey Leeds
Flex Product Manager
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PACOVIA 3000™
New Technical Bulletin Covering
Rigid Press Stack Builds
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PACOTHANE TECHNOLOGIES is the world's leading manufacturer of products to enhance and assist the production and quality assurance process for the lamination and manufacture of printed circuit boards [PCB].
Press stack preparation is critical to achieving effective resin flow, managing high and low panel topography, mitigate contamination which can cause opens and shorts all in an environment that ranges between 380 °F and 600 °F.
Insert a new operator or an engineer that is unfamiliar with the lamination room along with quick turn jobs it leaves little room for error. Th bulletin will aid in a refresh or new engineers.
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PACOTHANE’s high tech PACOVIA 3000™ - release film.
Barrel fill, rein squeeze out and pressure equalization benefits.
Rated at 425 °F / 218 °C for up to 4 hours.
And 3.25 mil thick for pin calculations.
ADVANTAGES:
- To contain the resin flow within Blind Via Holes (onto adjacent copper-carrying layers) and to fill buried Via Barrels.
- Under a wide range of Lamination Pressures (175-350 psi/12-24 kg/cm2), and Hole Diameters (.004 to .040"/0.1 to 1.0mm).
- Performs effectively well in Hydraulic and Hydraulic Vacuum-assist as well as with both stainless steel and aluminum Separator Plates. (Steel is preferred).
- Suitable for all resin system types when laminated within the listed temperature constraints.
- Essentially inert, no out-gassing, plate residue, interlaminate adhesion influence, no vacuum system contamination, no Fluorine.
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PACOTHANE TECHNOLOGIES®
Proudly Produced in the USA
with American Labor and American Materials!
For more information on Pacothane and their products please reach out to me. For any additional information on DuPont™ laminates, please connect with Geoff Leeds, Product Manager for DuPont Flex Laminates and DuPont Chemistry gleeds@insulectro.com.
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Mark Satchwell
Product Manager - Pacothane® Products & Copper Foil
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Just revised! Ask me for Pacothane® Product Sample Guide. |
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Geraldine Arseneau
Product Manager - LCOA®
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Design Education - An Insulectro Priority
Insulectro Sponsors New Design Trade Association
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Printed Circuit Engineering Association™ (PCEA) is an international network of engineers, designers, fabricators, assemblers, and anyone related to printed circuit development.
Our mission is to promote printed circuit engineering as a profession by encouraging and facilitating the exchange of information and the integration of new design concepts through communications, seminars, and workshops.
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If you are a professional serving in the printed circuit industry from any associated discipline, you are encouraged to join. Membership is free and you’re encouraged to be involved as we all seek to collaborate, educate and inspire one another. Visit the web-site at: www.pce-a.org
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As advertised in i-Connect 007's PCB Magazine.
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Shur-loc, IBC Brush and Equipment Service are being recognized by customers as key contributing factors in Insulectro helping them to increase their departments efficiencies in areas of their facility.
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If you’re not yet using Shurloc…..you should be!
Using the Shurloc system helps in reducing these types of issues through consistent tension from the beginning to the end of the mesh life. Also knowing that each mesh panel will be at the 22.5 degree angle every time for screening LPI.
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The startup is easy, and the ROI begins immediately though reduced labor and performance at the machine. We can get you set up whether you have a DP1000,1500, 2500 or 3500. We can provide frames for flatbed printers and hand tables as well.
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Are you running the correct pumice brush? Are they being installed correctly?
Insulectro service can tie in brush changes with proper preventative maintenance needed for this equipment.
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- Too thin of a bristle will result in a softer brush that will require more pressure to try and achieve the proper copper surface needed for adhesion. This could also lead to nylon smear if your pumice concentration and pumps solution supply to the manifolds is not in spec!
- With the IBC brushes, they have been engineered specifically for this application so, with the proper footprint, the pumice can be rolled and driven across the copper as it should, while minimizing the bristle contact to the copper surface.
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- Installing and securing the brush to the shaft in the correct manner can provide an even footprint across the panel at start up.
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“Customers are beginning to see the difference in having us assist their maintenance staff in the ever-important preventative maintenance programs needed to uphold an equipment’s performance.” |
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- Are you getting the best performance out of your equipment?
- Is your equipment DOWN more than it is UP?
- Let us lend a hand by assisting your maintenance team.
Remember that we can assist in your equipment needs through the following:
- Emergency Service
- Preventative Maintenance
- Installations
- Rebuilds
- Retro-fits
- Troubleshooting
- Training
- Spare parts
- Brushes
The calls for Preventative Maintenance Programs are increasing as customers understand the benefits this brings to their equipment’s overall performance and up time.
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Also, do you have a used piece of equipment you’re looking to get installed? We may be able to assist here as well!
Ruben Zambrano
Field Application Engineer
Cell: 847-345-3759
Mike Engle
Field Application Engineer
Cell: 360-749-1756
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Please reach out should you like to discuss any of these topics further.
Thank you.
Kevin Barrett,
Product Manager - Equipment
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Today's Copper Foils
for Tomorrow’s Applications!
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Tailored to meet market trends such as compartment miniaturization, vehicle electrification and increased connectivity demands require improved characteristics of both wrought and ED foils.
Focus on wrought solutions such as:
- Low profile height (Rz) for signal integrity, as low as 0.4µm
- Consistent profile height across the web which does not change when ordering thicker foils
- Alloy foil with Increased tensile strengths which can exceed 700Mpa
- Grain structure in terms of large crystals and uniform orientation improves fatigue resistance and provides excellent vibration resistance.
- Thermal resistance to withstand hostile environments for automotive applications.
Wrought foils released to IPC 4562A in grade 5, grade 7 and grade 8.
Call us to find out more – we love to talk about this stuff!
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Give us a call to discuss how CAC can help you
make better circuits faster.
Mark Satchwell
Product Manager, Copper Foils
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Everyday Materials You Need, On Our Shelves Every Day
Insulectro recognizes the importance of maintaining adequate inventory to begin work. Designers know when you need it, you need it. Using the link insulectro.com/puma-fast/, you can see what PumaFast™ and standard materials we stock to get you up and running.
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Stronger than ever!
Our ACT! initiatives!
We have successfully collaborated on many ACT! opportunities.
We are delivering on Technology, Design and Education while you can bank on the sales results!
We are virtually taking our ACT!
to another level!
Insulectro and our partners are moving the chains to help our customers exceed performance goals. Our team of professional and technical resources are now offering our customers access to design and education services.
This is a Game Changer!
Our ACT! Initiatives combined with our design and education services provide our customers a total solutions package with a one-stop-shop option.
Our customers now have total access to not only our Insulectro foot print, best in class products, materials on the shelf when you need them; but also the expertise to deliver solutions from design to delivery…FAST!
Call me and to set up a VIRTUAL ACT! with your customer.
There's a reason I'm smiling.
Ron Murdock
ACT! Manager & Technical Account Manager
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To be the easiest company to do business with. . .
Insulectro has a program for continual improvement, all designed to make ourselves as user-friendly as possible to our customers, their customers, and our suppliers. Speed Matters, so we focus a lot of attention on getting you the materials you need as quickly as possible.
Our PumaFast™ Program lists current inventory of everyday materials you need every day.
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Best-in-Class Materials
from our Premier Suppliers
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