Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - News

News

ST. LOUIS – LaBarge today reported fiscal 2008 fourth-quarter net sales of $77.8 million, up 20% year-over-year.

Fourth-quarter net earnings at the EMS firm rose 58% to $4.58 million, compared to the same quarter last year.

VANCOUVER, BC – A subsidiary of Northstar Electronics has received orders from Lockheed Martin Aeronautics totaling nearly $4.12 million for work on the P3 Service Life Extension Project.

The work will cover the next 28 aircraft shipsets and is under the umbrella of a previously announced contract.

The firm is manufacturing components for production service life extension kits for the P3 aircraft.

Production for this phase is scheduled for completion by the end of 2009.

TAIWAN – ODM Qisda (formerly BenQ) reported second-quarter consolidated revenue of about $96.6 million, resulting in an after-tax profit of $18.05 million.

The firm’s second-quarter revenue increased 4.2% sequentially. However, after-tax profit fell nearly $3.74 million as a result of decreases in non-operating revenue and product profit margins, the company said.

HERNDON, VA – An iNEMI two-day summit will focus on the challenges of creating a more sustainable industry. The goal of this summit, scheduled for Sept. 22 and 23 in Schaumburg, IL, is to define specific actions for the electronics industry and organize programs to execute these actions.

“How can products be designed to minimize their impact through the lifecycle?” asks CEO Jim McElroy. “How much energy is consumed to produce the product and, more importantly, how much will be consumed over the life of the product? How difficult will the product be to deal with at end of life? We will take a systems view across the supply chain to identify where there are major gaps – and where we think we can make a difference.”

Mark Brillhart, VP of manufacturing operations for global supply chain management at Cisco, will address how collaboration can serve as a catalyst for sustainability innovations.

Brad Allenby of Arizona State University is another featured speaker. He will look at challenges and opportunities presented by the design and management of emerging technologies in a rapidly shifting social, cultural, environmental and economic landscape.

For more information and to register, visit http://www.inemi.org/cms/calendar/Sustainability_Summit_Sept08.html.

ANAHEIM – Multi-Fineline Electronix said it would move some assembly operations from Anaheim and Suzhou, China, to a new plant in Malaysia.

M-Flex, which fabricates flex circuits and does some contract assembly, is leasing the plant from WBL Corp., its largest shareholder. More than 125 employees from Wearnes Electronics Malaysia, a WBL subsidiary, will move to the new facility.

The location will take over a high-mix/low-volume operation that deals with low production runs of many different models.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – North American industry PCB shipments in July increased 6.9% year-over-year and orders fell 6.9%, IPC said.

NAMPA, ID – MPC will lay off 5% of its nationwide workforce, including 55 jobs in North Sioux City, and here at the company's headquarters, and transfer manufacturing in Nashville to Flextronics in Juarez, Mexico, according to published reports. Most of the jobs are in IT and sales, KTIV reported.

MPC acquired certain elements of Gateway's computer business last year and is one of the 10 largest PC manufacturers. However, the company is struggling to avoid bankruptcy, according to recent company notices.

The company did not disclose the value or length of the programs sent to Flextronics.

ST. LOUIS – LaBarge Inc. has been awarded a $1.1 million contract from Northrop Grumman to provide electronic assemblies for its new Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar (G/ATOR), which consolidates the missions of five Marine Corps radars into a single multi-role radar system.

The company expects to receive follow-on orders.

Production on the contract began this summer at LaBarge's Tulsa facility and is expected to continue through January 2009.

SAN JOSE – The average cost of labor for EMS in most global geographies continues to rise at a rate equal to or slightly above the currency-adjusted local inflationary index, according to Charlie Barnhart & Associates.

BANGKOK – Hana Microelectronics said second-quarter revenue dropped 1% year-over-year to about $115 million, but net profit rose 26% to almost $16 million.

First-half revenue rose 1% to $227.5 million compared to the same period last year, with net profit rising 24% to $29.13 million.

The profit increase was a result of higher capacity utilization, the company said.

The firm, which builds IC packages and electronics assemblies, expects revenues to grow 15% in the third quarter, as a result of increased orders from China, India and Southeast Asia.

Hana recorded revenue of $452 million last year. More than 80% of sales were attributable to PCBs and IC assemblies, say published reports. The company was ranked 36^th among the largest EMS suppliers by Electronic Business.

Hana also has added 3,000 sq. meters to its production plant, and is considering building a new facility in the same location.

SAN JOSE – A projected decline in world semiconductor fab equipment spending of 20% is expected for 2008, but a rebound of more than 20% in spending is expected in 2009, driven by more than 70 fab projects, says SEMI.

ORLANDO – Orlando: You’ll come for the rain. You’ll stay for the wind.

Or because of it, perhaps.

Tropical Storm Fay, which as of this writing was still threatening to upgrade to hurricane status, put a damper on the second annual SMTA International trade show, although those who braved the elements were treated to a strong technical conference and an eye-opening keynote.