Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - News

Latest News

TAIPEI -- Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai) reported November revenues slipped 9.1% sequentially on typical seasonality demand for consumer electronics.

SALO, FINLAND -- Nokia plans to furlough to 400 workers through 2010 at its Salo, Finland, despite predictions of a rebound in handset sales next year.

ATLANTA – New guidelines from the National Electronic Distributors Association provide best-in-class processes to ensure product purchased through authorized channels is legitimate.

The member-authored document is said to promote standard practices between manufacturers and distributors, in hopes of improving efficiency, profitability and product quality.

NEDA Guideline on Returns is aimed at slowing the entry of counterfeit parts into the electronics supply chain. It seeks to strengthen the integrity of the supply chain when purchasing through authorized distribution by establishing guidelines for returned material. It suggests controls in the form of policies, inspections and verifications.

NEDA is a not-for-profit trade association representing supplier authorized distributors of electronic components and their customers.

GLENVIEW, IL -- ITW today said it expects base revenue to rise 8 to 10% in 2010, with its power systems and electronics sales to lag slightly.

TAIPEI -- Asustek Computer will spin off its contract manufacturing business unit, Pegatron Technology, by July, in a move that immediately creates a Tier II EMS company.

WASHINGTON – A ranking National Association of Manufacturers official slammed the Environmental Protection Agency’s recent declaration that greenhouse gas emissions are a danger to the public health, a ruling that exposes carbon emissions to additional regulations.

The association says the EPA’s findings ignored broad industry response and would put undue burdens on manufacturers that would cost jobs and drive up the price of energy.

“NAM is concerned the EPA did not seriously take into consideration any of the thousands of comments manufacturers made on this proposal,” NAM VP of energy and resources policy Keith McCoy said. “The endangerment finding will have a cascading effect on the ability of all manufacturers to grow and prosper.”

NAM states that by declaring GHG emissions a threat to public health, the EPA is paving the way to regulation of carbon emissions across the board under the Clean Air Act, including manufacturing plants, hospitals and libraries.

NAM says it supports cost-effective efforts to address climate change, but believes Congress should be the authority on the subject.

McCoy is doubtful the EPA’s endangerment finding will achieve its stated goal, but believes it will come at huge costs. The US needs comprehensive environmental federal policy that will avoid economic harm, so as not to hurt American competitiveness, he says.

SAN JERONIMO, MEXICO -- Foxconn’s 1.3 million sq. ft. campus in suburban Juárez is expected to add 2,000 workers by next March.

BEIJING -- Chinese-made electronics and IT exports continued to fall in October but rallied versus earlier in the year.

WASHINGTON – Obama administration officials are in China to discuss a new procurement policy that could exclude US companies from China’s high-tech market.

MILPITAS, CA – Bliss Industries Inc. now offers a no-cost process integrator service for process improvement.

The service enables customers to use the firm’s Lean manufacturing through use of the firm’s representatives.

Bliss representatives visit customer facilities and work with process engineers. They identify bottlenecks and constraints on production lines and offer advice on how to make changes using smart handling solutions.

Bliss provides material handling carts and racks for PCB assembly.

LISLE, IL -- Molex has settled litigation stemming from a dispute over the scope of a license agreement covering Hon Hai's (Foxconn) use of its DisplayPort mating interface.