ANGLETON, TX -- Benchmark Electronics today said first quarter net income fell 60% to $6 million, but the electronics manufacturing services provider said recovery continues at its flooded plants in Thailand.

BALVE, GERMANY – The Balver Zinn/Cobar Group has opened a new application and training center here.

This center is equipped with various assembly machines from related companies, including Seho, Ekra and Hakko.

The objective of the center is to support R & D activities, demonstrate processes, provide process support training, and root cause failure analysis for customer issues.

Training programs will take place in the IPC-qualified application part of the center; certified trainers will provide training courses such as hand soldering, DoE in soldering, and IPC training in accordance with J-STD-001E and IPC-A-610E.

For more information, visit www.balverzinn.com/ipc-training.html.

GLENVIEW, IL -- ITW reported revenues grew 6.4% year-over-year to $4.55 billion for its first quarter ended March 31.

ELKHART, IN -- CTS reported first-quarter net income fell by more than 50% to $2.3 million, from $5.1 million last year.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – Between 2011 and 2014, high-density interconnect board production is expected to grow 26% for companies that participated in IPC’s recent PCB Technology Trends study.

TORONTO -- Celestica reported net income rose 44% from last year to $43.2 million as the company's market diversification strategy paid dividends.

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND -- New academic research argues that Apple could bring back its manufacturing to the US and still earn billions each year, debunking the company's contention that the US is not competitive.

VELLINGE, SWEDEN -- PartnerTech swung to a net profit in first quarter, reporting income of SEK 12 million ($1.78 million), up from a loss of SEK 4 million last year.

SAN JOSE -- Sanmina-SCI today fell to a fiscal second-quarter net loss of $1.4 million on a drop in multimedia demand, one year after reporting net income of $13.1 million.

LOS ANGELES – OK International will hold advanced package rework and repair seminars June 5 in El Segundo, CA, and June 6 in Anaheim.

Attendees will learn the latest techniques used to rework and repair BGAs, QFNs and Micro SMDs. The seminar will also feature rework demonstrations with real-life applications. 

The event will include a 30-minute multimedia presentation, two hours of hands-on demonstrations and instruction, and a Q & A session.

The first 20 registrants will be admitted free of charge. Register at http://seminars.metcal.com.

AUBURN HILLS, MI – Mirtec will provide three days of personalized application reviews to aid in making delegates’ automatic optical inspection processes faster and more reliable. 

Electronics distributor Murray Percival Company will host the sessions here May 1, 2, and 3.

Delegates are invited to bring their own products and receive personalized applications engineering. Mirtec’s MV-3L system will be available for hands-on demonstrations.

To schedule an appointment, contact Matt Sheppard at Murray Percival: (248) 561-5207 or msheppard@murraypercival.com.

SAN JOSE — The 90-day moving average orders at North American semiconductor equipment manufacturers was $1.48 billion in March, up 10.7% from the revised February numbers.