Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - News

News

SHENZHEN, CHINA – China's two leading telecom equipment providers, Huawei TechnologiesZTE Corp., are planning to build new manufacturing and R&D bases to speed up domestic and global expansion.

Huawei will spend a reported $517 million on a base in Dongguan. The company will build the base in phases, the first of which will be ready early next year. When fully operational, the cluster of factories will account for several billion dollars worth of Huawei's revenue, according to local media.

Huawei is also building a similar base in Langfang to be finished in July. It is also expected to generate billions in revenue.

ZTE is building a national R&D and manufacturing park in Shenzhen to expand its presence in cellphones. The park will cover 440,000 sq. meters and employ 15,000 workers.

BRUSSELS – The European Commission is requesting comments on the RoHS Directive in preparation for a revision most likely to be presented in 2008.

The EC will review measures provided for in the Directive, taking into account scientific evidence, according to an official announcement. The deadline for comments is May 22.

LAKE FOREST, CA -- EMS firm Probe Manufacturing Inc. reported net profits of $425,134 on record revenues of $9.3 million for fiscal 2006. Sales were up 46% and the company reversed a net loss of $425,134 from 2005.

ITASCA, IL – Kester became the latest solder vendor to announce a surcharge on silver- and tin-containing solder paste products. The price increase will take effect 30 days from customer notification. As has been noted, metal costs have been increasing steadily for the past year and show no signs of retreating during the balance of 2007. As a result, solder vendors are passing along the higher costs to their customers. Kester is the third major supplier to announce a surcharge in recent weeks; the others were Cookson and Indium. The surcharges on Kester’s solder paste products are based on the difference between current metal costs and those from January 2006. The surcharge will be eliminated when tin and silver prices return to January 2006 levels, Kester said.

LOUISVILLE -- Just days after reiterating plans to lay off up to 1,500 workers, Solectron Corp. opened a 500,000 sq. ft. services center here and said it would hire up to 700 workers in the next 12 months.

The facility will perform parts fulfillment and repair for consumer electronics like cellphones.

LOHJA, FINLAND -- Elcoteq's chief executive today confirmed earlier reports the EMS firm would close its Lohja manufacturing plant and lay off a total of 242 employees by August.

The company said 215 workers would be affected by the Lohja plant closing. Another 27 would be laid off as part of changes to its NPI organization.

PHOENIX -- Electronics manufacturing provider Suntron Corp. reported net sales of $69.3 million and an operating loss of $4.7 million for its fourth quarter ended Dec. 31. The results include $1.7 million of restructuring charges due to the closure of two U.S. manufacturing operations. The net loss was $5.7 million, versus net income of $100,000 in 2005.

For the year, net sales were down 2% to $320.8 million. Gross profit as a percentage of net sales improved to 5.6% for 2006, up 0.5 points. The gross profit includes restructuring charges of $2.9 million for 2006 and $1.2 million for 2005. The company also cut debt by 33%, to about $32 million. The net loss widened $600,000 to $11.9 million, including a writeoff of debt issuance costs of $1.4 million and restructuring charges of $3.5 million.

For the quarter, the company saw a decrease in gross profit due to higher restructuring costs and lower net sales. Sequentially, gross profit decreased $4.1 million.

In 2006, Suntron closed business units in Lawrence, MA, and Olathe, KS, In February, it sold its Garner, IA, EMS plant for $4.8 million, a gain of approximately $500,000.

Although the 2006 financial results do not reflect it, we believe the restructuring actions taken during the year have poised the company for a promising future,'' stated Paul Singh, Suntron's president and chief executive officer.

"We believe that the majority of our restructuring efforts should be complete by the end of the first quarter. As we execute our 2007 business plan, our focus will be on profitable growth, working capital management, and quality customer service," said Singh.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – IPC today announced publication of the 2006-2007 IPC International Technology Roadmap for Electronic Interconnections. The biennial roadmap provides direction for product and process development for companies manufacturing substrates and assemblies. The Roadmap is available as a free download to IPC members at www.ipc.org/membersonly. The Roadmap can also be purchased in a CD format.

EL SEGUNDO, CA – After experiencing a drop in surplus inventory at the end of fourth quarter, semiconductor stockpiles in the supply chain continued to decline in the first quarter as result of previous production cuts by chip manufacturers, according to iSuppli Corp.

MARLBOROUGH, MA – Flomerics reported sales rose 24% to $27.8 million in 2006, and gross profits climbed 30% to $2.9 million, before taxes and other charges. A key factor was the company’s July acquisition of Nika. Global sales of Nika’s Engineering Fluid Dynamics software grew 33% in 2006. Excluding revenues from Nika, sales grew 13% to $25.3 million for the year. Sales of Flomerics’ Flotherm and Flo/PCB increased 11%, while revenues from MicReD were up 80%. Revenue from Flo/EMC and MicroStripes grew 4%, and Flomerics’ Flovent product’s revenue grew 24%.

PLEASANT PRAIRIE, WI – Promation has been selected to design and build a custom conveyor solution that will permit the manufacture of large platform elevator control cabinets in a progressive assembly line.

The company’s power-driven roller conveyor solutions coupled with air bladder lifts, product rotating stations with overhead lighting, and tool trolleys and power crossover stations have been integrated to create a safe assembly line to manufacture the customer’s 650 lb. control cabinets.

TEDDINGTON, UK – The upcoming Soldering Science & Technology Club meeting will take place May 24 at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, UK. Presentations will include Improving the Prediction of Reliability Performance of Lead-Free Assemblies; Reliability in High Frequency Vibration of Lead-Free Solder Joints; A New Technique for Reliability Assessment based on Power Cycling; Corrosion Properties of Lead-Free Alloys; Measuring the Tin-pest Transformation; Thermal Management Technology Developments in the US; Reliability of Substrates after Processing at Lead-Free Soldering Temperatures, and Will Tin Finished Components Whisker? NPL also will launch an Industry Defect Database and there will be a tabletop exhibition. This event is suited for technologists, engineers and designers, and others wishing to gain a general background in field failures. For information, contact Dr. Chris Hunt at chrishunt@npl.co.uk.