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PENANG, MALAYSIA - Plexus earned more than $350 million in revenue from its Penang operations in fiscal year 2007, some 23% of the EMS firm's $1.5 billion revenue for the year. And the site is front and center at the company's strategy to double in size over the next few years.

“We aim in the next four to five years to double our revenue to $3 billion, and anticipate a growth rate of 15% to 18% (during that period),” CEO Dean Foate said in a press conference.

Foate said Plexus has invested $79 million in its Penang operations over the past six years, according to a published report in the The Star Online. The site includes three plants and its new Asia Technology Center.

LOHJA, FINLAND – Electronics manufacturing OEM Photonium Oy purchased a 55% stake in Mikkeli, Finland-based Akseli Lahtinen Oy. The companies did not disclose other financial information.

The deal called for Laskentaneliö Ky, Tuomo Honkanen and Rauno Suoniemi to each sell 18% of their holdings to Photonium. Photonium holds an option to purchase the remaining shares within the next three years.

Photonium designs and manufactures lines for optical fiber manufacturing and electronics manufacturing automation.

Akseli Lahtinen designs and manufactures automation products.

ARLINGTON, VA – Electronic component orders bounced back in December after two sub-par months, the Electronic Components Association said today. The trade group forecasts 2008 will see similar results.

CARLSBAD, CA – Asymtek and YesTech today announced a jointly developed process for tracking and validating placement and accuracy of dispensed fluid dots.

NEENAH, WI -- Plexus's executive vice president and chief technology and strategy officer,
J. Robert Kronser, has began a disability leave upon a determination of long-term disability.

WASHINGTON -- The National Electrical Manufacturers Association named Baker Botts to lobby the federal government, according to a disclosure form.

The firm will lobby on issues relating to the use and handling of hazardous substances in electrical products, according to the form posted online Nov. 29 by the Senate's public records office.

AUSTIN, TX - Electronics manufacturing services provider Bantam Electronics has added engineering design and new product integration services to its offerings.

Bantam said the new services, the result of additions to the company's engineering staff and “expanded partnerships,” provide the majority of resources required for hardware product design, testing, and manufacturing integration, including mechanical and electrical design, component engineering, DFX, test fixture design, prototype design, and prototype assembly facilities.

"We are very excited with the addition of these services," said President and CEO Michael Chaddock in a press release.

Bantam’s customer base includes AMD, Crossroads NetQoS, Cortexa and JBM.

EL SEGUNDO, CA – China’s semiconductor purchases will rise 12% this year to $58 billion after growing 15% last year, according to iSuppli Corp.

RICHARDSON, TX – EMS provider Trilogy Circuits has registered under the U.S. State Department International Traffic in Arms Regulations.

ITAR regulates the manufacture, export, import and transfer of defense-related articles and services.

“As a provider of mission-critical military electronics design and manufacturing services, we felt it was necessary to take additional steps to safeguard defense related data,” said president Charles Capers.

SANTA ANA, CA – Amplifier maker Powerwave Technologies has sold part of its Hungarian manufacturing operations to Sanmina-SCI.

HELSINKI, FINLAND – Elcoteq plans to hire 200 to 300 workers at its Hungarian plant in the coming months, the EMS provider said.

BROMONT, CANADA – The US Patent & Trade Office has issued Cogiscan a second patent for its automated manufacturing control system.

The system uses a combination of barcode and RFID to track, trace and control materials on the production floor.

The latest patent addresses the monitoring and controlling of several stages of the manufacturing process, including the input of materials or components, the assembly action and the discharge of assembled output materials or components.