Standard Register’s Industramark Business Unit Receives Multiple PRism Awards from Dayton PRSA
DAYTON, Ohio—-Industramark™, a Standard Register business unit, has been awarded five PRism Awards—including the Judge’s Choice Award—by the Dayton Area Public Relations Society of America in recognition of its successful public relations and communications programs in 2010.

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LAS VEGAS, NV–(Marketwire – 04/07/10) – APEX 2010 – Mentor Graphics Corporation (NASDAQ: MENT – News ) today announced that it has received the Circuits Assembly New Product Introduction (NPI) Award for the Valor MSS manufacturing systems solution suite for PCB assembly in the Software-Management category. Mentor’s Valor Division was formerly Valor Computerized Systems, Ltd. The award was …Preview Changes

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China Drawing High-Tech Research From U.S.
As China develops a high-tech economy, American companies like Applied Materials are building research labs there to capitalize on subsidies and cheap labor.

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With the signing of the economic stimulus bill, there has been a rush to identify “shovel ready” jobs. But, behind the scenes, business and government leaders are grappling with the problems of being “people ready” for the millions of green jobs that will be created through the investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Meanwhile, job seekers, anxious and excited about the prospect of a lifeline into a new career, are finding it difficult and confusing to identify and determine the qualifications needed for a sustainable jobs. Many find, after navigating the waves of information about the green jobs, they end up with far more questions than answers.
An ebook released by www.TheCompleteGreenJobGuide.com identifies the challenges and solutions for green job hunters trying to make the transition to a sustainable job. “The Complete Green Job Guide 2009: Secrets For Getting The Job You Want” is the most up-to-date green job search resource available.
Experts agree that the money allocated thus far for training falls far short of that needed to meet the demands for skilled workers trying to make a green job transition in the coming years. In fact, research conducted by National Renewable Energy Lab (http://www.nrel.gov/) shows the major barriers to a rapid adoption of renewable energy and energy efficiency are insufficient skills and training in America’s workforce.
It is important to understand that momentum for green energy has been building for several years. After almost thirty years of debating the issues, government, business, financial and environmental experts agree that the conversion to sustainable energy is a necessity. The message is clear: we must act now. And those who act on their own to adapt to the new job market will have limitless opportunities in a green energy economy.
With the support of government and business, green energy is poised to provide the largest growth in employment opportunities of recent decades. Statistics prove the green job movement has already started.
• The American Solar Energy Society (http://www.ases.org/) reported that nearly 8.5 million jobs were created in renewable energy and energy-efficient industries in 2006. By 2030, that number will sky rocket to 40 million. In twenty years, one in four workers will be in a green energy job.
• The online job site, Career Builders (http://www.careerbuilder.com/ ), reports that thirteen percent of employers they surveyed said they plan to add “green jobs” in 2009, up thirty percent from the previous year.
• Several studies estimate that $1 invested in renewable energy or energy efficiency would yield up to four times as many jobs as $1 invested in oil and gas.
In his pre-inaugural speech on the economy, then President-elect Obama outlined the reasons for investing in sustainable alternatives when he spoke of the paradox and the promise. “So many are in need of work and there is so much work to be done.” It will take an army of workers—an estimated 5 million—from all backgrounds to begin the work to build viable alternative energy sources; retrofit our homes, offices, schools and hospitals for energy efficiency; improve and expand mass transportation; build fuel efficient cars and trucks, and develop biofuels.
For many, the big question remains unanswered. That is how to be competitive in the green job market? With information scattered throughout agencies, it is difficult to understand the qualifications needed to qualify for the cleantech jobs, what businesses are emerging in this new market that will create sustainable jobs, and how to conduct an effective green job search.
Never before have so many complex issues intersected to create such an urgent need to act. This complexity makes information a key advantage for the green job hunter. Those who don’t arm themselves with research, don’t monitor ongoing developments, and don’t take the initiative to identify, adapt and upgrade their skills risk losing an early advantage in the emerging green economy.
So where do you start in this quest for information? Inspired by the growing questions among job seekers, the green hiring professionals at www.TheCompleteGreenJobGuide.com decided to find answers. To find the answers green job hunters need, their staff did extensive research to:
• review the history of the green energy job movement
• consult with hiring and training experts
• examine the statistics to ferret out the facts behind the headlines
The results of their research is compiled in a comprehensive report, “The Complete Green Job Guide 2009: Secrets For Getting The Job You Want”. For those green job seekers who want the make transition into a sustainable job, “The Complete Green Job Guide 2009: Secrets For Getting The Job You Want” is a comprehensive green job resource which organizes your job search into a ten-step program. The steps are:
1. First things first: define a green energy job?
• Green energy is a move toward a new economy, with new industries, new jobs, and a new vision for economic and environmental stability. Learn what defines a green energy job.
2. Be informed and be committed
• Although green energy is a key item in the stimulus package, it is first and foremost a critical part of discussions on national security, energy independence and global warming. Any professional pursuing a career in this market segment will need a thorough understanding of the myriad of issues impacting green energy.
3. Learn “green speak”
• Green tech, cleantech, sustainable…green terms such as these have become part of corporate and popular culture. New idioms show up in conversation frequently. Job candidates need to extend their grammar check to include green glossaries and dictionaries.
4. Find the company that fits
• Find out where green jobs are growing. Identify the top new business in the industries for your green job search. Learn where green jobs are emerging in traditional businesses.
5. Pick the job you want
• What are the job titles for a green energy job. Qualifications? Career track? Pay? Green job seekers will need to see where they fit in the new job market.
6. Take inventory and show your skills
• Assess your skills for a green job transition. How will you transfer them to a green energy job?
7. Bulk up your qualifications
• Do you need more training or certification? Identify short term, cost effective ways to become better qualified for a green energy job.
8. Be sociable and network your way into the back door
• Learn how to get into the back door through personal contacts. Understand how social networking can enhance your green job search.
9. Brand your unique qualifications
• Translate your unique abilities into benefits for cleantech job. Create your own brand, and market it through your resume, letters, networking contacts, and interviews.
10. Make job boards and job fairs work for you.
• Navigate the 40,000 job boards and effectively narrow your search. Utilize job fairs for research and visibility and find the one that will help you make the green job transition.
By following these ten steps, job seekers can successfully navigate the path to a green job. As job losses mount weekly, that transition becomes increasingly urgent. The good news is that, armed with a thorough understanding of its goals and requirements, we have the opportunity to meet the challenge being “people ready” for the emerging economy.

The concept of “clean tech” is a response to the projected population growth on the planet, which is estimated to be 2.3 billion people by the 2050. The theory is that clean tech companies, which address environmental sustainability as part of their overall business strategy for profitability, will be the model that successful companies will have to use in order address the increasing demand for food, clothing, shelter and other scarce resources that will only increase as incomes rise across the globe.

Where “green tech” evolved in the 1970s from government controls intended to mitigate the effects of manufacturing and agricultural pollutants on the environment, “clean tech” is built into the business model from the very beginning. Green tech has traditionally always seen as an expensive, but required, drain on a company’s profits. Clean tech is built into the business strategy as an acknowledgement that resource scarcity and pollution exist and must be addressed when planning profitable strategies. It is a long the same lines as when a business incorporates the cost of paying office rent or the cost of purchasing manufacturing materials into its overall budget.

Also, there are some products which are included in green funds which would never be included in a clean fund, such as ethanol. Where an alternative energy fund would include a company which produces ethanol in its fund because ethanol is considered to be an alternative to petroleum based fuels, a clean tech fund would not include an ethanol-producing company in its portfolio because of it’s net carbon effect. Ethanol production requires so much petroleum based fuel in order to grow the corn and process it, that there is negligible positive effect on the environment for using it.

Green tech Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) tend to focus narrowly on a single business sector, like energy, manufacturing or recycling. As a result, green energy Exchange Traded Funds can be extremely volatile and sensitive to fluctuations in the price of oil. Clean tech ETFs have not been so volatile (although, in fairness, they have only been around since the Clean Tech Index was created in 2006, so there is not a long history to track). Clean tech companies exist across a broader range of business sectors like agriculture, manufacturing, transportation and new materials. As a result, clean tech Exchange Traded Funds have seen a more stable performance, comparable to the returns from the S&P 500 Index.

Contract electronics manufacturing service or EMS providers typically work with customers in a wide range of industries with differing requirements for inventory control, testing, product packaging, and product support. In some applications, the EMS provider simply assembles the printed circuit boards and then ships the boards to the customer. In other applications, the EMS provider will assemble the printed circuit board, load firmware/software into memory, test the board, and then assemble the board and associated cables, enclosures, and documentation into a finished product that is shipped to the customer.

Some customers will provide all of the materials (raw boards and electronic components) required for a job and the EMS provider assemblies the printed circuit boards, performs any required testing, and ships the finished boards to the customer. This is generally considered as inventory provided on a consignment basis where the EMS provider basically provides labor and expertise only. Some customers will provide some portion on the materials (such as specialty or high cost integrated circuits, proprietary parts such as transformers or coils, raw printed circuit boards, etc.) and rely on the EMS provider to purchase the remainder of the components needed to assemble the boards. Most EMS providers prefer to

use their own purchasing power, their extensive contacts, and their existing parts inventory where applicable to provide all of the required materials for a customer’s particular project. This method is generally considered as inventory provided on a turn-key basis.

But before any of this can happen, the EMS provider must provide an assembled board quote or pricing estimate to the customer for the project. In addition to the quantity commitments (production release quantity and annual usage quantity), this pricing process also requires a detailed bill of material from the customer along with a set of the Gerber files for the printed circuit board(s). The BOM should define all of the components along with the approved vendor and vendor’s part number for each component. This information allows the Materials Management group to determine availability (lead time), packaging, and pricing for each component based on the quantities and vendor information. The BOM information

is also needed to allow a technical review to determine the amount of labor and the equipment required to place the parts and to solder the components to the board.

The Gerber files for the printed circuit board design provide Materials Management with the information they need in order to get raw board pricing and lead times from the printed circuit board manufacturing vendors. The Gerber files also provide the Manufacturing Group with the information they need to develop the manufacturing plan (are components on top only or top and bottom of board; surface mount, thru hole, or mixed component types; wave solder or reflow oven processes required, etc.). The Manufacturing Group also has to estimate time to program the component placement equipment and to load the

components in the placement feeders (set-up costs), costs to order the solder paste stencil(s), and must also quantify test plans, procedures, and required test equipment. In order to correctly place components on the printed circuit board with each component properly oriented, the EMS provider will need silkscreen files to know the correct orientation of the parts on each side of the board. The screen paste files for surface mount applications will be required to order the stencils for the solder paste application to the board prior to the part placements.

All of this may seem to be a lot of information, but each piece is needed in order to provide the most cost effective pricing for the finished product. Fortunately, the Gerber files are usually readily available from the pcb design system as the Gerber format is the industry standard output format. The BOM is usually in the form of an Excel spreadsheet or formal drawing. Assist your EMS provider by providing the approved vendor’s name and part number for each component.

In Summary:

The information required to prepare an accurate quotation for a typical printed circuit board assembly project includes:

* Definition of inventory method (consignment, partial consignment, or turn-key).

* Complete Bill of Material with at least one manufacturer’s name and part number for each component along with notes identifying any component(s) to be supplied by the customer.

* Gerber files for the printed circuit board design(s).

* Estimated Annual Usage (EAU) quantities and production release quantities.

* Name of technical contact person, along with their telephone number, fax number, and email address.

Additional information that may be helpful if you have it available:

* Assembly, schematic, and PCB drawings.

* Sample board assembly or prototype board assembly to review.

* Test requirements and procedures required by the customer.

Jim Usery

Sales and Marketing Director

Innovative Circuits, Inc.

311A S Parkway St

Corinth, MS 38834

office 662-287-2007

toll free 866-887-7381

fax 662-665-9275

email jusery@icimfg.com

Visit our website at www.icimfg.com for more information about Innovative Circuits, Inc. and the services and expertise that we provide to our customers or for additional technical articles. You can also sign up for our free Ezine, PCB Information, at the bottom of the Home Page at www.icimfg.com.