Shipley and Grace form exclusive agreement

Shipley Company, L.L.C., part of Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials, today announced an agreement with Grace Electron Corp. to broaden its circuit board product offerings to include substrate materials. Shipley will become the exclusive distributor of Grace Electron laminate and prepreg materials in North America. Details of the agreement were not disclosed.Together, the two companies will provide circuit board manufacturers among the most advanced, high quality substrate materials available. Shipley’s outstanding distribution and service network will support customers using the Grace Electron substrate material product line. The Grace Electron products will be offered under Shipley’s existing Strata™ product portfolio. Circuit boards (PWB) are the platforms upon which electronic components such as integrated circuit chips and capacitors are mounted. The circuit board provides both the physical structure for mounting and holding electronic components, as well as the electrical interconnection between components. Substrate materials form the base for the manufacturing of circuit boards. Bob Ferguson, General Manager of North America for Shipley’s PWB Division said, "We are pleased to form this strategic alliance with Grace Electron to expand our North American product offerings and better serve our customers. This move expands our materials and process solutions for our customers’ manufacturing needs while leveraging Grace’s manufacturing cost structure." Ferguson added, "Partnering with Grace Electron aligns with our technology leadership position as well as our commitment to offer next generation products." John Wang, Grace Electron U.S. President said, "This new relationship with Shipley means our technologically-advanced laminate and prepreg materials will be more readily available to North American circuit board manufacturers through Shipley’s thoroughly established supply chain."