Pronto Completes $2.5 Million Facility Enhancement

FT. LAUDERDALE, FL (February 7, 2002). Pronto Circuit Technologies, Inc., a leading quick-turn manufacturer of multilayer printed circuit boards, celebrated the completion of its new $2.5 million state-of-the-art, thin-core, inner-layer processing facility during an open house today. Customers and sales representatives received in-depth technical tours and participated in an open forum with Pronto management to address customer needs and expectations.

The new facility significantly enhances Pronto's capabilities to produce complex printed circuit boards with greater layer counts. Pronto now can efficiently produce boards with up to 20 or more layers. The new facility includes a Class 10,000 clean room. New equipment dedicated to processing inner layers includes x-ray drilling equipment, a conveyorized multibond line, a computer-controlled lamination press, and a develop-etch-strip line that can accommodate 0.002 inch material. With the new facility, Pronto can achieve improved quality, higher throughput, increased layer counts, 0.004 inch lines and spaces, and a finished hole size of 0.008 inches. Immediate efficiencies and advantages are evident for PCB designs requiring six or more layers.

Pronto now operates from 40,000 square feet of ISO-9002 registered, climate-controlled facilities in Fort Lauderdale. The company is UL-listed and mil-spec qualified. Capabilities include controlled impedance, buried and blind vias, and the ability to handle teflon, duroid, polyimide and other unique materials.

Bob Versiackas, Pronto's President, stated, "Pronto services the needs of some of America's leading high-technology companies for time-critical prototype, ramp-to-volume, and medium-volume production of multilayer printed circuit boards. As our customers' designs become more complex and space critical, we continue to expand our capabilities to satisfy those needs. This new facility places Pronto in the top tier of PCB suppliers."

Pronto Circuit Technologies is owned by North American Funds, partnerships of institutional investors that specialize in acquiring small businesses and developing them into significantly larger enterprises. North American, with offices in Chicago and Fort Lauderdale, has acquired companies in a wide variety of industries since its formation in 1989.