EINDHOVEN, THE NETHERLANDS – Assembléon is joining Valor Computerized Systems to provide software for its pick-and-place equipment.

The companies have introduced a suite of software and tools for electronic equipment assembly that will automate machine-, line- and factory-level workflows and business processes.

The software suite automates process preparation and engineering, work-order and workflow control, and tactical-level scheduling. There are modules for quality, test, inspection and repair, real-time performance management and reporting, as well as materials flow and replenishment management. 

No financial terms of the partnership were disclosed.

NIWOT, CO – Aeroflex Corp., Agilent Technologies Inc., and Test Evolution Corp. proposed a modular test standard: AXIe (AdvancedTCA Extensions for Instrumentation and Test).

AXIe is an open standard based on AdvancedTCA that creates an ecosystem of components, products and systems for general purpose instrumentation and semiconductor test.

AXIe leverages existing standards from ATCA, PXI, LXI and IVI.

It provides scalability to address a range of platforms, including general purpose rack-and-stack, modular systems, semiconductor ATE systems, bench top, and module plug-ins.

For more information, visit www.axiestandard.org.

TAIWAN – Pegatron Technology, subsidiary of Asustek, saw consolidated revenues of NT$54.61 billion for October, up 6.1% sequentially and 3.5% year-over-year.

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TULSA – LaBarge Inc. has been awarded contracts valued at $2 million from Atlantic Inertial Systems to provide high-reliability PCB assemblies.

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BANGKOK – Cal-Comp Electronics reported third-quarter net profit of $13.3 million, down 31% year-over-year.

For the nine months ended Sept. 30, the firm’s net profit was $30.2 million, a drop of 46.5% compare to the same period in 2008.

Cal-Comp, a unit of Taiwan-based Kinpo Electronics, produces a wide range of electronic equipment.

 

BANNOCKBURN, IL – The Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 was signed into law, providing net operating loss relief for electronics companies.

The NOL relief provision in the bill expands the refund eligibility to medium- and large-sized companies that were previously excluded from relief, permitting businesses to offset 2008 and 2009 losses against previous or future taxable income, according to IPC.

A company can use NOL relief to recover past tax payments or reduce future tax payments. It is the amount by which deductions exceed gross taxable income, resulting in a negative taxable income.

Eligible companies can receive tax refunds by applying NOLs to taxes during the previous five years, says the association. Companies also have the option of carrying the loss forward twenty years to future income tax payments, thereby reducing payments they will need to make in future periods.
 

NEWARK, NY -- IEC Electronics reported fourth-quarter revenue rose 13.7% year-over-year to $18.3 million.

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AUSTIN, TX — Large, non-consumer LCDs shipments were up 41% in the September quarter, compiling their highest sell-through quarter in US commercial distribution history.

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TAIPEI – Universal Scientific Industrial, a top 15 global EMS company, reported consolidated October revenues fell 9% year-over-year to NT$4.66 billion ($143.4 million).

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SANTA ANA, CA – EMS firms Beyonics Technology and Express Manufacturing have signed a memorandum of understanding under which EMI will offer NPI and product development in the US and Beyonics will perform high-volume production in Asia.
 
No financial or other terms were disclosed.
 
The collaboration brings together EMI’s production development technologies and nearly 30 years in the business of NPI and volume production with Singapore-based Beyonics’s multinational EMS services. Beyonics, which is a top 15 global EMS firm, offers PCB assembly, turnkey system assembly, box build, testing, packing and distribution, plastic injection molding fabrication, metal stamping and tooling design.

 

SAN JOSE – The Semiconductor Industry Association said George Scalise, president of the organization since 1997, would retire at the end of 2010.

The association also said, in connection with the transition, it would relocate its headquarters to Washington, DC. The move is expected to be completed by the end of 2010.
 
SIA will immediately begin to search for possible candidates for a successor.

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO – Worldwide Energy and Manufacturing USA Inc. reported third-quarter net sales of $18.62 million, up 87% sequentially.

Compared to the third quarter of 2008, sales were down slightly. Contract manufacturing division sales decreased as a result of market conditions.

Gross profit increased 109.8% year-over-year to $2.86 million. Gross profit for contract manufacturing for the quarter was $1.06 million, up 14.9% year-over-year.

Net income was $903,357 compared to a net profit of $540,608 in the third quarter last year. The 67.1% increase was driven by greater profitability of both the solar and contract manufacturing divisions.

Net sales for the nine-month period ended Sept. 30 were $39.22, up 25.1% year-over-year.

For the nine-month period, gross profit was $6.56 million, up 70.3% compared to the same period in 2008.

Worldwide Energy and Manufacturing USA is a solar module technology and manufacturing company.