SAN JOSE – North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.65 billion in orders in February, the trade group SEMI said. The three-month average orders fell 1% from January, but were up 28% year-over-year.

The February book-to-bill ratio was 1.05, meaning that $105 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month. It was the fifth straight month the ratio rose.

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ESPOO, FINLAND – PCB maker Aspocomp Group will buy the minority stake in its ACP Electronics Ltd. joint venture from Taiwanese partner Chin-Poon Holdings, the company said today.

Aspocomp will spend 37.8 million euros to purchase the 49% minority interest in the Suzhou, China-based company. The deal is expected to be finalized in March.

Aspocomp Group Oyj owns 51% of ACP Electronics, and the JV’s net sales and results have been consolidated into Aspocomp's figures since 2001.

Aspocomp expects the acquisition will be accretive to the company’s result. Last year, Aspocomp reported net sales of 149 million euros. It was the 57th largest PCB fabricator in 2005, according to Dr. Hayao Nakahara of NT Information.

   

FRANKLIN, MA – On Apr. 19, Speedline will offer a Webcast on practical applications of design of experiments (DoE) and SPC. The Webinar will discuss factorial design and provide simple techniques with examples engineers and technicians can adapt to their production processes. The one-hour presentation begins at 11:00 a.m. EDT. For more information and to register, visit www.speedlinetech.com/seminars.