NEENAH, WI-- Plexus Corp. will add about 60,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing space in China, bringing its total in the Xiamen Xiangyu
Free Trade Zone to 120,000 sq. ft. The company will use the space for high-mix, mid-to-low volume
production.
The addition is expected to be
completed by mid-2007, and production is expected to begin 60 to 90 days later.
EL SEGUNDO, CA — Seagate Technology in the first quarter
bolstered its lead in the hard disk drive market amid
stronger-than-expected demand throughout the industry, according to iSuppli Corp.
“Global HDD shipments amounted to 101.7 million units in the first
quarter of 2006, up 16.5% from 87.3 million units during the same
period of 2005. iSuppli had predicted growth of 15.4 percent,” said
Krishna Chander, senior storage analyst for iSuppli.
“Shipments declined by 1.7% compared to 103.4 million units in the
fourth quarter of 2005. However, HDD sales typically decrease
sequentially in the first quarter following the peak holiday period
during the fourth quarter. The stronger-than-expected HDD sales in the
first quarter were driven by demand from the mobile-PC and
consumer-electronics markets."
BRUSSELS -- The EU is soliciting comments on its New Approach Consultation paper,
which covers CE mark requirements, among other things.
The U.S. Department of Commerce plans on submitting comments and encourages affected companies to do the same, said Bob Straetz of
the Commerce
Department's Office of the European Union.
"Anyone who has to meet CE mark requirements on a regular basis might be
interested in seeing this report. The last five pages of the 51-page
document discuss possible revisions to the CE mark program. "
ATLANTA – Siemens Electronics Assembly Systems has inked a deal under which Northtouch/Comtree will represent Siemens in Canada, effective immediately.
In a press statement, David Intson, Siemens Canada sales manager for the Electronics Assembly Systems division, said, “This new relationship will provide Siemens with enhanced customer access to the Canadian electronics industry. While Northtouch/Comtree have been highly successful for many years in providing advanced SMT assembly solutions to the Canadian market; Siemens has been very successful in penetrating new accounts with leading edge SMT placement solutions for NPI, high-mix and high-volume applications. The joining of these organizations will result in enhanced customer focus and continued growth of SMT placement solutions for the Canadian market.”
Siemens Energy and Automation Inc. represents Siemens Automation and Drives (A&D) in the U.S. Its parent company, Siemens AG, is one of the largest global electronics and engineering companies with reported worldwide sales of $96 billion in fiscal 2005. Siemens has sales of $18.8 billion and employs approximately 70,000 people in the U.S.
ATLANTA – Siemens Automation and Drives has acquired 3D AOI
maker Opto-Control Elektronik Prufsysteme GmbH, effective July 5.
Opto-Control’s inspection systems are fully automated and
use 3-D sensor to detect solder or placement defects. The newly expanded Siplace portfolio combines
these AOI systems from Opto-Control with Siemens SMT placement machines,
enabling customers to better implement the high process reliability
requirements of electronics manufacturing, the company said.
The Opto-Control business will be integrated into the
Optical Solutions (OI) unit of Siemens’ Electronics Assembly Systems division.
Siemens said it wants to significantly expand its system with fully automated
3-D inspection systems in the future.
SALT LAKE CITY -- EMS provider CirTran Corp. today said it projects reporting a 30% increase in sales for its second quarter of fiscal 2006.
Iehab J. Hawatmeh, CirTran's founder, president and CEO, said that the company is projecting sales of approximately $2.2 million for the period ended June 30, up from $1.7 million for the first quarter.