The demand for narrower tracks and spacings, smaller hole sizes and environmentally-friendly surface finishes has caused PC board manufacturer TraX Interconnect in Cape Town to introduce major process upgrades.
A fully automatic electroless nickel immersion gold (ENIG) line has been installed as an alternative to the popular Macstan immersion tin line. Both these final finishes are lead-free. Hot air solder levelling (HAL) is still offered and remains popular, particularly for military applications.
Other process improvements include the latest HMS horizontal etching line from Germany to allow finer tracks and spacings. This line works in conjunction with the latest Mecer copper recovery and environmentally-friendly etchant control plant. To improve inner-layer adhesion and cosmetics, the manual oxide line has been replaced by a new horizontal automatic line from the UK.
Finer tracks and spacings have led to a new photo-resist developing line from France. In the same area, standard pre-cut panel sizes are now cleanly and neatly clad with resist by a new cut sheet laminator. The photo-plotters have been replaced with a very accurate automatic loading Swiss unit. A dedicated automatic optical inspection (AOI) machine allows complex artwork to be inspected before use. In addition, TraX has a Camtek Orion AOI for all inner layer inspections and for inspecting complex outer layers. The Orion AOI received an R800 000 upgrade last year to increase operating speed and to cater for cross-hatched planes. Last November, a second scoring machine was purchased and installed to cope with the increased demand for V-scored panels. The high-speed auto-loading Lenz drill continues to meet tight tolerance multilayer requirements. A second unit is currently under discussion.
The company's popular FasTraX service has been slicked up to cater for increasing high-tech multilayer speed work. TraX has six front-end engineers working shifts to prepare jobs for production. At the other end of the process, there are four Microcraft 'Emma' net-list testers that often work round the clock to meet delivery dates.
To satisfy a growing demand, TraX has acquired a controlled-impedance test system from Polar Instruments to measure impedances before despatch.
TraX is a Proudly South African company with ISO 9001:2000 and UL approval.
For more information contact Frank Ellis, TraX Interconnect, +27 (0)21 712 5011.
Jemstech to produce PCB assemblies for Kamstrup Jemstech
News
Jemstech is pleased to announce that they have successfully concluded a supplier agreement with Kamstrup A/S in Denmark, a leading supplier of intelligent metering solutions in the global market.
Read more...Webinar – How to develop intelligence edge IoT devices
News
Join Quectel’s expert-led webinar, with a speaker from Qualcomm Technologies, to learn more about how to plan, test and deploy successful IoT devices drawing on the unique advantages of intelligence at the edge.
Read more...SAIMC training at AATF 2025
News
The SAIMC will deliver a powerful series of training sessions and technical workshops during AATF 2025, providing engineers, technologists, and technicians with the tools they need to professionally register, stay compliant, and lead industrial innovation.
Read more...Webinar – Discover the ST BrightSense ecosystem
News
This webinar is for camera systems developers who need effective, ready-to-use solutions to keep pace with edge AI vision technologies and the rise of new applications spanning factory automation, robotics and drones, healthcare, traffic and security, sports and entertainment, and personal electronics.
Read more...Electronic News Digest
News
A brief synopsis of current global news relating to the electronic engineering fields with regards to company finances, general company news, and engineering technologies.
Read more...Jemstech to produce PCB assemblies for Kamstrup Jemstech
News
Jemstech is pleased to announce that they have successfully concluded a supplier agreement with Kamstrup A/S in Denmark, a leading supplier of intelligent metering solutions in the global market.
Read more...New appointments at Hiconnex Hiconnex
News
Hiconnex, a leading provider of electronic components and solutions, has announced key appointments to support its continued growth and commitments to its clients.
Read more...FoundriesFactory service more affordable for smaller OEMs
News
Foundries.io has announced a new, tiered pricing scheme which reduces the cost of its highly regarded FoundriesFactory service for OEMs in the development phase of a new edge AI or Linux OS-based product.
Read more...DMASS 2024 results
News
The semiconductor business faced a severe downturn, with a 31,9% decrease compared to 2023 and a 30,3% drop in Q4 2024 compared to the same period last year.
printer friendly version