News
JASPER, IN – Kimball International today reported a fiscal third-quarter net loss from continuing operations of $900,000 on net sales of $332.1 million. For the quarter ended March 31, sales were up 7%, but earnings fell 120%.
TORONTO – SMTC Corp. reported March quarter revenue of $55.1 million and net income of $400,000 For its first quarter ended March 30, sales were down 20.3% and profits were off 86% versus last year. However, net income for the first quarter of 2007 included a $1.8 million tax recovery and related interest.
SMYRNA, GA – UP Media Group, parent company of Circuits Assembly and Printed Circuit Design & Fab, will broadcast "Optimize System Performance with FPGA/PCB Co-Design," a 45-minute free Webinar, on June 3, at 2 PM EDT.
Bob Potock, director of FPGA marketing for Mentor Graphics, Systems Design Division, will discuss how new FPGA/PCB concurrent design processes and tools can significantly improve system performance and product costs, as well as designer productivity. Attendees will learn the elements of an effective FPGA on-board strategy, how to boost productivity and PCB quality, and be introduced to specific implementation options.
This event is the third in a series of Webinars addressing how to efficiently design today’s increasingly complex PCBs in the competitive electronics industry.
HAUPPAUGE, NY –API Nanotronics Corp. has named Steve Pudles chief executive officer. He succeeds Phillip DeZwirek, who remains chairman.
Pudles is the former CEO and president of Nu Visions Manufacturing, where he led the company from $10 million in revenue to more than $100 million in a six-year period. He has 25 years’ electronics industry experience.
API supplies electronic components and conducts nanotechnology R&D for the defense and communications sectors.
Pudles has worked for a number of EMS firms and was recently elected secretary and treasurer of the IPC board.
Pudles is the former CEO and president of Nu Visions Manufacturing, where he led the company from $10 million in revenue to more than $100 million in a six-year period. He has 25 years’ electronics industry experience.
API supplies electronic components and conducts nanotechnology R&D for the defense and communications sectors.
Pudles has worked for a number of EMS firms and was recently elected secretary and treasurer of the IPC board.
ENDICOTT, NY – The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded Endicott Interconnect Technologies a $148.6 million contract modification to its current program to supply finished assemblies for a high-reliability, high-performance computing application.
Under the deal, EI produces card frame assemblies, including HyperBGA organic semiconductor packaging, multichip module assemblies, PCBs, functionally tested assemblies, and supplies engineering services.
Under the deal, EI produces card frame assemblies, including HyperBGA organic semiconductor packaging, multichip module assemblies, PCBs, functionally tested assemblies, and supplies engineering services.
The contract modification period is from May to December this year.
AYLESBURY, UK – Dage Precision Industries has been awarded the Frost & Sullivan Vertical Market Penetration Leadership Award for automated x-ray inspection.
The award ceremony was held April 25 in Kuala Lumpur. Frost identified the top players in the automation and electronics/industrial process control industries.
In presenting the award, Arun Krumar C, research analyst for Automation and Electronics Practice, Frost & Sullivan, Asia Pacific, cited Dage’s value for the money and after-sales service for its growth in the Southeast Asian electronics market.
EL SEGUNDO, CA – iSuppli Corp. will present a Webinar on China’s future in electronics design on May 7 at 9 pm EST.
Kevin Wang, senior manager of China Services at iSuppli, will look at the status of China’s economy, the size of local demand creation for semiconductor suppliers, the national markets dominated by Chinese OEMs, and the kinds of products Chinese companies will focus on in the future?
For information, visit isuppli.com/events/default.asp?EventCode=WB.
Kevin Wang, senior manager of China Services at iSuppli, will look at the status of China’s economy, the size of local demand creation for semiconductor suppliers, the national markets dominated by Chinese OEMs, and the kinds of products Chinese companies will focus on in the future?
For information, visit isuppli.com/events/default.asp?EventCode=WB.
ST. LOUIS – Lockheed Martin’s Radar Systems awarded EMS provider LaBarge Inc. a $1.6 million contract to provide assemblies for the company’s new TPS-79 Multi-Mission Surveillance Radar system.
EL SEGUNDO, CA – Shrugging off any hint of a slowdown, first-quarter global mobile handset shipments rose 17% over the same period last year, according to iSuppli Corp.
BRUSSELS – A proposed International Electrotechnical Commission standard on electronics equipment safety has been voted down by a majority of voting countries.
The draft of IEC 62368, Audio/Video, Information and Communication Technology Equipment - Safety – Requirements, would have required plastic enclosures for household electronic products to withstand candle flame ignition. Critics claim the rule had no valid fire safety rationale, but enormous potential negative consequences, including the introduction of hundreds of millions of pounds of potentially toxic fire retardant chemicals into consumers' homes and bodies.
Eighteen of the 31 voting countries (58%) voted against the IEC draft standard, far more than the 25% needed to defeat the standard.
According to a contingent of scientists and experts who lobbied against IEC 62368, while the majority of the draft would strengthen existing standards for electronic product safety, the disputed Clause 7, which was promoted as an enhanced fire safety standard, in fact had limited potential to affect fire safety, as appliance fires represent only a small number of the total candle fires in the US each year.
Appliance fires caused by candles in the US amount to 3% of total candle fires, result in no deaths, and cause $5 million worth of property damage a year, according to a 2007 report by the National Fire Protection Association.
But meeting the requirements outlined in Clause 7 would likely have forced producers to use hundreds of millions of pounds of potentially toxic fire retardant chemicals that can migrate from consumer products into dust, humans and animals, where they persist and bioaccumulate.
The coalition, including Dr. Arlene Blum, a visiting chemistry scholar at the University of California at Berkeley, Friends of the Earth, Design Chain Associates, the Center for Environmental Health, the Initiative for Green Science Policy, and a other scientists, physicians and NGOs cited dozens of peer-reviewed scientific papers as evidence of environmental toxicity and negative health impacts.
The fire-retardant chemical industry, they claim, does not provide adequate information about the chemical composition or toxicology of its products, nor does it acknowledge the extensive literature of scientific publications showing environmental and health/safety problems.
"Through deceptive and incomplete data, and sheer force of will, the fire-retardant industry has, over the past several years, very nearly succeeded in making this candle flame ignition requirement a fait accompli," said Mike Kirschner of Design Chain Associates. "The electronics industry's desire is to improve environmental performance of its products and this would have driven it in the other direction for no good reason."
Two other draft IEC standards propose candle standards for consumer electronic housing. Revisions of IEC 60065 (TV and audio equipment) and IEC 60950 (IT equipment) incorporate the same clause candle flame resistance requirements. Also, the National Association of State Fire Marshals has introduced the requirement in Canadian CSA and American UL standards, which have votes scheduled for May 19.
The draft of IEC 62368, Audio/Video, Information and Communication Technology Equipment - Safety – Requirements, would have required plastic enclosures for household electronic products to withstand candle flame ignition. Critics claim the rule had no valid fire safety rationale, but enormous potential negative consequences, including the introduction of hundreds of millions of pounds of potentially toxic fire retardant chemicals into consumers' homes and bodies.
Eighteen of the 31 voting countries (58%) voted against the IEC draft standard, far more than the 25% needed to defeat the standard.
According to a contingent of scientists and experts who lobbied against IEC 62368, while the majority of the draft would strengthen existing standards for electronic product safety, the disputed Clause 7, which was promoted as an enhanced fire safety standard, in fact had limited potential to affect fire safety, as appliance fires represent only a small number of the total candle fires in the US each year.
Appliance fires caused by candles in the US amount to 3% of total candle fires, result in no deaths, and cause $5 million worth of property damage a year, according to a 2007 report by the National Fire Protection Association.
But meeting the requirements outlined in Clause 7 would likely have forced producers to use hundreds of millions of pounds of potentially toxic fire retardant chemicals that can migrate from consumer products into dust, humans and animals, where they persist and bioaccumulate.
The coalition, including Dr. Arlene Blum, a visiting chemistry scholar at the University of California at Berkeley, Friends of the Earth, Design Chain Associates, the Center for Environmental Health, the Initiative for Green Science Policy, and a other scientists, physicians and NGOs cited dozens of peer-reviewed scientific papers as evidence of environmental toxicity and negative health impacts.
The fire-retardant chemical industry, they claim, does not provide adequate information about the chemical composition or toxicology of its products, nor does it acknowledge the extensive literature of scientific publications showing environmental and health/safety problems.
"Through deceptive and incomplete data, and sheer force of will, the fire-retardant industry has, over the past several years, very nearly succeeded in making this candle flame ignition requirement a fait accompli," said Mike Kirschner of Design Chain Associates. "The electronics industry's desire is to improve environmental performance of its products and this would have driven it in the other direction for no good reason."
Two other draft IEC standards propose candle standards for consumer electronic housing. Revisions of IEC 60065 (TV and audio equipment) and IEC 60950 (IT equipment) incorporate the same clause candle flame resistance requirements. Also, the National Association of State Fire Marshals has introduced the requirement in Canadian CSA and American UL standards, which have votes scheduled for May 19.
MACAU, CHINA -- EMS provider Nam Tai Electronics reported March net earnings of $28.4 million on sales of $147.1 million.
For the quarter, net income was up 238% to $28.4 million from a year ago, boosted by the sale of Nam Tai's shares in J.I.C. Technology Co.
EIGHTY FOUR, PA – Ametek Specialty Metal Products named Peter Hoctor regional sales manager for Europe, responsible for sales and marketing the company’s full line of products. He has 15 years’ experience in the sales and marketing of specialty metals.
Hoctor is currently sales manager, Europe, for Reading Alloys, which was acquired by Ametek in April. Hoctor will retain his position with Reading Alloys, while assuming additional responsibilities for Ametek.
Europe accounted for the greatest portion of the company’s international sales, which topped more than $1 billion for the first time in 2007. Ametek has plants in Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany and the UK.
Hoctor is currently sales manager, Europe, for Reading Alloys, which was acquired by Ametek in April. Hoctor will retain his position with Reading Alloys, while assuming additional responsibilities for Ametek.
Europe accounted for the greatest portion of the company’s international sales, which topped more than $1 billion for the first time in 2007. Ametek has plants in Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany and the UK.
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