THE THIRD EDITION OF PUMANEWS |
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As I see it. . .
We seem to be at an inflection point. As our optimism for pandemic recovery increases, we are seeing strong demand in the marketplace mixed with supply chain issues and cost pressures. All of which hint at a potential post-pandemic boom.
Insulectro is preparing for an emerging, dynamic marketplace. Beginning May 1, our teammates will begin returning to their offices, and we hope to fully re-integrate those who have worked from home by June 15.
While we continue to monitor the situation and will make accommodations to our schedule and for our teammates as necessary, we are positioning ourselves to better serve you - our customers and suppliers - in a new economy as we break through to the other side.
Patrick Redfern
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FIND THESE FAST! Look for FEATURED ARTICLE flag |
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- TODAY! OEM FORUM on RF - Last Chance to REGISTER
- THE BIG NEWS IS CHEMISTRY
- INDUBOND® Pin Registriation for Pin-less Lamination
- Isola's Astra® MT77 and its WOW Performance
- DuPont's New Interra™ HK04M - Unmatched Processability
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If you want to keep abreast of the latest in technical products, and you want that information sent to you as quickly as possible, Insulectro delivers on that promise.
Their highly informative technical sessions and knowledgeable people for all of their product lines have been very helpful for my own job requirements to enable us to make the best possible choices.
Bob S
Draper Labs
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SALES & PRODUCT MANAGEMENT |
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Ken Parent Speaks Out!
The Heart of the
PCB Process 2021
APRIL 2021
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Patience pays off. Insulectro has been working hard to get back in the business of selling Specialty Chemicals, especially for the high reliability metallization processes.
With the recent news of the acquisition of East Coast Electronic Material Supply in March we are now proud to offer the DuPont Electronic Solutions Chemistry.
This will allow us to bring more value to the customers in the Printed Circuit Board, Industrial Finishing and General Metal Finishing markets and bring our position with DuPont to new heights.
Although I consider all the materials we represent to be vital in the making of electronics, it has always been my opinion that the Heart of the PCB process is the metallization process. It feels great to be back in the heart of the business.
The new team at Insulectro is gaining momentum and pulling together to drive new opportunities for our customers with DuPont Chemistries. Insulectro will be bringing news to you on how we plan on strengthening our combined efforts as we forge these teams together in the weeks and months ahead.
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Once a Puma, always a Puma. . .
On a fun and another heartfelt story, I want to share a couple of photos of a special Insulectro person who I was lucky enough to spend some time with this past weekend.
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John Stary, retired San Jose TAM, now has a daughter son-in-law and granddaughter living in San Clemente CA just a few miles from my home and we were fortunate to share some great Stary stories together. John is now known in the family as G-Star, Grandpa Stary. Pictured with granddaughter Emma, and wife G-Susan.
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Ken Parent
VP of Sales & Product Management
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TODAY! TODAY! TODAY! Still Time to Register!
Our Next OEM FORUM:
Land of Loss! Tune Your RF Circuits
LOW-LOSS PPE/PPO, COPPER PROFILE, HYBRID LAMINATES, SURFACE FINISHES, HDI DRILL/PASTE, DESIGN SOLUTIONS, PRINTED CU ELEMENTS.
SPECIAL GUESTS: Isola’s Matt Lake and DuPont’s Jonathan Weldon transmit new trends in RF technology.
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Attendees will receive understanding of how to solve the following challenges with RF Circuits.
- Low Loss PPE/PPO materials are designed to replace the need for PTFE materials with similar performance parameters but are similar to the other layers within a stack-up.
- Copper profile can account for 80% of all loss in RF circuits.
- Hybrid laminate solutions i.e., PPE/Polyimide hybrid circuits with RF and HSD
- Surface finishes can have a significant affect on signal performance.
- HDI drill/paste solutions can reduce parasitics from unwanted drill stubs.
- Design solutions creating low impedance return paths to GND planes and vias, greatly improve signal energy performance, getting the most out of the material where fields exist.
- Printed CU elements serve to fine tune RF circuity just like components on a digital board.
Come listen to Insulectro’s Mike Creeden & Chris Hunrath dig into the challenges faced by RF engineers & designers & provide immediate solutions, and answers to your questions. Register below.
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Acquisition of East Coast Electronic Materials Brings DuPont Chemistry to Insulectro Product Line Card |
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On March 23, 2021, Insulectro acquired competitor distribution company East Coast Electronic Material Supply (ECEMS) bringing the premium DuPont line of chemistry to Insulectro's product offering. The materials, referred to as Legacy Dow chemistry, is the result of the merger of DuPont and Dow Chemical in 2017.
“Insulectro has acquired ECEMS headquartered in New Hampshire,” Insulectro President and CEO Patrick Redfern commented, “This is an exciting opportunity to bring new complimentary product lines and an impressive technical sales team into Insulectro’s robust material offerings and to continue the legacy of ECEMS.”
ECEMS President John Robinson praised the acquisition, “ECEMS and Insulectro share a similar culture to enable our customers to build better boards, faster. All of our customers can expect to benefit from greater synergies as the respective companies’ strengths and talents are blended. I look forward to new opportunities created by this action.” Robinson has joined the Insulectro team as Vice President, Chemistry.
Ken Parent, Insulectro Vice President of Sales and Product Development, commented, “We welcome John and his team to Insulectro. This acquisition is an important one for our company. Among the other offerings, the DuPont chemistry line significantly advances Insulectro’s goal to offer a complete roster of materials used in the manufacture of printed circuit boards. We continue to enjoy a long-term relationship with DuPont, as distributor for flexible laminates and dry film in North America, and this merger allows us to further serve our best-in-class supplier’s needs while expanding service to customers – existing and new."
“We look forward to continuing distribution of non-competitive products previously offered by ECEMS,” Patrick Redfern continued, “The ECEMS team will be joining our teammates in our Londonderry, New Hampshire, distribution center while taking advantage of our company’s 11 stocking locations in North America.”
“Expect to hear more from us about this exciting new market opportunity for Insulectro and its customers” Ken Parent concluded, “World-class products from world-class suppliers, delivered at breakneck speed from regional distribution centers, coupled with ‘always there’ customer service – it really is about enabling customers to build better circuits faster.”
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Industry Veteran Paul Welter Named Director of Sales for DuPont Chemistry Line |
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Insulectro has announced it has promoted industry veteran Paul Welter as Director of Sales for DuPont Chemistry.
“Our recent acquisition of East Coast Electronic Material Supply (ECEMS) has further diversified Insulectro’s product line,” commented Patrick Redfern, Insulectro President and CEO, “It has enabled us to add the extensive DuPont chemistry line to our robust product portfolio. We welcome Paul Welter to our team as we expand our long-time relationship with DuPont. He will manage the existing sales and technical service team and continue reporting to John Robinson, Vice President Chemistry at Insulectro”.
For over eighteen years, Insulectro has distributed DuPont flexible laminates and dry film across North America.
“The acquisition of ECEMS has brought exciting opportunities to Insulectro’s strategy for growth,” commented Ken Parent, Vice President of Sales and Product Development, “The bringing on of chemistry specialist Paul Welter brings a new perspective to our business. His unique expertise allows Insulectro to promote best-in-class DuPont chemistry in new ways."
Welter is a Chemistry Graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and has over 20-years experience in the Printed Circuit Board and Industrial Metal Finishing Industries. He began his career working for LeaRonal (later acquired by Rohm and Haas) as a Chemist in their Addison, IL facility. From that position, he transitioned to Technical Service then Account Management position in the Midwest.
In 2013 he accepted a Sr. Account Manager position with Tapco Circuit Supply, and in 2015 Paul joined East Coast Electronic Material Supply as a Senior Account Manager for the Upper Midwest territory. In 2019, his role expanded to include the Intermountain Regions of Denver, CO and Salt Lake City, UT.
His process expertise includes metallization, imaging and lamination in rigid and flexible PCB manufacturing, and decorative & engineering coatings in General Metal Finishing, Plating on Plastics and Connector Applications. In his spare time, Mr. Welter enjoys the outdoors hiking, golfing and fishing, and is a proud steward of North Sand Lake near Webster, WI.
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Meet Paul Welter!
The DuPont Chemistry Line At-A-Glance
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Greetings from Minnesota, where the first sign of spring is the strategic placement of construction barrels and the resulting inconvenient detours.
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. By securing the ECEMS team and infrastructure, Insulectro is equipped to continue to provide our customers with the technical expertise and support that they’ve come to know, but also enhance that with the depth of resources in the entire Insulectro portfolio.
What’s exciting about this combination is that it brings laminates, dry films, lamination assist products, and DuPont ICS chemistry together into a team that can enable customers to build better boards faster. With Insulectro’s combined technical resources, we can provide vertical solutions to fabricators, designers, and OEM’s by leveraging our strong relationships with our supplier partners. We have cross-functional teams that are ready to address any need.
DuPont ICS is innovating new metallization technologies across many platforms:
Electroplating Applications
HDI
- Microfill™ EVF-III for advanced via filling and through-hole plating
- Microfill™ LVF-IV for next generation SLP applications
MLB
- Copper Gleam™ PPR-II for high aspect ratio pulse plating
- Electroposit™ EP-1600 for high aspect ratio DC plating
- Copper Gleam™ HS-200 for horizontal DC plating in FPC applications
- Copper Gleam™ ST-920 for DC vertical continuous plating (VCP)
IC Package Substrate
- Microfill™ SFP-II & Microfill™ LVF-IV for advanced SAP applications
Making Holes Conductive
Electroless Copper Solutions:
- Circuposit™ 3350-1 Vertical Electroless Copper
- Circuposit™ 4000 Horizontal electroless copper for FPC/RFPC
- Circuposit™ 6700 Horizontal Ionic Catalyst for Advanced HDI applications
Direct Metallization Solutions:
- Next Generation Crimson™ & Conductron™ palladium-based systems
- 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.
To borrow a phrase, better living through chemistry.
Paul Welter
Director of Sales, DuPont Chemistry
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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 Contoller
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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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Chemplate Materials SL,
Producer of the InduBond systems, distributed Puma style!
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We announced this exciting partnership in February as we continue to focus on providing our customers end to end solutions for the manufacture of PCBs.
The technical principle for the revolutionary X-Press 360 is present in the RFX bonding machine, utilizing Induction heating.
Pin registration for
Pin-Less lamination.
RFX can be used to support various circuits from Rigid High Thickness HDI applications to Rigid-Flex and Flex. Making it possible to put anchor points near the important areas, not limited to the edges but also inside the circuit image area.
These virtual pins help contain and control the large expansion differential within the layers and across the entire panel.
Reducing dimensional distortion for better scale constraint and the welded stack-up multilayer can be X-Ray to check before and after lamination.
This is achieved by the four bonding heads which independently move in the X and Y axis to access any location for optimal registration. The result is improved panel planarity, eliminating the diamond effect or corner movement.
Look out for the RFX Power of 5, please contact your Territory Area Manager or myself for additional information or a consultation.
InduBond® (www.indubond.com) has long been respected for tight accuracy in registration, its lamination presses, automation (automatic loading/unloading), and its eco-friendly best practices.
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For more information, contact:
Mark Satchwell
Product Manager, Foils
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Insulectro Unleashes the
Incredible Power of 5
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Opportunity!
New Defense Electronics Group
Invites Industry Participation
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Isola's Astra® MT77
PTFE Performance without the Hassle!
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Isola's Astra® MT77 product enables RF/MW designers to get similar electrical performance traditionally associated with ceramic-filled PTFE systems.
The laminate material is a tightly controlled and very low dielectric constant of 3.0, an ultra-low dissipation factor of 0.0017, as well as using the very smooth VLP2 copper, Astra® MT77 provides excellent insertion loss characteristics on par with filled PTFE products.
This makes Astra® MT77 an excellent choice for applications at frequencies through the V & W-band (40-75 & 75-110GHz). Those applications include such as 77GHz automotive radar systems and various airborne RF systems.
What makes Astra® MT77 a preferred choice for so many PCB fabricators?
Ease of manufacturing! Because the product is woven glass cloth reinforced, dimensional stability is very good and repeatable. As the weave style is square and spread, impact from the fiber weave is negligible, even at high frequencies.
The lack of ceramic filler in the resin matrix makes mechanical drilling a breeze and allows for extended hit counts without the need to re-sharpen drill bits which significantly reduces processing costs. Standard wet chemical and plasma desmear can be used with no plasma activation of the surface is required for successful copper deposition or soldermask application.
While quite recently, design options with RF materials were very limited because of a lack of good bondply options. Astra® MT77prepreg materials have been a game-changer. Isola offers various customer prepregs consisting of the same glass type and resin as the laminates. This makes building up multilayered circuits with homogeneous dielectrics is extremely easy and is done with standard multilayered process parameters. All kinds of sequential structures, including any layer designs can be realized, creating full freedom of stack-up to board designers.
Compatibility with a large choice of other Isola materials, from high-reliability epoxy systems like 370HR to low loss HSD products like I-Tera® MT40 or Tachyon® 100G is creating endless possibilities. Astra® MT77 can be used in hybrid designs with many Isola products which significantly increases designers choice of properties and performance.
Do you want to try it yourself? Please contact Isola / Insulectro staff, and we will happily help you!
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Norm Berry
Director of Laminates & OEM Marketing
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PRINTED ELECTRONICS INKS & PASTES,
SUBSTRATES & FILMS
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We Pioneered It. . .
A Company Built on Teamwork
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Roughly twenty plus years ago during our move to the East Coast, it became very apparent that in order to grow we needed a strong sales team and then we needed to execute.
We had two facilities in New Hampshire, after acquiring Midlantic NE, and between the business we supported and the laminate business they were growing we needed a very strong operations manager.
David Klebba loaded up his Ford Bronco and made the trip across the USA from sunny California to support the growth and our new product lines. The rest is history and Dave’s commitment, drive, system knowledge and putting a strong team together made it happen. Dave spent roughly 10 years supporting our expansion in the Eastern coast and was a big part of the success. Dave eventually moved back to support Lake Forest team.
So here we are in 1st Qtr. 2021 we have acquired ECEMS, Printed Electronic business is exploding with new suppliers, new equipment installation in our distribution centers, plus new associates joining our team, and, who do we call to support and train these new associates - Dave Klebba, a 28-year veteran!
He brings other team members from headquarters like Robert Graham and of course the NH team is here to support as well. Other team members, in all departments, are working diligently across the country to make this transition transparent to our customers.
Together they have integrated and worked long hours to support this new chemistry line into our Midwest, Rocky Mountains and East Coast facilities. Teamwork at its finest as we welcome the ECEMS team to the INSULECTRO family!
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LEFT: ECEMS joins the team.
At the same time, the Printed Electronics is expanding, providing new advanced substrates to the product portfolio, so we establish a cross functional team that includes sales, operations and purchasing to establish the requirements and equipment to support this new product.
A few months later, we are up and running - converting materials and making customers happy. This Team approach get stuff done fast!
I can see the team approach working across all our branches and it’s a big reason why we have been successful supporting our customer, suppliers, and growing our business in the PCB and PE Industries.
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Kevin Miller
Vice President of Sales, Printed Electronics
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Insulectro Unleashes the
Incredible Power of 5
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Jeff Mason's Far-Sighted
The Heart of the Person
A Team of Individuals
April 2021
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Operations is defined as “the actions and decisions made by participants and members of a business that affect the production, service, management, improvement processes, and activity needed for a company to function in the production of goods and services through the use of resources and assets.”
The thing that is not in the classic definition of operations is that it also requires dedication, heart, and a continual drive to learn and become better every day. The past 12 months have been challenging for everyone, in every walk of life. The Operations team at Insulectro has shown up every day to exemplify the commitment of Operations to Getting Stuff Done daily to support our customers and suppliers.
We have not only had a very good year in this effort, but also incorporated new equipment, processes, and automation technology, as well as incorporating the addition of new businesses and suppliers.
Of course, Operations cannot perform and continue to improve without the commitment and hard work of everyone in the company. I wish I could take the credit for the job Operations Team has done this year, but it is through the heart and culture of each individual team member at each of our warehouses and the managers that make it work, and enable us to be able to support this industry and grow.
We are looking forward to this coming year of industry growth with more improvements, learning, and driving to get better at what we do.
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Ensuring Customer Satisfaction
Daily Quality Checks by Operations Team!
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Quality Control is defined as “a system of maintaining standards in manufactured products by testing a sample of the output against the specification.”
Often, Quality control accumulates positive notoriety within other companies and customers. The specifications at Insulectro are predetermined requirements/standards set by our Quality control department to ensure customer satisfaction is at top levels.
Enter David Klebba and Ryan Linfield…
[Ryan Linfield below. Dave Klebba is featured in the People Behind the Puma column in this issue.]
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The aforementioned individuals make sure that Insulectro Customers' specifications have been tested, whether it’s a preexisting rule, new machine specs compared to customer specs, changes to maximize safety and efficiency, etc.
Once “rules” have been defined, testing is conducted in the warehouse to ensure that an understanding of our QC standards/customer requirements are met.
Enter Operations…
Operations is there to ensure orders go out at their highest quality, by maintaining top levels of quality control, which, in turn, raises customer satisfaction, possibly bringing additional interest to our many products.
Without the QC standards being checked by operations daily, and being created and set by David Klebba and Ryan Linfield, we would not be Insulectro!
All of us know, we are here to “Provide our customer with superior service and high quality products that support our customer’s needs, while promoting a culture of continuous improvement!”
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Daniel Carrera
Warehouse Supervisor - Lake Forest
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Geoff shouts: "Embedded Capacitance!'
New Interra™ HK04M
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A new flavor of embedded capacitance is in town, Interra™ HK04M.
With continued unmatched processability the newest generation of HK04M offers the same polyimide thicknesses as HK04J(1 and ½ mil) and is working down to 8 microns thin constructions!
This thinness advantage allows designers to store more capacitance, further reduce loop inductance and improve overall packaging of products. Interra™ HK04M retains all the benefits of HK04J and is available with unconstrained quantities.
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And, don't forget the design flexibility you get with DuPont Pyralux® flexible materials.
Geoffrey Leeds
Flex Product Manager
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Insulectro Unleashes the
Incredible Power of 5
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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 Fallyn Flaherty-Earp, Global Marketing Manager
DuPont Tedlar® Advanced Materials
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Fallyn Flaherty-Earp grew up in a small town in northeast Pennsylvania. In 2000 she moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to attend college, where she obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering with a minor in business administration. In 2012, Fallyn completed her MBA with focus on marketing from St. Joseph’s University also located in Philadelphia, PA.
Career:
Out of college, Fallyn practiced engineering while working on a production line at Johnson Matthey. After various roles at Johnson Matthey, Fallyn joined Rohm and Haas as a Development Engineer in the Electronics business. There she worked up to become Group Leader for a group that focused on rapid customer sampling. While working in that role, Fallyn attended night classes focusing on completing her MBA.
In 2011, Fallyn shifted her career towards marketing by taking a role a Product Line Manager for Non-Emulsions in Dow Coating Materials and subsequently increasingly challenging roles in marketing roles for Dow Coating Materials in North America.
Fallyn joined the DuPont Tedlar® team in June of 2018 as the North America Market and Business Development Manager for Advanced Materials. In that role, Fallyn created a business and channel strategy plan to grow the Tedlar™ Wallcoverings business. By September of 2019, Fallyn increased her responsibilities by becoming the Global Marketing Manager for the Tedlar® Advanced Materials business. In her current role, she sets and leads the global strategy and execution plan to drive current and future business growth.
Take on the Industry
This past year has brought on many changes in the materials industry, especially those that have market focus in commercial buildings, hospitality, and healthcare. Before the pandemic hit, the healthcare industry was the most concerned about utilizing materials that were durable enough to stand up to an onslaught of cleaning and disinfecting.
Since 2020 every part of the building and construction industry has been affected and has had to adapt to the new reality. The need to have durable products that stand up to harsh cleaners and disinfectants like hand sanitizer has even filtered down into mass transportation and aerospace.
Looking beyond the current global health crisis, to a post-pandemic scenario, there will continue to be a large movement towards sustainable products. Products that are durable enough to be used multiple times, stand up to wear and tear without being replaced or having unsustainable maintenance protocols.
We are already seeing more users like nurses, maintenance, and cleaning staff joining into the conversations when it comes to product selection. Products that claim to be durable, cleanable, chemical resistant are being scrutinized. Customers want to see the real application data, not that the product was just tested once, but that it was tested over and over again. Product lifetime and overall durability is going to be key going forward along with having real world data to back up claims.
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Vision for the Future
I think the future for Tedlar® film is a strong one. Tedlar’s value proposition of durable, cleanable, chemical and stain-resistant has held for the past 60 years. We are taking the Tedlar® value back to its roots in the building and construction industry and its relevance is even more important in the market today than when it was originally designed.
A lot of people know famous DuPont brands like Corian®, Tyvek®, and Kevlar®, but what I see in the future is that Tedlar® will becomes a known brand name in the B&C industry. We have numerous historical case studies in the B&C industry and we are developing new ones for the latest projects we are working on.
I see the specification of Tedlar® growing in the industry as people learn about what type of surface protection Tedlar® is really capable of providing. There are so many different types of applications that Tedlar® PVF film can be used in that it is really exciting to see what use cases we will develop with our customers next.
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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 seven OEM FORUMs from our library are available by clicking on the box to view our complete library on VIMEO.
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The People Behind the Puma
Meet Dave Klebba
Director of Quality & Safety
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THROUGH THE YEARS WITH KLEBBA:
- 1992 - Hired as a temp.
- 1993 - Prepreg Operator (permanent) for 18 months
- 1994 - Tape Slitting Dept. Lead for 18 months
- 1996 - Warehouse Manager for 2 years
- 1998 - Operations Manager in Lake Forest
- 1999 - Operations Manager in New Hampshire
- 2001 - Western Regional Operations Manager in Lake Foret
- 2003 - National Inside Sales Manager
- 2006 - Additional role as Corporate Trainer
- 2011 - Oracle implementation team, the “Delta Team”
- 2013 - Director of Quality
- 2016 - Additional role as Director of Safety
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Dave, you have been with Insulectro for over 28 years, how does today differ from your first day on the job?
I celebrated 28 years in January (December if you count my starting date as a temp.) I was sent in to cover for a warehouse worker taking 2 weeks off for Christmas. I had never worked in a warehouse before and I felt pretty inept on my first day. I had to ask, watch, and learn how to do everything. I kept to myself and focused on finishing the tasks for the day. Today, I make it a point to introduce myself to the new team members and to make sure they know I’m there for them.
You have always been Mister Fixit at Insulectro - the guy who can take a challenge and produce positive results. What was the most difficult task you’ve ever had so far and how did you solve it?
I’d have to say the Oracle transition was the most difficult task I’ve dealt with. We made the transition knowing that we were starting with a basic working system and would continue to add more features and functions as time went on. We had an action item list that took long hours and many team members to pull it off. It was a much more mentally and physically challenging project that I ever expected. But look how it's paid off; it was the right thing to do to better serve our customers.
What did you want to be growing up? An Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). I always liked the idea of helping people in need.
In school, name your best subjects and your worst subjects?
Best subjects – Math and Science Worst subjects – English and History
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What embarrassing nicknames did you finally grow out of?
Davy Crockett and Wavy Davey (my mom likes to rhyme)
Food bingeing for you means large amounts of what?
Pizza, chips and salsa
Our readers may not know you are a former Marine (thank you for your service). What three things did you learn in the service that still serve you well today?
I learned to have confidence in my abilities, the courage to take on new challenges and the integrity to do the right thing on my own.
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In school, you were noted for wearing what? No name K-Mart clothes or hand-me downs.
What movie character do you strongly relate to?
Gandalf the Grey – “A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to.”
Last book you read is what?
The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement
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Describe a typical weekend at the Klebbas.
One day doing chores and one day in Long Beach on our 35 foot Sea Ray boat.
How would your colleagues describe you? Helpful
How would your family describe you? Goofy
Your autobiography will be titled what? “It’s a Wonderful Life!”
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The car you were so proud of then that now make you cringe?
My grandma’s Dodge Spirit. I was happy she gave me her car when she couldn’t drive it any longer, but I shouldn’t have told my coworkers that it was my grandma’s car. They never let me live it down.
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You have been asked to star in the remake of the movie Goodfellas, who would your co-stars be? [see right]
If you could have been a rock star who would you have been?
Angus Young from AC/DC, Lead Guitarist. I can play a mean “air” guitar.
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Name a time where you embarrassed your kids.
They were pretty embarrassed when I jumped on the bull ride at a kid’s birthday party…… They told me to stop and grow up!
What in your career are you the most proud of?
Moving to NH to expand our footprint East, grow the team and move us into a new facility.
What three things do you want to be remembered for at Insulectro?
- Making a positive impact personally & professionally
- Growing with the company and always embracing change
- Getting $h!t done while having fun!
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Pacothane®, the Undisputed Industry Leader in Lamination Assist Products For PCB Production |
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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.
WE ARE COMMITTED TO INNOVATION AND EXCELLENCE
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We develop and produce consistent, dependable, functional products that help to eliminate the hidden variables in PCB manufacture, reducing scrap rates and reworks
- We provide uncompromising support to our distributors and their customers, through training, sales and technical support
WE ARE COMMITTED TO PROVIDING THE MOST COST EFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS
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We help customers select the correct product for their specific application
- We continuously improve functionality to reduce customers' finished product costs
PACOTHANE® TECHNOLOGIES offers products that give our Customers the ability to produce PCB’s by using our high quality materials to obtain higher yields and enhance their bottom line! Less scrap means more profit for our Customers.
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PACOTHANE TECHNOLOGIES® Proudly Produced in the USA with American Labor and American Materials!
And, don't forget, recently published Pacothane® Product Sample Guide available. Contact me for details.
Joe Bevan
Product Manager, Pacothane
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@Mike Creeden
How OEMs Accomplish Layout
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Each OEM has a staff or an outsource to accomplish their layout needs.
This profession is often misunderstood by most, with the exception of those who perform this vital effort that creates the tooling that builds our circuit boards. To those who perform this effort at your companies, my esteemed gratitude for your efforts!
This profession has relied for years on seasoned designers who came from the ranks of draftsmen, technicians, and from all walks. There existed very little formal training for this profession and most learned it similar to a tradesman being apprenticed or mentored under a senior designer. The unfortunate occurrence in the electronics industry is that our industry stopped recruiting new designers and allowed the ranks to deplete as many are now reaching retirement age.
The industry, in its efforts to satisfy this vital need, has conscripted new EEs entering the work force, graduating from college with no formal training to accomplish layouts. I have never met an engineer who will say, “No, I can’t figure it out.”
But I have met many engineers who have tried it once, failed and often do not want that experience again. However, many engineers are applying due diligence to learn by the school of hard knocks and are slowly becoming masters of their own layouts. Historically, one designer served 4-10 engineers per year and stayed current with tool mastery, performing layouts day-in and day-out, with continual technical growth.
In today’s new paradigm, few engineers support other engineers and as a result each engineer performs their own layouts 1-3 times per year. With that perspective, you can see it is challenging to stay proficient at circuit layout, CAD tool usage, and manufacturing requirements.
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Available training – Historically, in 1993 the IPC Designers Council created the CID/CID+ program for the purpose of teaching an experienced designer understanding of standards and manufacturing technology. The CID program still accomplishes these tasks, although it is not that current with today’s engineering and manufacturing trends.
Please understand that IPC is a standards body that is unrivaled in guiding our industry to design and manufacture with excellence as governed by standards. But it never strived to create layout design engineering professionals, although it guides them with standards.
The new Printed Circuit Engineering Association (PCEA) strives to support IPC in its mission and encourages IPC involvement at all levels. The new PCEA has become the certifying body to a new curriculum created for the creation and empowerment of those seeking to become the next generation of Printed Circuit Engineering Layout Professionals.
The new curriculum with optional certification, is recommended for both an engineering/layout beginner and a great refresher for the seasoned professional. This curriculum covers the profession from A to Z. Starting with the fundamentals of schematic capture, signal constraints, component placement, routing, flex, HDI, documentation, signal integrity application, and post processing.
This curriculum continues beyond these core principles to encompass a balanced understanding of all the elements that go into the fabrication, assembly, and test of a printed circuit board. We encourage you to investigate how to improve your company’s layout professionals at: Printed Circuit Engineering Designer – Online Program | EPTAC
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.
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Contact any of our Technical Account Managers or call any of our branch offices to schedule your Virtual Training Session soon.
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Mike Creeden CID+ MIT
Technical Director, Insulectro Design & Education
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Endmills available now!
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, we are stocking endmills from .50mm to 1/8”, with plans to stock as small as .25mm.
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.
Please contact your local Insulectro branch for additional product information and availability.
Geraldine Arseneau
Product Manager - Drill & Business Development - Canada
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Chris Hunrath on Future Tech
The Mettle of PCB’s,
Making Holes Conductive
April 2021
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When I describe the complexity of PCBs to someone outside the industry, I try to create a “visual” of the interconnects. I start off describing and individual innerlayer as a “2D” web of circuits linked to other layers from top to bottom (z-axis) by copper plating.
This whole process is dependent on plating surfaces that are non-conductive. Now electroplating metal, in most our case copper, requires a conductive surface. Since PCBs are a collection of conductors and insulators, we are dealing with some surfaces that are not conductive. Before electroplating can begin, a conductive layer must first be applied.
This may be chemically reduced copper (electroless), various forms of carbon, metal colloids, etc.
A little history. Electroless copper has its roots in test for reducing sugars. Hermann von Fehling developed a process in the late 1840’s using solutions of metal salts, a complexing agent and sodium hydroxide. This was adapted for diabetes testing, mirror manufacturing and later, various electronics including PCB’s.
Along with electroless copper, other methods have been used for the conductive base prior to electroplating. Often called “Direct Plate” systems both because they skip the electroless copper process and in some cases no material between the electrodeposited copper and the innerlayer coppers.
These include but are not limited to silver, nickel, graphite, carbon, conductive polymers and palladium. Some of these have grown over the last few decades through ease of automation, reduced cost, and even improved reliability. Others, like silver for example, have been abandoned for cost and undesirable side effects (like migration).
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Bringing it back to Electroless copper, it has a long history with a proven track record. It is a relatively thick deposit (compared to direct plate) and highly conductive. It can help fill microstructures and give the electroplated copper a significant jump start.
However, blind microvias along with the variety of materials used today create challenges for the entire plating process.
Electroless copper processes continues to evolve. Improvements in solution delivery with and without horizontal equipment along with better conditioning and activation (palladium based) chemistries extend the capabilities. Also, copper bath formulation upgrades improve the quality of the deposit.
Microvia reliability is a complex mix of structure geometry, via formation (laser), material CTE’s, and the quality of the plated interconnects.
There has been a lot of discussion/comparison between electroless copper and direct plate systems, both having some advantages over the other. I do not think we will see a one size fits all solution for metallization. A fabricator will need to choose based on factors like the type of materials, the size of the facility, the applications of the PCB and so on.
Some may choose to have more than one process. With the right mix of “front end” chemistries and process equipment, electroless copper can be extremely capable for reliable advanced interconnects.
Let us know if you have interest in these areas. We bring folks with hands on experience on both the materials and the metallization.
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Stay sane, safe and see you (someday) soon.
Chris Hunrath
Vice President of Technology
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Stop Bingeing on NETFLIX:
Feast on Our Virtual Power Chats, Training Sessions, & Product Education
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With in-person meetings nearly impossible, Insulectro has turned to virtual meetings, webinars, parking lot drop-offs to keep in touch. There's no doubt these are trying and uncertain times, but what we're finding is customers are welcoming the time to become more knowledgeable about products, their applications, and potential new markets.
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Here is a listing of Power Chat Seminars we can do for your team, all online. . .
Pyralux® Product Line Overview
Geoffrey Leeds, FLEX Product Manager
Laminate Manufacture and Selection
Norm Berry, Director of Laminates & OEM Marketing
Copper Foil Overview
Copper Foil for High Speed Digital
Mark Satchwell, Product Manager - Foils
High Speed Flex Materials
Geoffrey Leeds, FLEX Product Manager
Consider The Composite: HSD Material Attributes to
Mitigate Insertion Loss
Norm Berry, Director of Laminates & OEM Marketing
Design - Making Revision 1 Work
Michael Creeden, Technical Director, Insulectro Design Education
Material - the Science
Various Insulectro Subject Matter Experts
Material - the Process
Various Insulectro Subject Matter Experts
Material - Industry Application & Usage
Various Insulectro Subject Matter Experts
Design - Material Implementation (HDI, SI, High-Speed, RF)
Michael Creeden, Technical Director, Insulectro Design Education
Design - Advanced Placement and Routing
Michael Creeden, Technical Director, Insulectro Design Education
FocusTech Chemistry
Jeff Johnson, Product Manager - Dry Film/Chemistry/Paste & FAE
TADCO® Lamination Tooling
Paul St. John, Director of National Sales LCOA
Drilling and Routing
Paul St. John, Director of National Sales LCOA
Geraldine Arseneau, Product Manager - Drill, Business Development - Canada
Getting Started with Flex PCBs
Chris Hunrath, VP of Technology
Get to Know SlickBack® and Bullseye®
Paul St. John, Director of National Sales LCOA
Geraldine Arseneau, Product Manager - Drill, Business Development - Canada
Pacothane® – Pad & Release Products
Pacothane® – Conformable Products
Pacothane® – High Temp Lamination Products
Joe Bevan, Product Manager - Pacothane®
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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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Strengthens Its Offerings
DuPont To Acquire
Laird Performance Materials
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DuPont has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Advent International, one of the world's largest private equity firms, to acquire Laird Performance Materials for $2.3 billion which will be paid from existing cash balances.
The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
Laird Performance Materials is a world leader in high-performance electromagnetic shielding and thermal management with a comprehensive offering of performance components and solutions that manage heat and protect devices from electromagnetic interference.
Ed Breen, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DuPont, stated, "The acquisition of Laird Performance Materials is a significant step in advancing DuPont's strategy to grow as a global innovation leader and premier multi-industrial company.
"Laird Performance Materials is a strategic and complementary addition to the Electronics & Industrial (E&I) business, and our applied material science expertise together with Laird Performance Materials' industry-leading application engineering capabilities further strengthens DuPont as an essential partner for major electronics OEMs and manufacturers.
"We look forward to welcoming Laird Performance Materials' highly talented teams. With an expanded global reach and proven operational and technical capabilities, I'm confident the combined E&I team will deliver compelling revenue synergies and further accelerate our journey towards becoming a faster-growing and more profitable company."
The transaction brings together DuPont's technology portfolio in films, laminates, and plating chemistry with Laird Performance Materials' electromagnetic shielding and thermal management solutions. With a best-in-class innovation and product portfolio, the combined organization will be a leader in rapidly growing advanced electronics applications supporting smart/autonomous vehicles, 5G telecommunications, artificial intelligence, internet of things, and high-performance computing.
Strong capabilities in material science and application engineering along with an expanded customer base are expected to significantly increase customer speed to market, create new efficiencies in development of multi-functional solutions, and provide high value next-generation products that will deliver incremental revenue synergies over the next several years. DuPont will be uniquely positioned to engage across value chains to address the increasingly complex challenges leading OEMs face in thermal management, signal integrity, miniaturization, power management, and reliability.
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As advertised in i-Connect 007's PCB Magazine.
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Insulectro PumaNews™ will write, curate, and publish current provocative articles on the phenomenon of 5G and the impact it is expected to bring to the way we live our lives.
Top 5G Limitations and Challenges for Businesses
Written by John Fruehe, an independent analyst for Search Networking
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All major carriers are now deploying 5G cellular technology, and businesses should consider 5G limitations as they plan for 2022 and beyond.
While the technology greatly extends current 3G, 4G and LTE cellular infrastructure, 5G does have drawbacks.
Below are six different 5G limitations enterprise network teams could face with the technology.
1. 5G devices
On the carrier side, 5G antennas and infrastructure are needed.
Android smartphones currently have the advantage for 5G phones as a few handsets are available. Apple phone designs have shifted between 5G modem vendors, and the latest reports indicate the market may see a 5G-capable iPhone soon.
Some 5G IoT devices and connected devices are available now, but many IoT vendors see 5G opening up 3G and 4G spectrum for IoT as smartphones transition to 5G. IoT could have more freedom in the lower-speed bands of 3G and 4G as carriers begin closing down those frequencies for cellphones.
2. Proximity
Proximity is another weakness that businesses must consider. 5G will primarily use millimeter wavelengths, which are smaller than 3G and 4G, and they don't travel as far. While the 5G coverage profile is smaller, the 5G signal can carry more data. To combat this limitation, carriers are planning a much larger array of antennas to provide enough coverage.
Beamforming will also be used with these larger arrays to help the 5G system overcome more obstacles by enabling packets to traverse multiple routes to reach a client. Businesses that hope to use beamforming technology will need to investigate their carriers' 5G coverage maps. Carriers are deploying 5G now, with increasing coverage in urban areas; 5G network deployment will expand over time to more rural or remote locations.
3. Spectrum and bandwidth
Spectrum will be a key consideration in choosing both carriers and equipment. Much of the 5G deployment will be over existing 3G and 4G spectrum, enabling backward compatibility with older devices.
However, a new opportunity is emerging with 600 MHz spectrum that has just been opened. T-Mobile is making a strong play for this space in the U.S., but that comes with a compatibility price as specialized equipment will be required and some devices designed for 600 MHz may not share other more traditional spectrum ranges.
One of the ways 5G will overcome the bandwidth limitations of today's systems is through network slicing. Network slicing takes a page from the virtualization trend that has driven greater density, capacity and capability in data centers by "slicing" resources up in order to share more idle resources and increase overall usage. With network slicing, 5G carriers will have better utilization of their networks, handling more users and transferring more data simultaneously.
4. Rural and remote locations
Rural and remote locations probably won't have 5G service until well after most urban buildouts have been completed. While 5G applications abound in areas such as agriculture and mining, where remote access is required, carriers might not find it cost-effective to deploy 5G in some remote locations.
However, a remote rollout could happen if a large customer is willing to help cover costs or an existing cabled backhaul already exists.
Much of what will drive 5G deployment expansion will be the economic ROI that a carrier can capture from a particular geographic region.
Economically speaking, the 5G sweet spot for carriers will happen at the point when they can begin to take 3G and 4G systems offline or reduce the footprint. This creates a challenge as businesses may wait until the ROI makes sense to move to 5G, but for 5G to be cost-effective, more businesses will need to have transitioned.
5. Price premium
Early purchases of 5G services initially incurred a price premium as carriers tried to offset the significant capital investments in these new technologies. 5G is expensive to deploy, so carriers tried to segment the market early in order to optimize their short-term revenue.
Eventually, broader competitive pressures required carriers to reduce 5G prices in order to maintain competitiveness. At this point, Verizon appears to be the only U.S. vendor with an explicit 5G premium, although others may have rolled 5G access into the higher-priced cellular packages, pushing up the typical monthly bill.
6. Security
Finally, 5G will have a different security model than 3G and 4G as it will include new security capabilities. The good news for businesses is carriers will handle most of this implementation. But, for businesses that build network services on top of 5G cellular networks, understanding these new security models will be critical to ensure they are building comprehensive, secure services.
While 5G limitations are evident, the long-term benefits of 5G will outweigh the disadvantages. And, on balance, 5G will introduce new opportunities for businesses to become more agile and competitive over time.
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Here's what we think. . . |
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The 5G World
by Mike Creeden CID+ MIT
Technical Director, Insulectro Design & Education
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5G - Touching Our Lives
Insulectro as the distributor of DuPont, Isola laminates and substrates, as well as other vital fabrication products CAC®, LCOA®, Pacothane®, Ormet® and Focus Tech Chemistry, is heavily involved in this electronics’ industry enabling 5G infrastructure.
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We have talked about the many aspects that 5G can touch in our lives. These ideas need to be repeated, and the list needs to be enhanced because so many of these can truly be beneficial to our society and business.
5G has the potential to increase speeds and bandwidth and we will utilize this in so much more than just our personal communication devices. It will become infused in so many end usages of our society.
We know there exists a back haul for global interconnection. But 5G is challenged in the mid-range distance as it cannot transmit as far as 4G. Therefore, the need for network repeaters will become very significant. A network repeater takes signals from nearby cell sites, amplifies the signals from those sites and retransmits them to previously underserved areas.
Repeaters are especially beneficial in dense urban areas with multiple buildings and floors like apartment buildings and dormitories. By installing repeaters between the cell site and the area being served, the repeater can amplify the signal and increase the 5G footprint. And this roll-out will take some time to continue to expand. The good news is this means more circuit boards!
Our society is rapidly changing and adapting right before our eyes. Because we are so close to it, we often do not see it change. It is similar to me not seeing my 4th grandson over this last year. As a result, he has grown significantly and that is noticeable to me, but his parents do not notice the cumulative growth right before their eyes.
The days of Covid are something we are all eager to put behind us. I am sure I can get a rousing, “Amen” to that. However, in hindsight what we may not be seeing is that Covid is becoming an accelerant for change in our society. What is now occurring is people are working remotely, schooling at home or streaming their favorite shows. 5G mobility will enable us to experience ultra-fast wireless speeds and take advantage of new immersive customer experiences never before available.
Another area that will be forever changed is the next-gen of health care with the Internet of Medical Things (IOMT). Also, 5G superfast speeds, massive bandwidth, and low latency will allow virtual reality, and augmented reality to help not just with gaming, which is much more prevalent than most of us know, it will also support intelligent autonomous Electronic Vehicles (EV) each with hundreds of sensors transmitting tera-bits of data and keeping us safer than how we currently drive.
I understand there will be much resistance at first for personal usage. This will first be used with transportation of goods, then with public transportation, and eventually it will receive general societal acceptance for personal usage.
Because the innovation of 5G is on the near horizon, how we embrace it may have a significant impact on the destiny for us as individuals and companies in our industry. We have a choice on how we embrace adapting to innovation. As you think about these potential technologies, consider that each one of these innovations will require circuit boards from all industry sectors and this is our collective business.
In this column we will look at 5G technical challenges, solutions and applications. We hope to hear from you on some of the issues you’ve faced and successes you’ve had as we build, “The 5G World”.
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INSULECTRO'S COPPER & COPPER FOIL OFFERINGS |
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Not All Foil is Created Equal!
Copper Complexity & Clarification!
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Focus on Electro-Deposited Grade 11 Foil!
A True VLP2 copper for Flex and Rigid Applications
JX-EFL V2 18µm in stock!
Not only has thinner foil become a fabrication trend but smoother topography too. Combine that request with the design preference of RTF (Reverse Treated Foil) and you have the JX-EFL with a treated Rz of 1.7 µm. This foil is released to meet IPC 4562A Grade 3 (HTE), Grade 10 (LTA) and Grade 11 (Annealable) foil grades.
For this month’s release let’s look at VLP2 Foil, technically VLP stands for Very Low Profile and is a laminator term rather than an official IPC classification. (New IPC 4562A to be released very soon!) The #2 designation denotes the maximum profile height, as the current IPC specification notes a Low Profile foil is under 5.1 µm.
The production mills continue to deliver superior products to support the emerging trends and material requirements for the next generation of HSD and RF designs.
This Electro-Deposited foil is specifically designed for use in Flex and Rigid application which using a Polyimide film. It is available between 9 µm and 70 µm of ¼ oz up to 2oz and 20” wide. Achieving roughly 5.7 lbs. per Inch peel strength despite the low roughness profile. If you have additional questions please reach out.
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For additional information, please contact me.
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:
When it comes to screen tension…..too little is not good and too much is not good either!
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Too little of mesh tension will allow the mesh to move under the squeegee causing soldermask to flow into the holes. It will also cause the mesh to retract very slowly off the surface of the panel.
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Too much tension could cause the squeegee to flex during printing and leave a heavier deposit on the outside edges of the panel. Not to mention the extra mechanical stress needed from the machines mechanical system.
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Shurloc and experienced screening department supervisors have pinpointed the optimal tension so you get the best performance across the board, or should I say “panel”!
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Contact your Insulectro Account Manager to see how the Shurloc frame system can better assist at your facility!
- Shurloc can custom fit most any size frame to your application.
- Ease of use, “anyone” can learn to stretch a frame.
- Continuous consistent tension throughout the frame
- Frames can be stretched in a matter of minutes
- Ready for use immediately (no more leaving frames/mesh settle out for hours and then have to re-tension before use.)
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IBC Brushes!
In a previous article I had mentioned about how you could overuse your pumice brushes and the depletion in performance when doing so.
The same can also be said when overusing your debur brushes as well!
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The ends of a silicon carbide grit brush bristle are cut at a specific angle and need to be installed for the correct rotation. The bristles are also cut at a specific length as well. These bristles have a certain amount of flex to them. The shorter they get, the more aggressive they can become on the surface of the copper.
If it is a manual machine, the pressures must be monitored consistently to get the best results and must also be monitored on when a brush change is needed.
If it is a fully automatic machine, then the combination of thickness reader, rpm compensation from brush wear and width reader will assist in the brush performance and then automatically tell you when you’ve met the life of the brush, not the maximum adjustment!
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In case you didn't happen to catch the “5 Reasons to Call Insulectro” for your Service needs!
Remember that we can assist in your equipment needs through the following.
- Equipment Reviews and Audits
- Service and support
- Preventative Maintenance Programs
Ruben Zambrano
Field Application Engineer
Cell: 847-345-3759
Please reach out should you like to discuss any of these topics further.
Thank you.
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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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