COVID-19
operation status of our customers.“ Renesas set up a task force
already at the beginning of February to deal with the effects of
the virus on production and organize appropriate measures. The
priority is to prevent the virus from spreading within the company
and to protect employees, business partners and customers.
In addition, the situation will be monitored and appropriate
measures taken flexibly, the company said.
Infineon, whose deliveries to the automotive industry are also
critical for its business, also holds back with comments. “As a
matter of principle, we are not commenting on the current order
situation,” a spokesperson said. “We are observing the development
very closely, a final evaluation is currently still difficult to
estimate”. Whether such a statement creates trust is left to the
reader.
But there is also good news - from China of all places, where
the pandemic originated, the situation seems to be gradually
changing for the better. There, Beijing Hyundai, Hyundai’s Chinese
joint venture with BAIC Motor, has resumed operations at
its three production sites after the corona virus outbreak.
Shortage of alcohol orients manufacturers towards water-based fluxes
By DJulien Happich ue to the corona virus, the supply of alcohol-based
fluxes to electronic manufacturers has been somewhat
disrupted, notes Markus Geßner, Marketing and Sales
Manager of soldering flux vendor Emil Otto GmbH.
Rising demand and a massive
shortage of alcohol on the
market have led to a steady
rise in prices and a shortage
of fluxes. The company has
seen an increased number
of electronics service providers
switching to water-based
fluxes of its water-based
Green Line series.
“Since there is virtually no
artificial alcohol on the market
anymore, production volumes
are becoming smaller and
smaller as demand increases. We expect this development to
continue in the coming weeks”, says Markus Geßner, Marketing
and Sales Manager of Emil Otto GmbH.
The Green Line series contain fluxes for wave and selective
soldering. All water-based fluxes can be used on the production
systems known on the market. The soldering results correspond
to those achieved with alcohol-based fluxes. A change to
ecological, alcohol-independent, water-based fluxes is therefore
possible without further effort. Geßner has had unusual
telephone conversations when customers want to stock up on
quantities that are no longer available
in Emil Otto’s warehouse.
“A supply is simply not possible,
as the majority of alcohol-based
fluxes have been sold in the past
few days and a new production
is only possible with a massive
price increase, because the prices
we are now paying for alcohol in
purchasing are extremely high”,
explains Geßner.
The marketing and sales manager
therefore advises his customers
to switch to readily available
Green Line fluxes. The first electronics manufacturers are taking
this step and are being actively supported by Geßner and his
team in converting the soldering process. Often companies
had planned a change to water-based fluxes but had not yet
realized it. In the current situation the step seems to be final for
some contract manufacturers.
Medtronic releases full design files for portable ventilator
VBy Nick Flaherty entilator maker Medtronic has released the full manufacturing
files, with code, of one of its older designs to
help to address the Covid-19
outbreak.
The PB560 portable ventilator
provides up to 11 hours of operation.
The files for the Medtronic PB560 –
Release 1.0 (.zip) include the electrical
schematics, manuals, manufacturing
documents, requirements documents
and a permissive license.
“We invite manufacturers, engineers,
and other innovators to use
these files as inspiration for their own
innovations,” said the company.
The company says the files may
be used subject to the terms of a license agreement specifically
within the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, which raises the
question of how any derivatives of the design can be used later
on.
While Medtronic is providing
these assets free of charge for
third-party development according
to its terms and conditions, it says
it does not assume any liability
or responsibility for their use or
application. This is of course a key
issue for any developer of medical
equipment. The company is also
ramping up ventilator production
at its site in Galway, Ireland,
to provide systems for hospitals
around the world.
www.medtronic.com/us-en/e/open-files/thank-you.html
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