MALMÖ, SWEDEN -- Swedish EMS firm PartnerTech will consolidate its UK operations to its Cambridge facility and take a restructuring charges of up to SEK 10 million ($1.54 million).

WASHINGTON, DC – The US Securities and Exchange Commission filed insider trading charges against Flextronics executive Walter Shimoon. Managers at AMD and Dell were also charged, in addition to three others.

The SEC alleges four consultants leaked privileged information about firms such as Apple, AMD and Dell to hedge fund managers and others. Two employees from Primary Global Research are accused of facilitating the exchange of non-public information.

The charges are part of a larger government investigation on Wall Street.

PENANG -- Electronics cleaning materials supplier Kyzen has relocated its Asia headquarters to a new, larger facility here. 

NEWARK, NY -- IEC Electronics reported December quarter net profits of $1.1 million, up 39% year-over-year.

ANGLETON, TX -- Benchmark Electronics reported fourth-quarter net income of $19 million, up 11.8% year-over-year.

ST. LOUIS -- LaBarge reported net earnings grew 56% to $4.4 million for its fiscal 2011 second-quarter ended Jan. 2.

TEMPE, AZ – Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in January for the 18th consecutive month, says the Institute for Supply Management. The PMI was 60.8%, up 2.3 percentage points sequentially. A reading above 50% indicates the manufacturing economy is generally expanding.

New orders hit 67.8%, up 5.8 points, while production registered 63.5%, up a slight 0.5 points. Inventories in January were 52.4%, up 0.6 points, and customer inventories grew 5.5 points to 45.5%. Backlogs went up 11 percentage points to reach 58%.

“The manufacturing sector grew at a faster rate in January, as the PMI registered 60.8%, which is its highest level since May 2004 when the index registered 61.4%. The continuing strong performance is highlighted as January is also the sixth consecutive month of month-over-month growth in the sector. New orders and production continue to be strong, and employment rose above 60% for the first time since May 2004. Global demand is driving commodity prices higher, particularly for energy, metals and chemicals,” said ISM spokesperson Norbert J. Ore. 

The overall economy grew for the 20th consecutive month, according to the firm.

OXFORD, CT – Mirtec reported revenue for its North American sales and service division grew more than 62% in fiscal 2010.

The firm attributes the growth to its MV-7 automated optical inspection machines.

CAVE CREEK, AZ -- The High Density Packaging User Group International has launched a project group focusing on printed wiring board environmental life-cycles.

SPOKANE VALLEY, WA -- Key Tronic kept its profitability streak intact, reporting net profits of $1.7 million for its fiscal second quarter ended Jan. 1.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – North American PWB shipments in December increased 13.3% year-over-year and orders rose 2.9% compared to the same month in 2009.

SMYRNA, GA — UP Media Group today announced the opening of Printed Circuit University, the industry’s first online e-learning and training resource for professionals involved in the engineering and design of printed circuit boards and related technologies.