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HERNDON, VA -- A new standard for simplifying materials declaration being jointly developed by several leading trade groups will be circulated for industry review in June.

In a joint statement, IPC, iNEMI and RosettaNet said the draft of IPC-1752 will be released for a 60-day industry review on June 1.

The standard will integrate existing efforts, including recommendations from a pair of iNEMI projects plus RosettaNet's e-business process standards for material composition.

SHANGHAI -- UGS, a provider of product lifecycle management software and services, announced that Alcatel-Shanghai Bell has selected its Tecnomatix eM-Execution software for its board assembly operations and to provide traceability support and lead-free compliance.

Alcatel-Shanghai Bell will implement eM-Execution to provide full component, product and process traceability to comply with both customer and regulatory requirements. Alcatel-Shanghai Bell is also the launch customer for the new eM-Execution Lead Free solution as it prepares to meet the July 1, 2006 RoHS regulations.

"As the telecom solutions provider, we will continue to improve our product and process traceability to ensure quick response to market demands. We rely on UGS to further improve our shop floor data collection, analysis and management to meet the new Lead Free regulations," said Martin Lehnich, executive vice president of Alcatel-Shanghai Bell.

Tecnomatix is the digital manufacturing brand of UGS, which acquired Tecnomatix Technologies Ltd. on April 1.

LIVINGSTON, SCOTLAND -- Cadence Design has closed its design services unit in Scotland's "Silicon Glen" and up to 60 staff are expected to lose their jobs.

In a published report, the company confirmed it had put its local design services staff on a 30-day consultation period from April 10, and that "a significant number" of the 90 staff were likely to lose their jobs.

Tim Barnes, vice president for marketing at Cadence, said, "We made a strategic decision two years ago to focus on our software products, which design and develop integrated circuits for semiconductor makers and others.

"As part of this strategy, we must balance our design-service capabilities as makes sense. Our core business is software."

ST. LOUIS -- LaBarge Inc., a provider of electronics manufacturing services, has fully integrated a completely lead-free manufacturing process into its 
Pittsburgh facility, the company said today. 

LaBarge handles materials, manufacture and testing of assemblies for customers 
whose products must comply with new European environmental legislation.

Everything from components sourcing to soldering applications has been updated, 
the company said.

Londonderry, NH - Cobar Solder Products, the U.S. subsidiary of Cobar Group, today celebrated its first anniversary.

In a press release, the supplier of soldering materials said its customer base is expanding.

In a statement, general manager Lance Larrabee said Cobar's "vast experience with VOC-free and lead-free products [is] a tremendous benefit to U.S. companies converting to lead-free soldering, since our products have proven their compatibility in factories around the globe."

Earlier this year, Cobar introduced a low-VOC soldering flux for lead-free soldering in wave and selective soldering systems.

WEST CHICAGO -- Samtec led all suppliers of connectors last year in customer satisfaction with lead times, according to a just released survey.

With a score of 4.829, Samtec outpolled Phoenix Contact, which scored 4.265.

Respondents to the survey, which was taken last year, described its satisfaction with each supplier on a scale of 1 to 6, with 6 being "extremely satisfied." A score of 3.50 or above indicates a degree of satisfaction. The industry average was 3.902, Bishop said.

A total of 1,604 persons responded to the poll, which was conducted by Bishop & Associates, a consulting firm. Of the respondents, 41.1% were in engineering and 40.5% were in purchasing. Just under half (49.4%) the respondents were with OEMs, while 20% were with EMS firms and 18.3% with distributors.

Finishing third was Tompeter, at 4.232, followed by W.L. Gore (4.219) and Weidmuller (4.172).

Rounding out the top 10 were Johnson Components (4.163), EDAC (4.148), Molex (4.108), Teradyne (4.07) and Kycon (4.056).