News
NEW YORK, Aug. 24 - A majority of U.S. business and IT executives anticipate increases in IT expenditures over the next three years, according to results of a survey released today by Accenture.
The study, which queried more than 300 general business managers and IT executives of large U.S.-based companies, found that 55% of respondents expect their organizations to increase their IT expenditures over the next three years, with only 10% expecting decreased spending.
In addition, of the 84% of respondents who indicated that productivity at their companies had increased over the past several years, most identified IT-related factors as key to that increase. Specifically, 83% cited "better use of technology" and 65% selected "the right amount of investment in technology."
However, the survey identified several areas where the business managers were disappointed in the effectiveness and impact of IT. Most notably, 47% of business managers and 51% of IT executives said their companies did not know how to make their technology organizations accountable for delivering real business value. In addition, 52% of the business managers said that IT is underdelivering relative to what their companies spend.
The results are based on an online survey conducted in June and July. A total of 302 executives were surveyed at U.S. companies with more than 5,000 employees and median annual revenue of $10 billion.
North American-based semi tool makers posted $1.61 billion in orders in July, using a three-month average basis, the trade group SEMI said today. Bookings were even with revised June numbers and 128% ahead of a year ago.
A book-to-bill of 1.05 means that $105 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.
The July 90-day average of worldwide billings was $1.54 billion, up 2% over revised June levels and 96% ahead of last year.
"Bookings have increased sequentially for eleven months and are at the highest point since early 2001," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. "The bookings and billings values for North American-based equipment companies have stabilized at high levels and support our global billings outlook for the second highest revenue year on record for our industry."
The EMS maker is offering what it calls its Green Services to OEMs seeking to comply with pending environmental initiatives, including the Restriction of Hazardous Substances legislation, which will require the removal of a number of hazardous substances, including lead, from electronics components by July 1, 2006.
Depending on they type products they design, OEMs will go through the transition in stages, Celestica general manager of engineering services Dan Henes observes. "There's a suite of [stages] that each customer will have to go through. Some will go through [these stages] themselves, some will need help."
In a phone interview with Circuits Assembly, Henes said that Celestica can offer either "point" services - specific solutions to specific problems, for example, help with certain design problems - or an end-to-end solution. "By breaking this into bite-sized pieces, customers can move at their own pace. They need to conduct an assessment of their designs and materials are in terms of compliance. We can do that BOM/risk analysis for them."
Among the services offered are consulting services, turnkey product conversion and technology qualification.
Henes noted that companies like Celestica, which directly handles designs from OEMs and buys materials from vendors, are best-positioned to help the supply chain navigate through the dizzying maze of lead-free alternatives and paperwork. "There's the synchronization of design, manufacturing processes and the component supply base. Some customers are struggling with, who's doing what in the supply base? We're probably in the best position to navigate that."
As evidence, Henes points to obscured effects of the lead-free conversion, which he believes EMS firms are attuned to. "You may have a product today that has 100 parts. Half meet lead-free legislation, and require no banned substitutes. The design and supplier [of those parts] say, 'We don't have to do anything for those.' But you need [lead-free] solder, which requires higher processing temperatures, and now you have to go back and qualify these new redesigned parts and put them side-by-side with the components that the OEM thought were OK. It's not because of lead conversion, but the temperature extremes that are a side effect of the conversion
The transition, Henes says, is like a "massive industry engineering change." He asserts that for a Tier 1 EMS provider like Celestica, "this is what we do for a living."
According to Celestica, the company has been working on environmental compliance issues since 1999. Consortia work to date has included building lead-free boards to support the High Density Packaging Users Group's lead-free programs; sponsoring and directing the Centre for Microelectronics Assembly and Packaging's lead-free development activities for Canadian universities, and leading a NEMI program on the assembly and reworkability of lead-free solder joints.
Press Releases
- SIA Applauds CHIPS Act Incentives for GlobalWafers Projects in Texas and Missouri
- ROCKA Solutions Continues Expansion in Brazil with New Location in Manaus
- Juki America Announces New Regional Sales Manager for the Southwest Territory
- WittcoSales Welcomes New Team Member to Enhance Customer Experience and Service