Ready for action: shops seeking DoD work: (Dozens Undergoing MIL-PRF-31032).

COLUMBUS, OH -- Dozens of printed circuit board manufacturers are working toward MIL-PRF-31032 compliancy, according to a report prepared in January by the agency that oversees the qualification program.

During the last quarter of 2002, five PCB companies were issued certifications by the Defense Supply Center Columbus (dscc.dla.mil), bringing the total number of compliant shops to 17 (Table 1). So far this year three more sites have been issued QML certifications.

In addition, multiple companies are now qualified to build so-called alternate construction (blind and buried via, sequential lamination) and controlled impedance printed boards. Several companies are in the process of achieving QML-31032 capabilities for buried resistor and buried capacitance constructions, DSCC said in the report.

In the past quarter, Crown Circuits (Carlsbad, CA), Ambitech (Chatsworth, CA), Micom Corp. (New Brighton, MN), Sovereign Circuits (North Jackson, OH) and Hans Brockstedt Gmbh (Kiel, Germany) qualified to MIL-PRF-31032/1 and MIL-PRF-31032/2. Hans Brockstedt is the first QML-31032 manufacturer in Europe.

MIL-PRF-31032/1 covers multiplayer boards, while MIL-PRF-31032/2 covers single- and double-sided rigid boards.

Sovereign and Hans Brockstedt also qualified to MIL-PRF+31032/3 and MIL-PRF-31032/4. MIL-PRF-31032/3 covers single- and double-sided flex circuits; MIL-PRF-31032/4 covers multilayer flex. Sovereign is the first to qualify QML-31032 production capabilities for woven quartz reinforced polyimide boards.

Tyco PCB Group (Austin, TX), the former Texas Instruments and Raytheon PCB plant, was the first to submit a QM plan and to be listed. Teradyne Connection Systems (Nashua, NH) was the first to undergo and pass the audit.

Since Jan. 1, Sanmina-SCI (Costa Mesa, CA), Tyco (Stafford, CT) and DDi (Dulles, VA) have been added to the QML list (Table 2). Strataflex Canada Corp. has completed a validation audit. There is typically a lag of several months between an audit and notification of QML certification.

Tyco Stafford and Strataflex are "major sources" of boards for military equipment, the DSCC report said.

DSCC certifies specific sites to the QML list. Therefore, it is possible that within a particular company, only certain sites are on the list. Nearly 30 other sites are preparing quality management plans, the DSCC report said. For a list visit pcdandm.com.

TABLE 1. QML Listed Companies

COMPANY                                 CERTIFICATION   1ST LISTING
                                           ISSUED         ON QML

Tyco PCG, Austin, TX                      Feb. 1997      Feb. 1997
Teradyne Inc., Nashua, NH                 July 1996     March 1997
Dynamic & Proto Circuits,                 July 1998      July 1998
  Stoney Creek, Ontario
Philway Products, Ashland, OH            Sept. 1998      Aug. 1999
Lockheed Martin, Owego, NY                Nov. 1999      Nov. 1999
Lockheed Martin, Orlando, FL              Dec. 1999      Dec. 1999
Proto Circuit Inc., Twinsburg, OH         Jan. 1999      Jan. 2000
Printed Circuits, Minneapolis, MN         May 2000       Oct. 2000
Diversified Systems, Indianapolis, IN     Feb. 2001      Feb. 2001
Sanmina Tech Center East,                 Oct. 2001      Oct. 2001
  Ward Hill, MA (1)
Coretec Denver, Littleton, CO             Aug. 2001      Nov. 2001
Electronic Circuits & Design,             Mar. 2002      Apr. 2002
  Sebring, OH
Crown Circuits, Carlsbad, CA              Apr. 2002      Aug. 2002
Ambitech, Chatsworth, CA                  July 2002     Sept. 2002
Micom Corp., New Brighten, MN             June 2002      Oct. 2002
Hans Brockstedt, Kiel, Germany            Oct. 2002      Oct. 2002
Sovereign Circuits,                       Oct. 2002      Dec. 2002
  North Jackson OH

(1) Closed.

TABLE 2. Companies In-Process for QML Listing (1)

COMPANY                                 VALIDATION   CERTIFICATION
                                        PERFORMED       ISSUED

Sanmina-SCI, Costa Mesa, CA             Sept. 2002     Dec. 2002
Tyco PCG, Stafford, CT                  Nov. 2002      Feb. 2003
Strataflex, Toronto, Canada             Nov. 2002
Calumet Electronics, Calumet, MI        Aug. 2002
Dynamic Details, Dulles, VA             Dec. 2002      Mar. 2003
Pronto Circuit Technologies,            Apr. 2002
  Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Geometric Circuits,                      May 2002
  Farmingdale, NY
Tyco PCG (2), Santa Clara, CA
Sanmina-SCI (2), Wilmington, MA
Unicircuit Inc. (3), Littleton, CO
Vermont Circuits (3), Battleboro, VT
Lonestar Circuits (3), Wylie, TX
Saturn Electronics (3), Romulus, MI
Compunetics Inc. (3), Monroeville, PA

(1) Have submitted quality management plans.

(2) Validation scheduled but certification not issued as of Feb. 21.

(3) QM planned submitted

Source: DSCC