Agfa Specialty Products and Du Pont Printed Circuit Materials (PCM), part of Du Pont Electronic Technologies, announce that Du Pont will distribute the new Agfa Idealine brand silver halide phototooling films and chemicals to Printed Wiring Board (PWB) fabricators. That will be throughout most of Asia and in the Americas. The new Agfa Idealine phototooling films will replace both Agfa Vivaldi and DuPont Image Master silver halide phototooling film and chemical product brands globally. The arrangement leverages both Agfa’s expertise in phototooling film development and manufacturing, and the extensive market presence of Du Pont in the PWB industry.
The new Agfa Idealine silver halide phototooling films and chemicals provide improved line edge quality and optimized surface characteristics to improve automated handling and inspection. Customer conversions have begun and are expected to continue through the third quarter of 2006, based on successful evaluations of Idealine to date. Minimal changes are required to existing process parameters, and there is noticeable improvement in phototool quality with the new films.
“Idealine film was developed by Agfa in a collaborative effort with Du Pont, based on feedback on customer needs in the global PWB market,” said Bob Seyfert, global marketing and technical manager, Phototools, Du Pont PCM.
The new distribution agreement expands the role of Du Pont PCM, currently the exclusive distributor of Agfa films in the Americas, to that of a distributor in the Asia Pacific region outside of Japan and Korea. Du Pont, in addition to its broad market presence in the region, will take advantage of existing local warehouses to provide effective and efficient supply to its Asian customers. Agfa will be able to take advantage of larger consolidated shipments, and there will be greater sharing of resources for technical support.
“Agfa is consolidating its operations to improve its routes to market and become a more efficient supplier of its films globally,” said Eric Janssens, business manager, Agfa PCB products. “This arrangement with Du Pont is a good fit, and will benefit our customers significantly in terms of product quality, service and supply. Du Pont knows the PWB imaging process and can provide excellent support to customers in this industry.”
EPP EUROPE 405
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