BANNOCKBURN, IL – IEEE members will soon vote on two proposed standards that set criteria for environmentally preferable electronic equipment, and a competing trade group is expressing concerns over the ramifications.

The proposed standards in question, 1680.2 Draft Standard for Environmental Assessment of Imaging Equipment and 1680.3 Draft Standard for the Environmental Assessment of Televisions, will have a broad impact, setting virtual standards for “environmental” electronics throughout the supply chain, as well as establishing precedent for future IEEE EPEAT standards, says IPC.

The criteria cover all aspects of the product, from the chemicals contained to how they are disposed.

IPC is concerned that both standards expand on current RoHS Directive and REACH requirements by eliminating exemptions and removing SVHCs from products; both contain criteria to remove all halogens, including TBBPA; both include a criterion for manufacturers to inventory more than 100 substances in their products; neither requires any assessment of whether restricted substances will or can be replaced with substances better for human health and the environment, and both include a total of 115 criteria.

If passed, the standards will become de facto regulations as a result of President Obama’s Executive Order 13514 Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance that requires all government procurement to be certified to EPEAT.

The last day to join the balloting group is Aug. 15, and IEEE members can join the balloting group at https://development.standards.ieee.org/my-site/home.

ZHENGZHOU, CHINA -- Foxconn is set to build a 300,000-employee plant in this east central China province, according to several published reports.

NEW YORK -- A federal court judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed last July by several electronics industry associations against the New York City electronics waste recycling law.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES -- Integrated Micro-Electronics Inc. and Narra Venture Capital II have signed an agreement to acquire of 67% of PSi Technologies, an independent semiconductor assembly and test-service provider, in a deal valued at $30 million.

BANGKOK -- Top 25 global EMS provider Fabrinet went public on June 25, offering some 8.5 million shares of common stock to the public.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – May North American PWB shipments increased 29.6% year-over-year, and orders were up 46.8% compared to the same month last year, says IPC.

CAMDENTON, MO – Speedline Technologies has filed a motion against one of its wave soldering licensees, alleging contempt by reason of unlicensed sales of infringing product.

MACAO – Deswell Industries reported fiscal fourth-quarter net sales of $16.7 million, down 39.1% year-over-year.

Net sales dropped 41% to $7.5 million in the company’s electronic and metallic segment.

Gross profit in the electronic and metallic segment decreased to 1.2% of net sales for the quarter, compared to 12.4% of net sales for the year-ago quarter. The drop is attributed to an increase in raw material costs as a percentage of sales due to higher provisions for obsolete inventory, and in labor costs and factory overhead as a percentage of sales during the quarter.

The company reported a net loss of $900,000 for the fourth quarter compared to net income of $600,000 for the same period in 2009.

Net sales for the year were $81.6 million, down 38% compared to fiscal 2009.

The firm reported net income of $1.5 million for the year ended Mar. 31, up 25% year-over-year.

NEWARK, NY – IEC Electronics Corp. has received an order from one of its military and defense customers valued at more than $6.1 million, the firm says.

Deliveries will commence Dec. 1 and will be completed by December 2012.

The firm will be “the exclusive turnkey supplier for an important satellite communications modem used by the US Department of Defense,” said Jeffrey T. Schlarbaum, executive vice president and president of IEC Contract Manufacturing.

MOR, HUNGARY -- Flextronics plans to lay off 360 employees from its manufacturing plant here, local media are reporting.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL -- Jabil Circuit last night reported fiscal third-quarter revenues of $3.46 billion, up 32% from a year ago.

PLANO, TX – Rapid Tooling Inc. has relocated to a 14,310 sq. ft. manufacturing facility here.

The facility has more than 9,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing space. 

Rapid Tooling provides wafer tooling and process tooling for components in JEDEC trays, router fixtures, solder pallets and SMT pallets, as well as press/fit tooling and placement equipment tooling. The company also provides numerous services for electronics and semiconductor packaging.