News
ST. PETERSBURG – EMS/ODM Foxconn Electronics plans to invest at least $50 million constructing a plant near St. Petersburg, local reports say.
According to the report, Foxconn will build several HP product lines at the plant, including PCs, LCD monitors and network gear to be sold in Russia and worldwide, the company says.
The company earlier said the suburban St. Petersburg construction site would total 60,000 sq. meters.
LOS ANGELES – Sony has established a national consumer electronics recycling program to encourage proper disposal of electronics devices.
BEIJING – EMS provider Elcoteq Beijing was recently awarded with the Beijing government’s Capital Civilized Enterprise Award and the 2006 Civilized Enterprise of Business Development Area Award.
The Capital Civilized Enterprise Award was awarded for developing a business that is positively integrated into the Beijing community and meets the standards the government is fostering in preparation for the 2008 Olympics.
The 2006 Civilized Enterprise of Business Development Area Award was presented by the succinctly named Committee of Business Development Area of Social Construction of Ideological Infrastructure for contributions to accelerating the development of the high-tech industrial park as an international technology center.
This was the second year in a row Elcoteq won the award.
EL PASO, TX – Powell-Mucha Consulting Inc. and SMTA present a third Webinar in a four-part series: Guide to Building a Competitive EMS Brand - EMS Account Acquisition Strategy.
This Webinar will take place Aug. 22 from 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. EST. It will cover profiling the OEM decision team; developing a robust lead qualification system; implementing a mindshare maintenance process to minimize wasted sales calls, and measuring marketing and sales effectiveness.
This Webinar will take place Aug. 22 from 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. EST. It will cover profiling the OEM decision team; developing a robust lead qualification system; implementing a mindshare maintenance process to minimize wasted sales calls, and measuring marketing and sales effectiveness.
Other questions addressed by this series include: How can EMS providers differentiate their services to customers, given that these services are essentially the same? How can you best market internal competencies such as RoHS conversion support, project launch, Lean manufacturing, product design or post-manufacturing support?
For information and registration visit
For information and registration visit
Cost is $75 for SMTA members and $150 for nonmembers.
WILLOW GROVE, PA – A potential low-cost cure for Microsoft’s recently publicized billion-dollar Xbox reliability headache is being recommended by an SMT assembly equipment manufacturer in conjunction with a German rework specialist.
SAN BRUNO, CA – Worldwide Manufacturing USA Inc. announced record second-quarter revenues of just over $4 million, an increase of approximately 43% year-over-year.
PLAINVIEW, NY – A slew of private investment groups have completed the acquisition of Aeroflex Inc., a maker of test equipment.
The Veritas Capital Fund III L.P., Golden Gate Private Equity and Goldman, Sachs will pay $14.50 per share for Aeroflex common stock, in a deal approved by Aeroflex’s shareholders July 26.
SIOUX FALLS, SD – EMS provider Raven Industries Inc. reported higher contributions from its flow controls division helped increase sales by 10% year-over-year, to $55.7 million, a record second-quarter, says the firm.
Net income expanded to $5.8 million, up 14% compared to the second quarter last year.
For the first half of the year, sales reached $113.8 million, a 5% improvement year-over-year. Net income was $14.4 million, an increase of 14%.
Electronic systems division sales were $16.7 million, up about 1% year-over-year, while operating income was $2.5 million, a decrease of 13%.
ESD sales for the first half were $31.1 million, down 2% year-over-year. Operating income, at $4.9 million, was essentially even with last year's first-half.
“The electronic systems division should again make a solid contribution to revenues, income and cash flow,” CEO Ronald Moquist said. “We expect all of these factors will combine to give Raven record performance in fiscal 2008.”
PHOENIX – EMS provider Suntron Corp. reported net income of $300,000 and net sales of $64.2 million for the second quarter.
Gross profit was $5.9 million, down about 5% year-over-year.
"During the second quarter, we achieved net income driven by the results of our rightsizing activities and improved operating efficiencies, and our continued focus on working capital management also played a key role in strengthening our balance sheet," stated Paul Singh, Suntron's president and chief executive.
Gross profit was $5.9 million, down about 5% year-over-year.
Suntron's restructuring activities completed in the first quarter enabled the company to return to profitability, the company said.
A year ago, Suntron reported a net loss of $1.3 million on net sales of $85.1 million.
Gross margin rose to 9.2%, up 1.9 points over last year and 3.9 points sequentially, driven by improved operating efficiencies and lower fixed costs.
"During the second quarter, we achieved net income driven by the results of our rightsizing activities and improved operating efficiencies, and our continued focus on working capital management also played a key role in strengthening our balance sheet," stated Paul Singh, Suntron's president and chief executive.
TAIPEI – Laird Technologies and ITEQ Corp. have struck a cross-licensing deal under which Laird will have access to ITEQ’s lamination capabilities and AP distribution, while ITEQ will have access to Laird’s T-lam materials.
ITEQ and Laird will join to supply solutions for the LED-based BLUs for LCD flat panel displays. Laird’s T-lam materials are important for this growing market, says the company, because the brightness and color of an LED degrades as temperature increases. T-lam permits heat to pass out of LED devices more efficiently, Laird reports.
ITEQ is a Taiwan-based laminates provider.
JENA, GERMANY – Goepel Electronic, a test equipment hardware and software manufacturer, recently restructured its U.S. organization to combine automotive test and JTAG/boundary scan divisions.
Goepel will now sell products directly using a combination of direct sales and manufacturers’ representatives. This means Huntron Inc. will no longer be sole distributor for Goepel in the U.S., the company said. According to Heiko Ehrenberg, vice president of the U.S. boundary scan operations, the companies “will continue to do some joint projects in the future.”
The company also hired Raj Puri as vice president of sales and marketing.
GLENVIEW, IL – Illinois Tool Works Inc. today reported operating revenue rose 16.3% for the quarter ended July 31.
Operating revenues consisted of a 10.9% increase from acquisitions net of divestitures, 2.4% growth from base revenues, and a 3% contribution from translation and other items, reports ITW.
ITW, with $14.1 billion in revenue, is a manufacturer of components and industrial systems and consumables. The company consists of approximately 750 business units in 49 countries and employs some 55,000 people.
ITW's operating companies include Speedline Technologies, Kester, Chemtronics and Simco. ITW did not break out sales for those units.
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