Printed Circuit Design & Fab Online Magazine - Fab News

Fab News

Details: Written by Staff; Category: Fab News; Published: 03 June 2008

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN -- With legal action pending, the Swedish government lifted its national ban on the use of the flame retardant Deca-BDE in textiles, furniture and some electronic cables. The Swedish government ban was inconsistent with the latest findings of a 10-year EU risk assessment of Deca-BDE. The 10-year risk assessment failed to identify any significant risks to justify restrictions on the flame retardant. The Swedish government’s limited ban went into effect in late 2006 and had no scientific basis and was therefore subject to a legal challenge by EU authorities.

"The EU has established that Deca-BDE is safe for continued use in all its applications, so there is no scientific basis whatsoever for any national or EU-wide restriction on Deca-BDE" said Veronique Steukers, chair of the European Brominated Flame Retardant Industry Panel (EBFRIP). The "EBFRIP firmly believes that Deca-BDE meets the criteria for an exemption from RoHS and that it should therefore either be exempted or deleted from the RoHS Directive. We are working with the European Commission to ensure that this restriction is lifted."

The Swedish Government's press release can be found at: http://www.regeringen.se/sb/d/10626/a/104665.

Details: Written by Staff; Category: Fab News; Published: 02 June 2008

RICHARDSON, TX - Titan Global Holdings has announced that Titan PCB East Inc., a company subsidiary, has reached a definitive agreement with a management led buy-out team Time Sensitive Circuits (TSC) to acquire all of the assets of Titan PCB East.

Details: Written by Staff; Category: Fab News; Published: 02 June 2008

BANNOCKBURN, IL - The IPC has invited industry researchers, academics and technical experts to submit abstracts for the 2009 IPC Apex Expo to be held at Mandalay Bay Resort and Convention Center, Las Vegas, from March 29 to April 2, 2009.

A 300-word abstract summarizing original and previously unpublished work must be submitted by July 18, 2008. The submission should describe significant results from experiments, highlight new techniques, discuss new trends, and contain a summary of appropriate test results in the final paper.

To submit an abstract or proposal, visit GoIPCShows.org/CFP.

Details: Written by Staff; Category: Fab News; Published: 30 May 2008

THE US and EUROPE - The Huntsman Corp., Dow Chemical, Dupont and Rohm & Haas have all announced plans to increase prices or add surcharges, as much as 25%, because of increasing energy and raw-material costs.

ORADEA, ROMANIA – Connectronics Romania has opened a 16,000 square meter factory with capacity for more than 1,000 employees.

The company originally began its manufacturing in Romania in December 2002 with seven employees in a rented space of less than 1,000 square meters, and the recent move to the 16,000 square meter facility is the fourth for the company in six years.

The factory in Romania will produce printed circuit boards and wiring harnesses for the automotive and telecommunications sectors. The Connect Systems group currently has eight factories in Europe.

GENK, BELGIUM - IPTE NV posted sales of EUR 65.5 million (US$101.76 million) in the first quarter of 2008, an increase of 5% over Q1 2007, and profit from operations rose to EUR 2.54 million (US$3.95 million), a 23% increase over the same period in 2007.

Net profit for the quarter increased to EUR 1.5 million (US$2.33 million), up 20% over 2007, while booked orders grew 4.8% to EUR 87 million (US$135.24 million) for the first quarter of 2008.

Huub Baren, company chairman said, "The first quarter results are as we expected. Sales are up slightly and net profit is 20% higher. Order inflow in the automation division ran to plan and remains above the market trend. Prospects for the second half are positive."