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STOCKHOLM – EMS firm Orbit One AB has acquired an 85% stake in EMS provider Wega Electronics.

No financial terms were disclosed.

The deal, which includes Wega’s factory in Prabuty, Poland, gives Orbit One four manufacturing sites, including two in Sweden and one in Russia.

Wega CEO Grzegorz Kohls holds the remaining 15% stake in the company, which will change its name to Orbit One.

Orbit One had sales of about $23 million last year, according to the CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY Directory of EMS Companies.

SAN JOSE – A recent survey of nearly 300 electronics supply-chain workers found respondents are slightly more optimistic than they were in April.

While most respondents view the current market situation as they did in April, respondents were slightly more optimistic regarding the future, says Venture Outsource, which with IDC conducted the survey.

The survey’s Current Index showed 4.6 out of 10, the same as four months ago, while the Future Index was 5.1 out of 10, 5% higher than in April. This indicates a meaningful increase in optimism about the future, says Venture Outsource; yet there is no sign of irrational exuberance, or even a serious recovery, before the end of 2009, says the firm.

Half the respondents identified themselves as “key decision makers” in their firms, up from 11% in a first-quarter survey. Respondents who “participate in decision making” remained about constant, at 37%. Respondents with a “view into decision making” made up a smaller proportion of respondents, at just 13%, down from 18% in April.

According to the survey results, the downturn is widely felt, with little variation by end-market or company type. Exceptions were component manufacturers and electronics equipment manufacturers, which reported lower scores on average than their supply-chain counterparts.

Respondents were most pessimistic regarding the economic and employment situation, with average scores of 3.9 and 4.3 out of 10, respectively. These scores were slightly worse than April.

“Feelings about the future economic situation are up nearly 9% from our last survey. In the end, though, these results show a belief that business will improve, but we believe that an actual broad-based expansion of business activity is not expected across the electronics supply chain in the next one or two quarters,” said Venture Outsource.

For complete results, visit http://www.ventureoutsource.com/contract-manufacturing/trends-observations/2009/bumping-along-the-bottom-electronics-supply-chain-summer-09-survey-results.

SOUTHFIELD, MI – A project team made up of Chrysler, Ford and General Motors has developed a process to help automotive suppliers remove lead-based solder from electronics components used in vehicles.

NEW YORK -- Electronic manufacturing services revenues in Europe are forecast to decline 13% this year, according to a new report.

LAKE FOREST, CA -- EMS firm Probe Manufacturing is betting its future on its past. The company is returning its cofounder to the chief executive's chair, bringing Kam Mahdi back to the position he held from 1996 to 2005.

TAIPEI – Compal raised its shipments forecast for the current quarter, guiding for a 20% sequential gain.

FREMONT, CA – Juki Automation Systems has opened a Western US headquarters here. At 13,500 sq. ft., the facility facility is four times larger than Juki’s previous location.

MONTREAL – Once a growing EMS company with three sites in Canada, Triton Electronik has closed its doors.

FRAMINGHAM, MA -- Worldwide server factory sales fell 30.1% year-over-year to $9.8 billion in the second quarter, IDC said this week.

NEW YORK – The global consumer electronics market will grow at a CAGR of about 5% from 2009 to 2012, a new research report says.

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Worldwide Energy and Manufacturing USA reported second-quarter revenue increased 51% to $10.32 million on strong sales in the solar energy division.

PECS, HUNGARY – Elcoteq has pledged to soon employ 7,000 workers here again, following a meeting with government officials in Budapest, say published reports.

Elcoteq announced early last month it would let 700 workers go at the end of September. It currently employs about 4,000 at the site.

But after meeting with top Elcoteq leaders, a leading Socialist Party official said the cuts are temporary. “Founder of Elcoteq Antii Piippo and chairman CEO Jouni Hartikainen assured us that Elcoteq made a strategic decision when it set up its European production centre in Pécs,” said Socialist Party member Endre Bókay, according to reports.