LOS ALAMITOS, CA — Practical Components, a leading international distributor of mechanical IC samples or “dummy” components and SMD production tools and equipment, announces that it will showcase its latest technology at the 2008 APEX exhibition and conference that will take place April 1-3, 2008 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada. Practical will display its products in booth 2719.

Practical Components’ products are designed to help engineers qualify their technology, and train and grow their business while resulting in significant cost savings. According to Practical President Kevin Laphen, “Practicals’ dummy products are selected with care to be the finest ‘factory quality’ components as well as boards and kits that simulate real world production. Special attention is given to lead-free availability and formulations including all the various SAC formulations.”

On display will be new state-of-the-art Amkor Technology PoP (PSvfBGA) packages and body sizes, a stackable very thin fine-pitch BGA package; Amkor tsMLF (Thin Substrate Micro LeadFrame-TAPP) and the award winning Practical Components/Aegis Industrial Software PC009-40 Traceability and Control Validation Kit

Supporting these products is Practical’s free catalog and design guide that is organized by package type/category with each product accompanied by drawings, description, part number with special attention to lead-free availability and formulations as well as the new CD ROM containing bonus material, CircuitCAM tryout, and gerber and CircuitCAM project files.

Practical Components is the exclusive distributor of mechanical samples for Amkor Technology as well as distributing components from most other manufacturers. Practical has headquarters in Los Alamitos, Calif. with distributors worldwide.

Dummy components are exact mechanical equivalents of live components used only when the physical properties of the components are required. These components can cost as much as 80 percent less than live components, making the ideal for testing of solder processes, machine setup and other process evaluations.

Practical dummy components are used in assembly process evaluation, lead-free conversion, calibration, qualification, training and other situations where only the mechanical characteristics and not the functioning components are required.