THE THIRD EDITION OF PUMANEWS
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As I see it. . .
There's more to the Insulectro story than offering best-in-class materials from world-class suppliers. The stars of the story are our people, and what they do.
Michelle Walsh, our VP of Product Management, has written a column you’ll find below that identifies and characterizes Insulectro’s Product Management team.
Every month, throughout each issue of PumaNews™, this powerful team brings you vital product information and process tips to ensure our materials perform to their fullest. This same team is available to meet with you in person to offer personalized recommendations about the products they represent. Product Management is one example of how we help you optimize your business.
For us, this is a passion.
We look for ways to better serve you, such as:
- Design support to maximize Solvability, Producibility, and Manufacturability
- Digital business solutions with our new website, customer portal, purchase automation
- Sharing our product and process knowledge with your team through educational opportunities
- Supply Chain Management – our professionals diving into the challenges
- In-shop engineering & troubleshooting
- OEM engagement by Accomplishing Change Together (ACT)
More than just a company to buy your materials from, Insulectro engages with you to build better boards, faster.
Patrick Redfern
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LOOK FOR '1@5 FEATURED ARTICLE' FLAG ABOVE EACH OF THE BELOW STORIES.
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1@5 Meet the Product Managers
2@5 Check out our new website - insulectro.com
3@5 Isola's Supply Chain Chief runs a Vineyard
4@5 Isola's TerraGreen® 400G is Released!
5@5 DuPont's Sustainable Processes for Plastic Metallization
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Growing to Support PCB Manufacturers
PCBAA Expands Its Member Base
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PCBAA has new members joining founding members - AGY, Calumet, Insulectro, Isola, Summit Interconnect, and TTM Technologies.
New members include Denkai America, MacDermid Alpha, Pacothane Technologies, and Rogers Corporation.
The Printed Circuit Board Association of America is a consortium of companies, representatives, and enthusiasts who are advocating 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 with PCBAA's three main mission objectives:
- Support the Domestic Production of PCBs
- Enhance Domestic Supply Chain Security
- Advocate for Initiatives that Create Fair Market Conditions
This organization will make a difference.
See below for more information and a link to inquire about membership.
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SALES & OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
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Ken Parent Speaks Out!
Avoiding Potholes!
Drive Up Yields,
Drive Down Costs
OCTOBER 2021
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Driving for success in the PCB business today is more of a road riddled with potholes than a well-maintained racetrack.
Progress through these challenges require great people, machines and crews to finetune both.
I want to recognize our customers that trust Insulectro’s teammates and our world-class suppliers with their challenges.
Today's “potholes” that I hear the most about are:
- Staying in front of inflation
- Getting materials and parts on time
- Hiring talent leading to headcount constrained business
- Automating fast enough
- Improving processes that keep yields high
Staying in front of Inflation is a problem that will require better communication, planning and commitment. I know … we are in the PCB business and our customers don’t plan. That is changing. Insulectro will help drive cost down as we communicate, plan better, and commit to the future. Engage us in this conversation. We will help take cost out with more frequent and better communication showing our commitment.
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Getting materials on time is a high priority for Insulectro. The fact is, if we cannot get you laminates, then we don’t sell you copper, Riston®, Pacothane®, chemistry and more. We are investing to keep all materials readily available coupled with fast delivery in spite of a constrained supply chain.
We are also taking a fresh look at how we keep our customers equipped with a flexible maintenance crew. We have only taken small steps so far but are investigating new ways to expand our service team. Stay tuned and let us know what you need.
Hiring talent for a headcount-constrained business is a problem. I hear this more than any other single problem today. I am living it, too! We are helping our customers and suppliers by means of education. Michelle Walsh has made sure we commit many hours per month to education. Michael Creeden is a passionate teacher eager to embrace those eager to learn. The amount of time we are spending on this priority is encouraging because it proves people want to learn.
Many have set the bar very high for attracting and retaining new talent. I am striving to set the bar even higher for all of us to bring new talent into the business.
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The inability to automate fast enough is becoming a common theme. Insulectro has made some investments here, and we are challenging our team to seek out ways to increase automation in multiple places.
Our sales order processing and material handling are a few areas we have made progress. We have more to come with this exciting concept. Talk to us about how we can streamline your order processing time.
Insulectro is offering some automation equipment for use in lamination thanks to our relationship with InduBond® and their line of lamination presses and production automation systems. Let’s work this challenge together. Saving minutes that add up to hours per week is our goal!
Process improvements that keep yields high has been what has motivated (and compensated) me for my entire career. In what area can you use our resources to help? There is no better inflation fighter than increasing yields by a few percentage points. The devil is in the details here. I am proudest of our team when they earn our customers trust and partner together with our suppliers to drive up yields and drive down costs.
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Together we are stronger in navigating this road riddled with potholes. Thank you for your trust and your business.
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Ken Parent
Chief Operating Officer
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Our Team is Your Team!
Get to Know Our Product Management Team
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As you may have seen from the many PumaNews™ articles, Insulectro has several Product Managers (PM), and you might be wondering why, and what do they do?
I could describe the job function of our Product Managers which includes executing Supplier Strategy, go to Technical Product Experts, Supporting Sales Team and Supplier initiatives, developing Product Marketing content, providing Customer Training and Education, and enabling Cross Functional Communications between operations/quality/pricing/sales/supply chain, et al, but it is really the person behind the PM job description that tells the story of why the Insulectro PM team brings value to our customers, suppliers and internal teammates.
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Take Norm Berry, our expert on Isola laminates and prepregs for over 22 years. He is passionate about educating both fabricators and OEMs on the right material selection to meet their design needs and ensure that product standards are selected to optimize availability. With his extensive background in laminate manufacturing, distribution, design, and sales, Norm is sought out by customers, OEMs and industry friends to present the most cost-effective material solutions for all levels of technical design challenges. As much as he loves his New Hampshire residence, Norm loves to travel to share his knowledge.
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Our DuPont™ Flexible Laminate Product Manager, Geoffrey Leeds currently works out of the Lake Forest, CA branch. One of our best technical resources, and recently CID certified, based on his experiences working for a PCB fabricator, chemistry manufacturer and an OEM, Geoffrey has the unique skill set to bring this knowledge together to be able to trouble shoot design and fabrication yield challenges, and confidently present material solutions to OEMs. Also using his mechanical engineering degree and interest in automation, he is identifying the future solutions that will enable building better circuits faster.
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Another engineer in the group, Jeff Johnson, is the PM for several product lines - DuPont™ Dry Film, Focus Tech Chemistry, Shikoku Chemistry, and EMD Performance Materials (Ormet® Interconnect pastes). Although living in the Colorado area, you could say his home is really on the road since he travels coast-to-coast to support our customers. Jeff’s background as a Field Application Engineer, a PCB fabricator process engineer, and CID certified, make Jeff one of the best customer problem solvers, product evaluators, and customer educators. Jeff understands process interactions, is hands on, and is able to reference his mental library of prior challenges to quickly identify solutions and prove them out.
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Although her roots are in Canada, Geraldine Arseneau, is another PM working out of the Lake Forest, CA headquarters. With her extensive background working with drill manufacturers and PCB fabricator facilities, Geraldine has a thorough understanding of drill room best practices. Geraldine manages the LCOA® Backup and Entry materials, and Kemmer with their line of drills, endmills, and routers. Another addition to her skill set is managing the Pacothane Technologies® lamination assist products upon Joe Bevan’s retirement.
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The newest PM to join the group after the announcement of Joe Bevan’s retirement, Mark Satchwell, residing in CT, is the PM for Copper Technology (CAC®, Inc. and Insulectro Copper suppliers - Denkai America, JX Nippon, and Mitsui). Mark’s background working with other specialty metal foil manufacturers positions him to guide fabricators through the maze of selecting what copper is best used for each design application. Mark is expanding his skill set in the lamination room as he supports the InduBond® X-Press Lamination Press, Registration and automation solutions to our PCB
fabricator customers.
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Kevin Barret, centrally located in the Midwest, has a broad background in equipment and equipment upkeep. In addition to his Sales role, as Product Manager and Equipment Service Manager, Kevin leverages products and services designed to keep our customers' machines running at optimum conditions. Kevin recently integrated the Shur-loc and International Brush Corp. product lines as customer product solutions, and has a passion for supporting his customers to use their equipment efficiently through preventative maintenance.
I am so fortunate to be surrounded by such an incredible team of experts in their fields. Although the team is spread across the country, we join virtually each month to discuss our individual objectives and are always learning from each other how to improve the value we can bring to our Customers, Supplier Partners, and internal teammates.
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A testament to our teamwork, technical problem solving, and having FUN, Paul St. John, LCOA® Dir. of Sales; Michelle Walsh, VP PM; Geraldine Arseneau, PM LCOA®; Mark Satchwell, PM CAC® Inc., Copper Foil were able to survive a recent Escape Room Experience.
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Michelle Walsh
Vice President of Product Management
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Adjacent Markets
Insulectro Printed Electronics to Exhibit Advanced Substrates for Composite Manufacturing
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When the CAMX trade show opens on October 19 in Dallas, TX (through October 21), Insulectro with be profiling its portfolio of advanced substrates that can be used not only in the printed electronics industry but in the non-electronic composites industry as well.
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Featuring advanced substrates from such manufacturers as DuPont, TCI, Saint-Gobain, Pacothane, Coveme, and Kodak, and now FLEXcon, the Insulectro line card offers attendees the opportunity to learn about release films and other products.
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Composite manufacturing is an exciting evolving marketplace that relies on materials that are ultralight and ultrastrong. Aviation and transportation are two strong verticals exploring new technologies with carbon fiber, resins, and coatings to name a few.
This industry is shaping the way products are designed and developed in powerful new ways. Lighter, stronger, and more energy-efficient, composites are integral to the future of smart and innovative manufacturing and product solutions.
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Advanced Materials & Processes
Marketing VP Tara Dunn: "Insulectro & Averatek Collaborate"
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Vp of Marketing and Business Development for Averatek Tara Dunn announced, "Insulectro and Averatek are collaborating to bring advanced materials and manufacturing processes to PCB fabricators. Areas of collaboration include high-density applications with feature sizes going down to 1 mil and below; high-frequency applications and high power applications."
Averatek Corporation develops and licenses advanced manufacturing processes for a variety of electronic products including: very high density printed circuit boards, semiconductor packaging and RF and millimeter wave passive components. In addition, Averatek develops and sells the key chemistry that enables these advanced manufacturing processes.
Ken Parent, Insulectro Chief Operating Officer commented, "Insulectro and Averatek have been working together for a decade now with the intent of bringing new products and processes to the HIgh Density Interconnect markets.
"Tara and Insulectro have much history together and we are working on bringing our resources together to benefit our mutual customers in the pursuit of their next generation HDI PCB and substrate designs," Parent concluded.
Stay tuned for future announcements with additional details.
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PRINTED ELECTRONICS INKS & PASTES,
SUBSTRATES & FILMS
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Thoughts from Tim Redfern
Another Best-in-Class Supplier
FLEXcon to be Distributed by Insulectro Printed Electronics
OCTOBER 2021
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Insulectro is pleased to announce a distribution agreement with FLEXcon to handle the SWITCHmark® product offering in North America. This new Pressure Sensitive Adhesive (PSA) line will strengthen our product offering to the membrane switch market and our printed electronics customer base.
FLEXcon® SWITCHmark® is a line of high-performance spacer components and laminating adhesives engineered for demanding membrane switch applications that face hostile environments such as moisture and solvents. Color-coded release liners on popular constructions ensure accurate product identification and mistake-proofing during switch assembly. They offer a wide range of standard and custom product constructions, allowing you the design flexibility to meet all your application requirements with one adhesive system! These products meet UL recognition under UL 746C (Polymeric Adhesive Systems, Electrical-Component) and UL 969 (Marking Labeling Systems Material components).
For over 45 years, FLEXcon has been creating value-added solutions with pressure-sensitive films and adhesives. They offer over ten thousand standard and custom products – more than anyone else in the industry.
Design engineers have turned to FLEXcon because they have the materials knowledge, technical capability, and applications expertise needed to develop innovative solutions that meet the full range of production and end-use challenges.
Their products are used in a wide array of applications working closely with customers to create solutions that deliver advantages in performance, cost-effectiveness, and availability. Whether providing an off-the-shelf construction or developing a new adhesive, carrier, or liner component, the focus is your requirements. Their technical expertise, broad applications expertise, and wide range of products enable FLEXcon to develop bonding solutions for all your adhesion needs.
The Printed Electronics team is excited to participate and support this product line for the Printed electronics industry.
Please call Insulectro with any questions regarding this PSA offering!
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When asked about adding a column to the newsletter I felt it a good opportunity to highlight our group and what we are doing in the Central Region that spans from the Dakota’s with a SW line down to Arizona across to Texas and then a NE line up to Michigan.
Within this area contains a full fabrication facility in Chicagoland and warehouse branches outside the major cities of Denver, Phoenix, Dallas, and Minneapolis that are close to “Where You Are”.
We have a team of 9 in Outside Sales and Technical Support (of which 2 have extensive knowledge and support in PCB Equipment Services), 2 for Inside Sales Support, and over a dozen covering this list of warehouses and the fab center. We have many more behind the scenes to support us and you both within Insulectro and from our vast Supply chain partners.
Our goal will be to highlight our Central teammates, how we support our customers, products, and suppliers key to this region. We look forward to you getting to know us and offering support to anyone in the territory that has questions or needs products.
Take care and see you next month.
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Trey Adams
Regional Vice President, Sales
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Chris Hunrath on Future Tech
Printed Buried Resistors
for Innerlayers
OCTOBER 2021
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In a previous new letter, I introduced a new resistor ink for applying printed resistors to PCB innerlayers. I thought it would be a good idea to report on the progress.
For some background, DuPont has a unique polyimide binder system for the ink that is compatible with all PCB processing from alternative oxide to assembly reflow. In fact, its thermal performance is beyond FR4.
It comes with 4 options. Low resistance carbon, high resistance carbon, a silver conductor and a dielectric. These may be blended in various ways to get the needed ohms per square over a huge range of values.
Conductive (and resistor) inks don’t lend themselves to ink jet printing. This has to do with the particle shape. This does not restrict you to screen printing. There are other ways to apply this technology that are well suited for low volume high mix, which is very much in-line with the North American PCB market. Indeed, screen printing can be saved for the cases where a design goes to higher volume production.
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There are several application technologies that make sense. One is the nScrypt precision nozzle system with 20 micron resolution. Imagine taking an innerlayer after AOI and printing on the resistors, baking and then through alternative oxide as normal.
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We will continue to post updates on the progress. We are sampling customers now. Let us know if you have interest.
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Chris Hunrath
Vice President of Technology
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Product Information Fast
Insulectro Launches New Website
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At Insulectro, we are on a mission to enable our customers to build better circuits, faster. With decades of history in the electronic circuitry industry, we help our customers evaluate, select, and source the right materials for their projects through our wealth of expertise and experience.
We are now proud to announce the launch of our new Insulectro.com website, designed to extend this intimate customer experience to the 24x7 digital world.
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Fabricators, OEMs, designers, and supplier/partners will find the new website easy to navigate with most information a click away. In fact, the site has been designed in "tracks" based on the way each of these user groups searches for information.
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From the main navigation bar, it is easy to find a product and learn its attributes and find a link for the most current datasheet.
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Beyond the easy-to-navigate product catalog that caters to the needs of a variety of users, our new site has an Education section that contains white papers, videos, and other useful expertise to assist with the design, manufacturing, and material selection.
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We will continue to build out the educational materials available, so we encourage you to setup an account and check back often.
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Kathy Linares
Vice President of IT
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Insulectro PumaNews™ will write, curate, and publish provocative articles on innovation, vision, and thought leadership in our industry spotlighting people who make a difference.
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Current & Challenged
Meet Casi Masciorini
Vice President, Global Supply Chain
Isola Group
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When I joined the industry in 2004, I honestly had no idea what I was getting into. I had graduated with a bachelor's degree in Psychology and Political Science, then went on to earn an MBA when my previous company offered to pay for it, two weeks before I was supposed to leave for law school.
To this day I think my dad is irritated I didn’t go to law school, but I wouldn’t change a thing.
My original start into Supply Chain was with a company manufacturing traffic paint (the white and yellow lines on the roads). I shared a mutual supplier with Merix Corp. and that supplier told me about a Commodity Manager job opening at a company that produced PCBs, and once I was in the PCB world I was hooked.
I started out managing everything except for Copper Clad Laminate and Prepreg, and over the years my knowledge and experience grew. Along the way I went through five mergers and acquisitions, going from managing the supply chain of a two-facility company with Merix in 2004 to a fourteen-facility company with TTM Technologies in 2015. I found the keys to both keeping my sanity and managing that supply chain was patience, perseverance, and fairness.
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In 2016, I took a gamble and went backwards in my own supply chain. I accepted a position at Isola as their Vice President of Global Supply Chain, managing seven facilities and a team of professionals that I wouldn’t change for the world.
Right after I joined Isola, we saw the severe copper shortage in 2017, and managed through that. However, besides that the supply chain world was calm until early fall of 2020. We had managed our way through the early impact of COVID-19, but no one predicted the situation that we would face on a global scale in 2021.
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From the Ever Given stuck in the Suez Canal, which was carrying several Isola containers, to chemical force majeures, to price increases never seen on this scale, to a shortage of containers, vessels and labor, the supply chain group has seen it all.
To lead a Supply Chain organization through these unprecedented times takes those same attributes that helped during times of change: patience, taking each issue as it comes up and working through it; perseverance, knowing there aren’t any easy solutions and working with the supply base every day to overcome the obstacles to ensuring supply; and finally, fairness, treating our suppliers with respect especially during the difficult discussions.
I’ve always looked at supply chain like the hub of a wheel, and our suppliers, internal customers and external customers are all the spokes of that wheel. Supply Chain organizations touch everyone and everything so our support of all those other functions needs to be rock solid.
When I’m not trying to figure out how to get material off a ship stuck in a canal, I enjoy downtime with my husband and two German Shepherds up in Oregon where we live on a vineyard in paradise.
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Insulectro East Coast is located at 8 Akira Way, Londonderry NH 03053 adjacent to MHT airport and 45 minutes to Boston MA.
This facility, a full fabrication center is 50,000 sf and full of talented people and a diverse set of equipment and capabilities. A one-stop shop!
Our East Coast teammates epitomize the Insulectro tagline “GSD” (Get “Stuff” Done). The Eastern Region supports a large territory, everything East of the great Mississippi, and includes Eastern Canada.
In addition to PWB products, the East is the main hub for our Printed Electronics Division led by Kevin Miller, VP of Sales.
I am excited for the opportunity to provide a monthly feature about Insulectro East Coast so you can get to know us, but, better yet, come visit us anytime.
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Ron Murdock
Director of Sales - Eastern Region
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Integrity, Teamwork, & Passion
Shannon Ferguson Joins Insulectro Team as HR Manager
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After graduating from UCLA cum Laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics/Business, Shannon advanced her career as a Human Resources professional with broad Generalist skillsets.
She has a keen eye on improving, streamlining, and implementing new and more efficient ways of conducting business processes in HR and Payroll administration.
She holds an HR Management Certificate from the University of California – Irvine, a Certified Payroll Profession credential from the American Payroll Association, and a PHR designation from the HR Certification Institute (HRCI).
Before coming to Insulectro, she has held positions at InMode Aesthetic Solutions, OneDigital Health and Benefits, and TAE Technologies. The core competencies of integrity, teamwork, and passion are important to Shannon in her work.
As the happy mom of four adult children, she enjoys running, hiking, and travel in her free time.
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The Numbers Add up for Her
Insulectro Welcomes Emily Lopez to the Accounting Team
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Emily Lopez begins her Puma career journey as an Accounts Payable Specialist with an interesting background. Emily is a 2020 graduate of Trabuco Hills High School in Orange County, CA. During her high school years, she was Head Team Manager and Assistant to the Head Coach and Coaching Staff for the Varsity Football Program.
When not on the gridiron, Emily has a passion for teaching children to swim and educating them on water safety during her time at Mission Viejo Nadadores, a southern California swim school whose swimmers have won dozens of national and international awards, including 20 Olympic medals (12 of them gold).
Emily contains with her education in her spare time as a student at Saddleback College. And, she is the daughter of Robin Lopez, our Credit Manager!
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Making the Numbers Work
Victoria Salcedo Joins Accounting Team
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Insulectro is pleased to announce the addition of Victoria Salceda to the Finance Division as an Accounts Receivable Specialist. Victoria has an impressive background in finance and strong working knowledge of several accounting systems.
Prior to joining Insulectro, she held similar positions at Balboa Water Group, Volt Information Sciences, Royal Property Services, and Alfred Paquette, Inc.
She is well-versed in both Accounts Payable as well as Accounts Receivable, in addition to being an experienced property operations manager.
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Halogen Free, Extremely Low Loss Laminate and Prepreg
Isola Launches TerraGreen® 400G
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Isola Group, a leading global manufacturer of copper-clad laminates and dielectric prepregs used to manufacture printed circuit boards, is launching its newest halogen free material ̶ TerraGreen® 400G.
TerraGreen® 400G is now available for customer sampling and UL qualification.
TerraGreen® 400G is an extremely low loss, thermally robust copper clad laminate and prepreg. TerraGreen® 400G is designed to deliver > 20% improved insertion loss over Tachyon® 100G at and above 28 GHz using next generation Low Dk glass and HVLP3 copper foil. TerraGreen® 400G also exhibits exceptional CAF (conductive anodic filament) resistance performance.
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TerraGreen® 400G was developed for applications that enable 5G telecommunications, high-speed servers, storage and computing, aerospace as well as broadband satellite technologies.
TerraGreen® 400G has demonstrated superior flow characteristics on 2 oz copper applications and offers easy FR-4 like processing. The standard copper offering is HVLP3 ultra smooth copper foil for minimal conductor loss with a surface roughness of ≤1.1 micron Rz JIS, 1/2 and 1 oz.
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Steven Sekanina, Director, High Speed Digital Products says, “We are excited to introduce this next generation product to the market. We anticipate that TerraGreen® 400G will provide designers the much-needed solution for next generation systems operating at 28 GHz and above.”
TerraGreen® 400G is available with standard core thickness’ ranging from 2 mil (0.05 mm) to 18 mil (0.46 mm) and a wide range of prepreg glass styles and resin contents, making suitable for a wide range of applications including heavy copper designs. Please visit Isola's website at www.isola-group.com for more information.
About Isola
Isola is a leading global material sciences company that designs, develops, manufactures and markets laminate materials used to fabricate advanced multilayer printed circuit boards, which provide the physical platforms for the semiconductors, passive components, and connection circuitry that power and control virtually all modern electronic products. Isola operates a network of factories worldwide.
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Norm Berry
Director, Laminates & OEM Marketing
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News from the DuPont Chemistry Desk
Get Your Fill with DUPONT™ MICROFILL™
EVF-III
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As the challenges and demands of the PCB industry continue to drive fabricators to BUILD BETTER BOARDS, FASTER, high-reliability blind-via filling technology becomes an increasingly critical process.
DuPont™ ICS continues to develop and innovate its metallization portfolio with the introduction of MICROFILL™ EVF-III to the North American PCB manufacturing market. The MICROFILL™ EVF-III has a well-established installation base in Asia, along with other DuPont™ ICS MICROFILL™ processes.
KEY FEATURES
- Latest high-reliability panel plate via-filling technology that reduces the need for planarization
- Compatible with vertical batch mode and vertical continuous plating (VCP) equipment
- Blind via geometries of 6x4, 5x4, and 4x4 (mils) filled with less than 20 µm surface copper
PROCESS ATTRIBUTES
- Compatible with multiple substrate types and electroless only or electroless + flash
- 3 component additive system – full analytical control by CVS
- High throughput system resulting in shorter plating time – targeting less than 120 minutes
EQUIPMENT DESIGN TECHNOLOGY
- Insoluble anodes utilizing copper oxide delivery system for metal replenishment
- Vertical manifold with impingement eductor nozzles and knife-edge agitation
- Variable frequency drive pumps with digital flowmeters
With uncertainty regarding the impact of planarization on the reliability of filled vias, the MICROFILL™ EVF-III process from DuPont™ ICS provides a panel plating solution.
DuPont™ ICS and Insulectro have partnered to offer both on-site and virtual technical presentations and design reviews to provide expertise on the ever-evolving challenges with blind-via filling.
For any questions, technical reviews, or training needs, don’t hesitate to reach out to me or your Insulectro Technical Account Manager.
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Paul Welter
Director of Sales, DuPont Chemistry
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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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Chemicals & Controllers
Focus Tech Chemicals
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Insulectro continues to offer Focus Tech processing chemistry for you PCB processing needs.
Products Offered
- Dryfilm Developing Chemistry
- Dryfilm Stripping Chemistry
- Tin Stripping
- Alternative Oxide
- Equipment Cleaners
- Waste Treatment Chemistry
- Plus, a variety of Process Chemistries
Control Equipment
Focus Tech offers chemistry control equipment to help manage the different chemical processes in the manufacturing process.
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Specific gravity controller
- Conductivity Controller
- Colorimeter controller
- Cupric Etch Controller
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Custom controllers with availability to connect to TrueChem software
Jeff Johnson
Product Manager - Dryfilm/Chemistry/Paste & FAE
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This is a very fast market with a large presence in prototypes, ATE, and flex PCBs. Because of this, there is a huge range of end market uses for these designs. This drives the need for a vast array of materials that can be supplied quickly. The San Jose branch relocated and expanded in 2017 has fab capabilities for laminates, prepregs and films. We are the HSD/RF material hub and can deliver stock overnight to most of the US.
We will soon be able to do equipment demos as well as we have InduBond® X1 bonding stations and we are looking forward to some customer trials.
We have a small lab on-site and continue to add equipment to expand our capabilities.
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Chris Hunrath
Vice President of Technology
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ALSO FROM SILICON VALLEY
What's up with Rock Star TAM Steve Piatt?
49 Years with Insulectro that's what's up!
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Steve says, "Lenthor President Mark Lencioni arranged a great dinner at BE.STEAK.A Restaurant in Campbell, CA to celebrate Lenthor Chief Operating Officer Rich Clemente’s 53rd birthday and my 49th anniversary with Insulectro. They turned the lights on and closed the bar around 11:00 pm, so we got the hint that the party was over."
Steve has a long history of closing down steak houses.
Congratulations Steve!
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PRINTED ELECTRONICS INKS & PASTES,
ADVANCED SUBSTRATES & FILMS
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Advanced Substrates
Kemafoil® HSPL -
a Polyester Film from Coveme
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Insulectro is well known as the largest supplier of materials used to manufacture printed circuit boards. This includes our rapidly growing substrate division making Insulectro your one-stop shop for printed electronics. In addition to being a first-in-class supplier, product specialists at Insulectro have in-depth product knowledge offering process consultations and onsite training to ensure the very best products are selected for each critical need.
Insulectro readily stocks an ever-growing assortment of substrates and this month we are highlighting Coveme Kemafoil® HSPL.
Kemafoil® HSPL is a range of Coveme TCA (trichloroacetic acid) treated and heat stabilized polyester films with high surface tension and a very low residual shrinkage. They guarantee excellent dimensional stability and outstanding adhesion with conductive inks (carbon, silver, dielectric, etc), adhesives, and lacquers.
Some of the characteristics that make Kemafoil® HSPL a great substrate for printed electronics include:
- Excellent conductive inks adhesion, maintaining electrical input transport during patient movements
- High bond with cushion substrates and premium dimensional stability
- Tear resistance
To learn more about this remarkable substrate, please feel free to contact me.
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Jeff Crawford
Advanced Substrate Specialist
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OPERATIONS & SUPPLY CHAIN
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Operations is Mission Critical!
New Opportunities, New Hampshire
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Our Londonderry, New Hampshire location has experienced significant growth over the last 1-2 years, propelled by strong momentum from our Printed Electronics/Substrates business, and the integration earlier this year of DuPont Chemistry via the ECEMS acquisition. The pipeline of new opportunities in Londonderry is very strong!
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The New Hampshire team is ready, willing, and able to support this continued growth. I was fortunate enough last month to travel there, where I witnessed several examples of our World Class Manufacturing key priority areas in action.
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Safety First, ALWAYS – New ergo workstations out of tractor aisles, and implementing safe chemical storage practices
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Spotless Facilities (5S) – Focus on housekeeping and tour-ready cleanliness. The branch looked great!
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Uncompromised Quality – Recently passed ISO quality audit certification, and discipline with in-process QC checks
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Customer Service Mindset – Going above and beyond to devise solutions to execute high complexity customer orders
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Teamwork & Communication – Daily morning cross-functional team huddle to align on key safety/quality/service needs
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Building Talent – On-boarding, cross-training, and developing teammates to build capability and versatility
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Continuous Improvement – New process implementation and refresher training to address non-conformance issues
Driving these values and supporting all these new growth opportunities requires leadership and focus from the entire team.
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The Operations group, led by Mike Plouffe & Mark Jones, demonstrates a true commitment to GSD’ing which is truly inspiring. Their team of Tina Boissonneau, Andrew Pena, Anderson DeLaCruz, Chris Brown, Jen Olmeda, Lynn McFarland, Jonathan Ramos, Bob Ferris, Ryan Egan, Victor Santiago, Gabriel Zapata, and Bill Rogler are top-notch and focused on our mission to continuously improve the experience of our customers.
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Also supporting the Londonderry branch are the invaluable teammates Cheryl Woodbury and Lorrie Stearns in Inside Sales, Helen Bell in Pricing, and Bruce Gassett and Beth Abbott in Supply Planning. This branch truly demonstrates the Insulectro mission of enabling our customers to build better circuits, FASTER!
Thanks for all you do Londonderry team! And thanks in advance for helping us implement and support new growth opportunities as they continue to roll in!
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Jason Shuppert
Vice President of Operations
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DuPont Chemistry
Developing More Sustainable Processes
for Plastic Metallization
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by DuPont Electronic Solutions
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Developing More Sustainable Processes for Plastic Metallization
The word “sustainable” is widely used now, but what does it mean?
What elements of sustainability drive value for users that support innovation investment in the short term?
Often regulation is a major force for change, usually providing clarity around timing and technology while allowing innovation and investment with an understanding that the market will be open to changes.
In the European Union, REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemical Substances) provides the regulatory framework, giving a clear indication of “Substances of Very High Concern” (SVHCs), very early in the process with the creation of the REACH candidate list. Many assume that once a substance is on the candidate list that it will progress towards being restricted or banned following systematic assessments.
However, the process also has political implications where restrictions are not always related to the toxicity, volume, or risk of the substance and therefore can be misleading when considering investments in alternative technologies.
Importantly, sustainable initiatives are now being adopted and accelerated beyond regulatory bodies as global awareness of resources and the impact on humans and the environment are voiced and understood by a broader audience. Will the corporate voice, or shareholder concern about sustainability drive changes in process selection faster than the regulators?
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Plastic Metallization Case Study
The use of plastics in electronic and industrial component applications continues to grow and diversify due to the benefits in weight, design, and performance characteristics when compared to metal alternatives. Functional or decorative metallization of plastic has been a growth industry for more than 50 years, from chrome-plated interior and exterior car parts to gold-plated aerospace electronic connectors.
Each part has common process elements; etching the plastic for adhesion promotion, catalytic deposition of a conductive seed layer, followed by electrolytic deposition of the functional or decorative layers (including Copper, Nickel, Chromium, Silver, Palladium, Gold, and other metals.)
Since the 1960s, the first etching stage typically had used chromic acid, but the toxic chromium trioxide [Cr(VI)] was banned under EU REACH in September 2017. This ban enabled suppliers and users alike to consider investing in innovative and sustainable solutions.
DuPont Interconnect Solutions (ICS), part of the Electronics & Industrial business developed Ecoposit™ CF-800 Chrome-Free Etch, with an initial patent granting in 2013 and initial industrial installation in 2015—both of which were well ahead of the REACH ban deadline.
While many early adopters in the plating community have invested and installed this novel “chrome-free” process technology, regulators have not yet enforced the ban nor have yet confirmed the authorization deadline under which continued use of chromic acid etching will be permitted. This has delayed any substantial industry investment and adoption of sustainable chrome-free technology.
DuPont Interconnect Solutions recognized this major change as an opportunity to look at the entire metallization process and further invest in innovation in more sustainable products, collectively under the Ecoposit™ Plastic Metallization banner.
The catalytic deposition of a conductive seed layer uses electroless nickel (most common in decorative plastic part metallization) or electroless copper (most common in functional plastic part metallization).
Electroless nickel has been used in ever-increasing volume since the 1960s. It includes phosphates, borates, and ammonia--all facing increasing restrictions due to their negative impact on humans or the environment, but without substantial regulation preventing its use. DuPont introduced Niposit™ PM-988 Ammonia-Free Nickel providing a robust, industrially proven solution without ammonia and its related use and discharge concerns.
The novel and ground-breaking Ecoposit™ XF-1000 Electroless Copper is formaldehyde-free and unlike electroless nickel, does not contain phosphates, borates, or ammonia, thus providing a real step forward in sustainable solutions for plastic metallization.
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Sustainability is on the Agenda
DuPont Interconnect Solutions has been investing in “green” process chemistry options for many years and continues to develop novel solutions that not only remove substances of concern but deliver cost and performance benefits when compared to existing process solutions.
These include cyanide-free and boric acid-free electrolytes as well as improving coating distribution, improving bath stability, bath life, and product yield. All these innovations contribute significantly to the performance, cost, and sustainability footprint of the component metallization processes.
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DuPont will also discuss its sustainable process chemistry for plastic metallization at SUR/FIN 2021 (Booth #538, Exhibition Hall B), to be held in Detroit, Michigan from November 2-4.
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CLICK LEFT
TO LEARN ABOUT
SUR/FIN
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PRINTED ELECTRONICS INKS & PASTES,
SUBSTRATES & FILMS
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Printed Electronics Wearables
Technology that's Increasingly Integrating into Daily Lives
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Part One - Health Applications (continued next month)
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One of the most exciting technologies and benefits of this current era is the advancement in Wearables Technology. Within the Wearables Technology, you will find Printed Electronics Wearables. Insulectro is proud to offer the DuPont™ Intexar™ materials for printed, stretchable electronics, hence PE Wearables.
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HEALTH APPLICATIONS
We proudly serve our customers with solutions and options to their PE Wearables design, thus enabling a good product for the end consumer. While at DuPont, I tested and helped develop the Wearables inks, so it is satisfying to see how PE Wearables have become more integrated into our daily lives and how DuPont and Insulectro continue to improve lives through material science.
There are countless PE Wearable products and applications in the market, so we will focus on talking about health, heat, and fitness applications for now. This month I will talk about what's new in the health applications.
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When it comes to wearable health care, there are many positive outcomes that PE Wearables can offer. For example, DuPont™ Intexar™ is a revolutionary ink and film that integrates seamlessly into textiles. It transforms materials into smart wearables and provides an effective way to sense and transmit biometric signals.
This enables various measuring methods with sensors placed directly onto the skin to detect the body's natural electrical signals. It can be used for pregnancy monitoring, infant monitoring, telemetry, respiratory disorders, and so on.
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Moreover, Physical Therapy is also another wearable health care approach using printed sensors to detect muscle flex in motion with a live feed to a monitor or an app on your smartphone. When a physical therapist recommends a patient exercises to strengthen a specific set of muscle groups, patients sometimes have difficulties engaging the correct muscles. I’m sure many of us can relate.
So, with wearable health care sensor applications, the physical therapist can monitor the patient's form conducting the exercise movement and have a live feed of the actual muscles being engaged and make any corrections on the fly, resulting in a faster recovery journey.
The patient can also access the muscles being flexed while conducting the exercises at home and make adjustments as needed until the right muscle groups are correctly engaged. A final approach with wearable health care can be used for therapeutic purposes with mild heating and electrostimulation to a targeted body area to help relieve pain as your PT progresses.
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Next month, we look at Wearables and Heat Applications!
Angel Cartagena, MBA
Printed Electronics - Product Specialist
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Our region has a long history of innovation and technology supporting Aerospace and Aviation. Giants like JPL, Northrup, McDonnell Douglas, North American, Lockheed, Boeing, SpaceX. PCB manufacturing has been the backbone of these industries.
Insulectro has been supporting local PCB manufacturing for 40 years as a distributor and manufacturer - LCOA® and CAC®, Inc. Our SoCal team: Mike Carnarius, Sean Redfern, Theresa Raissdana, Valerie Harvey, Mika Fregeau, Rachel Moreno and myself, take pride in supporting the needs of our best-in-class customers.
Today’s PCB manufacturers expect strong technical support, plentiful inventory and QTA. We have been challenged with the worldwide supply shortage, our supply chain team has done a great job battling the fight.
We thank you customers.
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Pancho Castillo
Technical Account Manager - Southern California
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A Super Matchup!
Make Your InduBond® Press
Sit Up & Take Notice
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Bacon and eggs. Black and tan. Mac and cheese. Bert and Ernie. InduBond® and Copper-Steel-Copper!
Bonded Copper foil including VLP profiles onto a Steel carrier ensures that not only the low-profile topography is protected but the surface is clean, free from causing signal integrity defects as all FOUR edges are sealed. It's a star performer in an InduBond® press!
Carrier foil is available from 1µm up to 5µm, now CSC bridges that gap offering foils from 6µm to 140µm.
CSC is available in 8 mil which has twice the image transfer resistance as 15 mil aluminum AND can replace up to SEVEN standard 62 mil steel separators. Those separators not only cause circuit surface imperfections impacting trace lines but reduce stack height allowing more panels per lamination cycle.
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I've got a lot to tell you about this matchup!
Mark Satchwell
Product Manager, Foil & CAC®
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DuPont™ Riston® DI3000 Dryfilm
Eliminate Donut Adhesion Issues
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Riston® DI3000 dryfilm is the next generation print and plate dryfilm. This is a dual-wavelength film that is optimized for use on today’s direct imaging systems. This film delivers great resolution and optimal adhesion of small features like donuts and thermal reliefs, even on flash plated foil.
It is available in 38, 50, and 62 micron thickness.
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For more information, please contact me or your local Insulectro TAM.
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Jeff Johnson
Product Manager - Dryfilm & Chemistry
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The People
Behind the Puma
Meet Mike Plouffe
Eastern Regional
Operations Manager
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BIO
"Let's see. . . Retired from the finest Air Force in the world, the USAF! 27 years, Loadmaster, Senior Master Sergeant. Been EVERYWHERE!
AA Degree, Logistics Management, FSU
July 2000, Started at the Mountain View facility as the Warehouse Manager
July 2003, Promoted to Operations Manager, Mountain View
July 2005, Promoted and Transferred to Londonderry, NH as the Eastern Regional Operations Manager.
Been here ever since.
"And then, I. . . closed Lynchburg, St Petersburg, stood up Woodale, moved Woodale, moved Minneapolis twice, closed ABC, integrated Beck's Aluminum to Bloomingdale, reconfigured Londonderry (for what seems like 20 times!), several acquisitions, and still counting, stood up the new San Jose facility, moved Phoenix twice, integrated Oracle ERP for shipping and receiving.
Machine purchasing guy extraordinaire…
Did all this stuff with the best teammates ever…
Truth be told, he'd rather be fishing.
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Mike, are there any expressions you use that you are also famous for saying? “Better late to the Golden Gate than to be on time to Hell…” Many applications there in what we do day to day…. Probably not PC, but then again, I am also known for that as well!
Tell us about growing up. What were your interests? Believe it or not, I was a big basketball guy! 5’-4” tall, but could shoot three pointers all day long! And hockey. Short, stocky, that game was made for me! . Fishing with my Dad was always special.
What do you do when you have time to relax? I Love to fish…. Bonus of that is I have my wife CONVINCED my cell phone doesn’t work when I am on the water! That, and the time I spend with my boys on the water is very special to me.
Any favorite food you love to binge on? Anything Italian!! Pastas, Chicken Parm, all of it!
Name three things people would be surprised to know about you.
1. I used to be a water ski instructor at competition levels.
2. I visited Antarctica once.
3. I once dragged a Coke machine out of the building with my truck when it took my money… (Got in a lot of trouble for that one!) (feel free to delete this one if it is a bit much).
I have been to most countries in the world, without the benefit of frequent travelers' miles…
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What’s your dream car AND what is the embarrassing ride you have ever owned? Dream Car: 1966 Chevelle, LS3, 5 speed, dropped, tubed, hi-tech suspension…
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Most embarrassing? My first car, a 1962 Chevy Impala four-door, three on the tree….. six-cylinder dog, faded paint, ugly as sin. But it was mine, I loved it, and I never had to worry about anyone wanting to borrow it!
Describe what your first day at Insulectro was like. Oh Boy… I saw so much I wanted to do and felt a little helpless. But I needed to learn what Insulectro was all about, see what was working. So I did a lot of observing, asked a lot of questions. When the time was right, I led.
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What’s your favorite music? Movie? Book? Music is hands down, Rock and Roll. AC/DC, Leonard Skynyrd, Eagles, Boston, music I grew up with. My kids love it too! Shawshank Redemption must have watched that a hundred times. Reinforced KARMA! BOOK(s): W.E.B Griffin wrote a series that followed the careers of Army officers from Lieutenants through Generals, and it very closely followed historical events. Fascinating to me because it showed the glory and the failures each endured on that road. (Kind of mirrored my own military career from an enlisted point of view!)
Name three words your teammates would use to describe you? Honest, Dependable, Reliable
You just found $10 million buried in your backyard. What would you do with it? Well, after I conferred with lawyers and go through a 5-year litigation process to see if I could keep it, I would build a 9 car garage to build my cars and wood projects! Probably won't be much left after the lawyers are paid!
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Complete the sentence: “I am happiest when I am ….” FISHING!
Where would travel if you could leave tomorrow and go anywhere? Panama. Great fishing there, my wife is from there.
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If a movie was made about you, who would play your part? Probably Mel Gibson, we kind of look alike, and a bit of crazy in both of us…
Name three leadership principles you try most to exemplify. Lead by example. Absolute Integrity. Respect.
What have you personally learned about yourself from your teammates? Praise is very hard-earned with me, and absolutely sincere when given. I probably need to do a bit more praising, there are some really great team members here.
If you had to hire your replacement, what would you look for in a candidate? Someone who isn’t afraid to question the status quo, regardless of the source. Hands-on leadership style. Someone who puts their people first. Take care of your people, and they will take care of you. Military, 101.
Halloween is coming. How will you dress up? Probably just put my crazy eyeballs in, kids get a kick out of that when I give out candy!
How do you want to be remembered at Insulectro? GSD. Period.
Anything else you want to add? . . . Mike? Mike? Where are you? I bet he's gone fishing!
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@Mike Creeden
Who Makes PCB/Flex Material Decisions?
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Was it the right choice?
Every circuit built onto a board or flex will be supported and interconnected by laminates, metal, and coverings. These materials play a significant role in the construction, cost, reliability, and performance of each circuit.
How these decisions are made, is a significant factor in the overall success of our products. The old expression, “You don’t know what you don’t know,” is unfortunately often followed up by the fact that many people will not admit they don’t know the right answer.
Therefore, they will allow an inappropriate decision to be moved forward and the result may be problematic. This is only made worse because the origin of circuit failure can be obscured in detecting its root cause.
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By the time the laminates have cured when coming out of the press, these two aforementioned “Title questions” are academic. They are still very valid questions, but the answers will be subject to a defensive approach to substantiate how they were made.
They could also be one of several factors to the overall success of electronic performance, and more specifically electro-magnetic energy field performance. The problem with electricity is you can’t see it and therefore, it must be understood.
The world of hardware development takes different paths based on industry segments. In the MIL-Aero space, the development cycle is often very lengthy and well thought out. I had the experience of working on the exact type of circuit, a satellite uplink.
This similar circuit was to be used for the commercial and defense sectors. What was different was the speed and thoroughness of the development approach the defense sector used vs. the commercial sector. The accelerated scheduling used in the commercial sector can be very problematic because it creates a hectic culture of, “Haste making waste.”
Having designed boards over 45 years, I’ve seen the waste made by accelerated schedules, which as I stated, is more so in the commercial sectors.
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Let’s take a look at how material decisions often evolve. With accelerated schedules, the layout being the last part of HW development often feels this pressure the most.
The material decisions are often overlooked until the last day or so when the fabrication notes are being generated. The person making these material decisions may have a perspective that is singular in their bias, such as solvability, performance, or manufacturability.
The true solution should take into effect all three perspectives and make a balanced informed decision. When the IPC specification 4101/xxx is used on the print, this passes the decision on to the fabricator to select any material that falls within the broad general category of that slash sheet. This approach may be acceptable for some circuitry but should be avoided for most of today’s circuitry.
The fabricator will follow the freedom you have allowed and will make a cost-effective decision based on the material that is in stock and they are experienced in the process flow. This may result in a sub-par performance material selection, but it meets your drawing requirements.
Would you let your fabricator make resistor value selections for your circuits? Obviously not, so why should you abdicate our material performance values such as laminates, copper, surface finish, and mask coverings?
Lastly, designers need to understand the basics of EM theory and its application in our layouts. Impedance back-drops and return paths are similar but different aspects that influence the flow of energy in our circuits. This must be coupled with intelligent material decisions. This is how we get the best usage from the best materials we decide on.
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At Insulectro, with our Design Education Program, we are 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.
Contact any of our Technical Account Managers or call any of our branch offices to schedule your Virtual Training Session soon.
Stay safe, happy, and healthy!
Mike Creeden CID+ MIT
Technical Director, Insulectro Design & Education
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Insulectro Unleashes the
Incredible Power of 5
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Contact your Insulectro or Isola sales representative for more information.
Norm Berry
Director of Laminates & OEM Marketing
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Become a Puma!
Help us map out the future of Printed Circuit Board 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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Insulectro Unleashes the
Incredible Power of 5
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Geoff shouts: "Fluoropolymers"
When You Really Need to
Stick It to Low Loss
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Pyralux® TK is a product that is in a class of its own.
With a fluoropolymer coating over a Kapton® base film, this flexible copperclad can enable low loss flex designs where the dielectric constant must be below 3.0! By combining this copperclad product with other low loss DuPont adhesive systems, Pyralux® TK can manufactured without the need for specialized lamination process steps.
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Pyralux® TK is available in balance and unbalanced construction sets. Certified to IPC 4203/13, UL 94V-0 and is RHOS compliant.
Reach out today to see how TK can help you meet your low loss needs.
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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.
Teflon®/Laminate system 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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Insulectro Unleashes the
Incredible Power of 5
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It's Not Too Late!
Past OEM FORUMS Available for Viewing
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You probably know by now our one-hour OEM FORUMS have garnered rave reviews and great attendance. Have you missed one and want to catch up?
All OEM FORUMs from our library are available by clicking on the box to view our complete library on VIMEO.
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QUALITY CONCERNS
JUNE 24, 2021
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Bring on the Heat!
Pacothane Conformables Can Handle It
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THERMOPADS™ can be used in any high temperature lamination that requires the use of Exotic high Tg substrates.
Whether you are using DuPont's Tk or your requirement is an LCP build, THERMOPADS™ with THERMOFILM™ offers the best conformable package with its robust attributes eliminating the uncertainty and negative impact of generic alternatives.
- Operating Temperatures up to 600°F (316°C) for extended press cycles
- Thickness is .044" (1.117mm)
- Predictable Control of Heat Rise excellent Thermal Conductivity due to Select uniform fiber distribution and controlled thickness and weight specifications of the Press Pad Design
- Uniform pressure throughout the pressure load
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Maintains flexibility and minimal brittleness when used with THERMOFILM™ to increase 3-Dimensional Conformance minimizing X-Y-Z axis stress on circuits
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The smooth surface of both THERMOFILM™ and THERMOPADS™ allows superior conformable properties against the differential surface of the circuit under high temperature conditions
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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].
Pacothane services the worldwide PCB and Smart Card markets, which includes Rigid Multilayer, Rigid/Flex, Cover-layer Flex, Flexible Multilayer, Copper, and Un-Clad Laminates.
These circuit boards are integrated into a wide variety of applications and markets that include telecom, data communications, high-speed computing, mobile devices, military, smart cards, medical and effectively all electronic products.
PACOTHANE TECHNOLOGIES® and INSULECTRO – don’t work with those who follow – join those who lead!
PACOTHANE TECHNOLOGIES® Proudly Produced in the USA with American Labor and American Materials!
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Geraldine Arseneau
Product Manager - Pacothane® Products
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And, don't forget, recently published Pacothane® Product Sample Guide available. Contact me for details.
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Geraldine Arseneau
Product Manager - LCOA®
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CAC® Inc
Superior surface quality,
supporting thinner foils
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The best and most economical solution for using difficult-to-handle thin, reverse treated & double treated copper foils. Important to producers of increasingly high technology PCBs.
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Improve efficiency - All 4 edges are sealed from the factory, ensuring a pristine surface
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Increase productivity - supported 6µm to 140µm foils, eliminate handling defects
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Superior finish – Reduce image transfer by x2 with 8 mil CSC
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Limit variation – CSC achieves a comparable heat rise & cool down rate in a traditional press with separators
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Supply chain simplification - North American sourced aluminum, steel & copper
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For additional information, please contact me.
Mark Satchwell
Product Manager, Foil & CAC®
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Drills, routers, endmills!
Let Kemmer Improve Your Board Quality
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The PCB industry has seen a significant increase in the need for ENDMILLS.
Insulectro’s Kemmer line has a complete product offering of single, two, three and four flute designs for various applications and material types. Currently stocking endmills from .50mm to 1/8”.
Kemmer Tech-Centers are continuously reviewing endmill designs and carbides, through a series of tests to ensure that we meet the increasing quality requirements of all material types and applications.
Insulectro can help support your difficult applications and provide tools to ensure quality products.
Please contact your local Insulectro branch for additional product information and availability.
Geraldine Arseneau
Product Manager - Drill & Business Development - Canada
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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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INSULECTRO'S COPPER & COPPER FOIL OFFERINGS
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Not All Foil is Created Equal!
Copper Complexity and Clarification
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IPC 4562 covers 10 foil grades, five for electrodeposited alone! There are four variants for wrought and a nickel option, too.
Today I am going to review two of the most popular grades of electrodeposited foil to aid in the design and selection process, a comparison between Grade 1 and Grade 3.
Grade 1 is referred to as standard electrodeposited copper or STD-Type E, with Grade 3 being noted as High-Temperature Elongation electrodeposited copper or HTE-Type E. The purity of these foils and indeed all electrodeposited (ED) foils is set with a minimum copper value of 99.8%. The foil's mechanical attributes are where the similarities end.
To categorize the foil as Grade 3, a representative sample strip is taken from each lot and heated to a minimum temperature of 180 °C (356 °F) in accordance with IPC-TM-650, method 2.4.18. That sample coupon is then pulled in opposite directions until failure, to record both the tensile strength applied to create the fracture and the deformation of the sample in terms of an elongation percentage.
Grade 3 foil has an increased nominal elongation at higher temperatures than standard Grade 1 ED copper foil. This value, typically 2-5% vs. 1% in standard ED foil, correlates to reduced cracking of the inner layer foil at the Plated Through Hole (PTH) interface during thermal cycling.
The benefit of Grade 3 HTE copper foil is critical in thicker epoxy multilayer boards (MLB) which can experience greater Z-direction expansion from thermal processing. Grade 3 HTE copper foil may not always be required in polyimide MLB, but there is no downside and benefits PTH reliability irrespective of the resin system used.
Grade 3 HTE foil represents most of the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) foils, with material documentation recording the foils ambient and elevated 180 °C values for Tensile and Elongation results. The benefit will aid in understanding the performance of the foil during the PCB production sequence such as the lamination cycle and reduce the occurrence for failure at the PTH location.
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For further guidance on material selection or support in reviewing the current IPC specification (WAM1) let’s connect by email, phone, or in person!
Mark Satchwell
Product Manager, Foil & CAC®
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Fine-tuning Operations
Is Trying to “Stretch” the Most Out of Your Consumables Hurting You?
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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Shurloc Frame Systems:
With a minimal cost and an immediate return on investment, the day you begin using the system and stretching……why wait?
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Do you have a screening machine in your department that you are having to send frames out for re-stretch and glue?
Are you still using labor intensive draw bar style frames that only one or two people in the screening department can build….correctly!
Then it’s time to contact your Insulectro Account Manager to see how the Shurloc frame system can assist at your facility!
The startup is quick an easy as stretching the frames themselves with only a few items needed to get you up and going.
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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.
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 absolutely perfect!
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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Please contact us for a brush quote and see how our Equipment Services can be tied in to optimize your machine’s performance!
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This has been a great addition to Insulectro in assisting and supporting customers further in building better circuits faster!
Many customers have reached out to us and are excited to hear that we can help fill this gap in Technical Support. The Preventative Maintenance Programs continue to gain recognition in the importance of equipment uptime.
Its sometimes difficult to see a machine's degradation over time and its lack of performance can result in product/process issues that can be difficult to identify.
Remember that we can assist in your equipment needs through the following:
- Equipment Reviews and Audits
- Service and support
- Preventative Maintenance Programs
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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
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Please reach out should you like to discuss any of these topics further.
Thank you.
Kevin Barrett,
Product Manager & TAM
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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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Hard to Process Metals?
Our Beck's Light Gauge Process Is What You're Looking For
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We enjoy processing metals that most shy away from.
Our specialties include:
- 0 temper aluminum for deep drawing
- One Side Bright aluminum for the auto or name plate industry
- Clad Heat Treated Aluminum for the aerospace industry
- Litho Sheet for the printing industry
- Bright Annealed and Polished Stainless for the appliance industry
- Soft Copper
- Coated Products (aluminum or steel)
- Titanium
In other words “Jewelry”. We are a white glove, hand stacking operation giving us the ability to inspect each sheet or piece.
We have been qualified by many top Stainless and Aluminum producing mills as well as a long list of metal distributors. Many of our customers have their own cut to length equipment. Generally for a wide range of gauges.
Because our leveler was built for light gauge, we can correct flatness issues other larger roll levelers cannot. Quite often we get used to free up our customer’s line time by running the lighter gauges or more difficult time consuming jobs.
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Call Matt to find out more about our Beck's process and all that CAC® has to offer.
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Matt Swanson
General Manager, Toll Processing
CAC®, Inc.
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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 getpumafast.com, you can see what PumaFast™ and standard materials we stock to get you up and running.
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Covid-19 has not stopped 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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