Good news for the industry continues to remain for the PCB and PCBA sectors. Key booking figures continue to be strong. Let’s hope it keeps rolling.

BANNOCKBURN, Ill., USA, July 26, 2010 — IPC — IPC — Association Connecting Electronics Industries® announced today the June findings from its monthly North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program.

PCB Industry Growth Rates and Book-to-Bill Ratios Announced
Rigid PCB shipments were up 25.3 percent while bookings increased 29.3 percent in June 2010 from June 2009. Year to date, rigid PCB shipments were up 19.3 percent and bookings have grown 35.0 percent. Compared to the previous month, rigid PCB shipments increased 13.7 percent and rigid bookings increased 9.7 percent. The book-to-bill ratio for the North American rigid PCB industry in June 2010 stood at 1.12.

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Flexible circuit shipments in June 2010 were up 14.8 percent, and bookings were up 11.0 percent compared to June 2009. Year to date, flexible circuit shipments increased 0.6 percent and bookings were up 15.5 percent. Compared to the previous month, flexible circuit shipments went up 28.1 percent and flex bookings declined 2.7 percent. The North American flexible circuit book-to-bill ratio in June 2010 remained high at 1.15.

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For rigid PCBs and flexible circuits combined, industry shipments in June 2010 increased 24.4 percent from June 2009, as orders booked increased 27.8 percent from June 2009. Year to date, combined industry shipments were up 17.6 percent and bookings were up 33.4 percent. Compared to the previous month, combined industry shipments for June 2010 increased 14.8 percent and bookings went up 8.6 percent. The combined (rigid and flex) industry book-to-bill ratio in June 2010 was 1.12.

“The book-to-bill ratios for both rigid PCBs and flexible circuits remain well above parity, which suggests a positive outlook for the remainder of the year,” said IPC President & CEO Denny McGuirk.  “Sales growth is stabilizing, but year-on-year growth in both segments is continuing in double digits,” he added.

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The book-to-bill ratios are calculated by dividing the value of orders booked over the past three months by the value of sales billed during the same period from companies in IPC’s survey sample.  A ratio of more than 1.00 suggests that current demand is ahead of supply, which is a positive indicator for sales growth over the next two to three months.

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Book-to-bill ratios and growth rates for rigid PCBs and flexible circuits combined are heavily affected by the rigid PCB segment. Rigid PCBs represent an estimated 90 percent of the current PCB industry in North America, according to IPC’s World PCB Production and Laminate Market Report.

The Role of Domestic Production
IPC’s monthly survey of the North American PCB industry tracks bookings and shipments from U.S. and Canadian facilities, which provide indicators of regional demand. These numbers do not measure U.S. and Canadian PCB production. To track regional production trends, IPC asks survey participants for the percent of their reported shipments that were produced domestically (i.e., in the USA or Canada). In June 2010, 83 percent of total PCB shipments reported were domestically produced. Domestic production also accounted for 83 percent of rigid PCB and 81 percent of flexible circuit shipments in June by IPC’s survey participants. These numbers are significantly affected by the mix of companies in IPC’s survey sample, which changed slightly in January, but are kept constant through the remainder of the year.

Bare Circuits Versus Assembly
Flexible circuit sales typically include value-added services such as assembly, in addition to the bare flex circuits. In June, the flexible circuit manufacturers in IPC’s survey sample indicated that bare circuits accounted for about 77 percent of their shipment value reported for the month. Assembly and other services make up a large and growing segment of flexible circuit producers’ businesses. This figure is also sensitive to changes in the survey sample, which may occur at the beginning of each calendar year.

Interpreting the Data
Year-on-year and year-to-date growth rates provide the most meaningful view of industry growth. Month-to-month comparisons should be made with caution as they may reflect cyclical effects. Because bookings tend to be more volatile than shipments, changes in the book-to-bill ratios from month to month may not be significant unless a trend of more than three consecutive months is apparent. It is also important to consider changes in bookings and shipments to understand what is driving changes in the book-to-bill ratio.

The information in IPC’s monthly PCB industry statistics is based on data provided by a representative sample of both rigid and flexible PCB manufacturers in the USA and Canada. IPC publishes the PCB Book-to-Bill Ratio and the PCB Statistical Program Report each month. Statistics for the previous month are not available until the last week of the following month.

Contact:
Sharon Starr, IPC Director of Market Research
P:  +1 847-597-2817 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +1 847-597-2817 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
E:  SharonStarr@ipc.org

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About IPC
IPC (www.IPC.org) is a global trade association based in Bannockburn, Ill., dedicated to the competitive excellence and financial success of its 2,700 member companies which represent all facets of the electronics industry, including design, printed board manufacturing, electronics assembly and test. As a member-driven organization and leading source for industry standards, training, market research and public policy advocacy, IPC supports programs to meet the needs of an estimated $1.7 trillion global electronics industry. IPC maintains additional offices in Taos, N.M.; Arlington, Va.; Garden Grove, Calif.; Stockholm, Sweden; Moscow, Russia; and Shanghai and Shenzhen, China.

Please visit our home page at: www.pcb-solutions.com We are a supplier of Domestic and off-shore Rigid, Rigid-Flex and Flex Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs), Domestic Military PCBs, Domestic Tier I PCBA, Domestic Sheet Metal, Domestic Injection Molding and other Custom Fabricated Services.

http://www.pcb-solutions.com/pcb.html

http://www.pcb-solutions.com/flex.html

As PCB designers face greater challenges with fine-pitch components, less real estate and greater need for thermal conductivity, the use of epoxy filled vias has become common.  With two very different options of non-conductive and conductive (silver filled) epoxy available, the question if which is best often leaves designers and engineers with a difficult decision to make.

Conductive (Silver Filled) Epoxy:

Conductive silver filled epoxy contains organic solvents which require storage at a temperature of less then 5 degrees C, and limit the shelf life of the material.  Because of this, many PCB factories do not stock this epoxy and purchase it in quantities needed for the order, which may cause delays in production.  The size of the silver balls in the epoxy can make filling smaller holes difficult and often lead to air pockets inside the hole, which will actually decrease the thermal conductivity of the hole.  If the air pockets are close to the surface, this can cause voids at the pad surface, leading to assembly issues.  As the CTE (Coefficient of Thermal Expansion) of Silver Filled epoxy can be very different from the CTE of high TG material used in lead free or ROHS assemblies, blistering of surface pads can be common, as well as lifted pads during high temperature soldering operations.

Silver filled epoxy reacts to process chemistry during metallization by expanding which will cause an uneven or swelled pad surface.  This creates the need to add an additional process of “planarization” of the pad surface which can be costly, time consuming and add to pad surface imperfections including dimples in the land pattern and voids that can outgas during assembly.

Non-Conductive Epoxy:

Non-Conductive epoxy is 100% solid epoxy material which usually yields good pad planarity for via-in-pad designs.  The lack of silver in the epoxy resin allows the process to be used on smaller holes, including micro-vias often down to as small as .004 inch.  The CTE (Coefficient of Thermal Expansion) of non-conductive epoxy is often very close to that of high TG material, meaning less issues with hole expansion during the assembly process.  This also allows Non-Conductive Epoxy to be used in sequential lamination processes to fill blind and buried vias.

Non-Conductive Epoxy usually exhibits very little shrinkage during the thermal curing process, which will yield good pad planarity and will not require a separate planarization process.   The flat surface of the pad after plating over the Non-Conductive Epoxy means less chance of lifting pads during the assembly process and greater rework ability.

As there are no temperature or shelf-life restrictions to Non-Conductive Epoxy fill, most PCB factories have a ready supply of the material in stack, thus eliminating production delays caused by material procurement.

Effects on Thermal Conductivity:

Improved thermal conductivity is often cites as the reason for choosing Conductive Epoxy Fill over Non-Conductive Epoxy fill.  It is true that pure silver has the highest thermal conductivity; however, when surrounded by epoxy the silver surfaces are insulated and there is no direct contact of the silver to effectively increase the thermal conductivity.  Additionally, the air pockets present when using Silver Filled Epoxy may also reduce the thermal conductivity.  A properly filled and capped plated through hole will have better thermal conductivity using Non-Conductive Epoxy fill in place of Conductive Silver fill.

Conclusion:

The development of improved formulations of Non-Conductive Epoxy fill have created an equal or superior bond to electroless copper and increased the Thermal Conduction of filled holes, while eliminating many of the manufacturing and assembly concerns with Conductive (Siler Filled) epoxy.  Due to the points raised above, PCB Solutions strongly recommends Non-Conductive Epoxy

Please visit our home page at: www.pcb-solutions.com We are a supplier of Domestic and off-shore Rigid, Rigid-Flex and Flex Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs), Domestic Military PCBs, Domestic Tier I PCBA, Domestic Sheet Metal, Domestic Injection Molding and other Custom Fabricated Services.