56 The PCB Magazine • January 2016
Navigating the Global Materials Supply
Chain: A Roundtable Discussion
At SMTAI recently, I-Connect007's Andy Shaugh-
nessy sat down for a roundtable discussion with
some key players from the materials side of the
supply chain. Participants included two execu-
tives from Ventec: Mark Goodwin, COO USA and
Europe for Ventec International Group; and Jack
Pattie, president of Ventec USA. Also participat-
ing in the roundtable were Schoeller Electronics
CEO Michael Keuthen and Bob Willis, from the
National Physics Laboratory (NPL).
MacDermid's Research Team Talks New
Cyanide-free Immersion Gold at SMTAI
While at SMTAI in Chicago recently, I met with
two of MacDermid's research team, Jun Nable,
research project manager, who has been with
MacDermid since 2007, and Cherry Santos, asso-
ciate research fellow responsible for formulation
work for metal plating solutions. We talked about
the posters they were presenting and why they
chose SMTAI.
Specialist Coatings for Specialist
Applications
Taiyo America's Josh Goldberg agreed to spend a
few minutes with I-Connect007's Pete Starkey at
productronica recently, where he indeed climbed
out of the box and explored the broader mar-
ket for high-performance polymer coatings in the
electronics industry.
productronica 2015: Schmid's InfinityLine
Opens New Era in Etching Machine Technology
Schmid has combined the best attributes of their
long-established CombiLine and PremiumLine in
the development of their new InfinityLine fam-
ily of modular etching machines, which offer an
attractive cost structure without compromising
performance, quality or durability.
MacDermid, Enthone, Alpha, OMG, and
Compugraphics Now under One Roof
Platform Specialty Products Corporation, a glob-
al diversified specialty chemicals company, has
closed on its acquisition of Alent plc. The clos-
ing of this transaction will prompt the launch of
MacDermid Performance Solutions, a division of
Platform that will combine the original MacDer-
mid operations with businesses from Alent (En-
thone and Alpha and their subsidiary company,
Fernox), along with the recently acquired OM
businesses.
productronica 2015: Rogers Scales up
Production and Integrates Arlon's
Product Range
John Hendricks gives a perspective on the Euro-
pean market for special-purpose laminates, and
comments upon Rogers' acquisition of Arlon and
the integration of their complementary product
range into the Rogers portfolio.
productronica 2015: Electra's LDI
Soldermasks for LED and Future Ink-jet
Developments
Ashley Steers of Electra Polymers Ltd discusses
with I-Connect007's Pete Starkey the continuing
developments in LDI soldermasks, and how the
challenges associated with highly reflective white
soldermasks for LED applications are progressively
being overcome.
productronica 2015: MicroCraft's
EMMA Probe-tester Automated
Jesse Ziomek, sales manager at MicroCraft, dis-
cusses with I-Connect007's Pete Starkey their au-
tomated version of the EMMA probe-tester, which
is capable of lights-out operation on multiple de-
signs and panel sizes, at 6000 test-points per min-
ute.
Saturn Electronics Chooses atg Flying
Probe Technology for High-speed
Electrical Test and Automation
atg Luther & Maelzer GmbH, confirms the order
for high-speed bare board testing technology.
The atg A5a, 8 head, double-sided, auto-load/
unload system, for true "lights-out" operation has
been ordered and installed by Saturn Electronics,
Romulus, MI.
56 The PCB Magazine • January 2016
Supply Line
Highlights
