MIDDLETOWN, PA -- Phoenix Contact officials from Germany and the U.S. marked 25 years of U.S. operations by breaking ground for a $12 million expansion project at U.S. headquarters in Middletown.
 
The company is building a new 45,000 sq. ft. distribution center and expanding its manufacturing facility from 28,000 to 90,000 sq. ft.
The distribution center is slated for completion in 2007, and the manufacturing expansion is expected to be finished by 2008.
 

“It was an ambitious and visionary decision of my brother Gerd Eisert, the architect of the Phoenix Contact business activities abroad, to enter the North American continent 25 years ago,” said CEO Klaus Eisert. “He was convinced that this highly developed nation would be a future market for Phoenix Contact. At that time, we were competing with a small range of European DIN-rail terminal blocks on the one hand and PCB terminal blocks on the other hand. This turned out to be a success story!

 

“The market chances with the product range completed by surge voltage protection, Interface modules and automation technology have not changed today. We will do our utmost to provide for more marketability and thus for more customer satisfaction.”


Over 120 employees have been hired during the past year and a half, and the company plans to add 250 more by 2010.

 

Last year the company became a Trans-National Corporation, and the Middletown site, along with headquarters in Germany and China, became one of three Regional Business Units (RBUs). The Americas RBU is responsible for R&D and engineering of new products for all of the Americas subsidiaries.

 
Dr. Lee was named SMTA Member of Distinction in 2002, received the Soldertec Global Lead-Free Solder Award in 2003 and recently received the 2006 CPMT Exceptional Technical Achievement Award. He has also served as an SMTA board member, liaison to the Taiwan SMTA chapter, coordinator and chair of the 2005 Nepcon Shanghai technical program, and is author of two books and over 100 technical papers.
 
He has experience in the development of solders, fluxes, high-temperature polymers, encapsulates for microelectronics, underfills and adhesives. His current research interests cover advanced materials for interconnects, and packaging for electronics and optoelectronics applications, with emphasis on high performance and low-cost ownership.

RENTON, WA – Microscan is offering a free downloadable series of educational tutorials on Data Matrix symbol verification. Designed for any manufacturer who marks parts with Data Matrix, the series covers the major industry verification standards involved in determining symbol quality. They also provide information on quality parameters and how they affect the symbol grading process.
 

 

ST. LOUIS -- LaBarge Inc. has been awarded a $10.7 million contract to continue to provide Northrop Grumman with electromechanical subsystems and modules for a state-of-the-art automated mail sorting system. The award continues LaBarge's production of the assemblies through May 2007.

LaBarge-built equipment is part of the Automated Flats Sorting Machine-Automated Induction (AFSM-ai) system, a fleet of machines that together can sort 26 billion pieces of flat mail per year. LaBarge began manufacturing the subsystems and modules in July 2005, under a previous contract. The equipment enhances the system's in-feed units, which the company manufactured between 1999 and 2002.

LaBarge will perform the work at its Huntsville, AK, facility.

BUENOS AIRES -- Foxconn Electronics may site a manufacturing plant in Argentina in order to work more closely with its customers in Central and Lain America, according to a China language publication.

The Apple Daily further reported that Foxconn's wholly-owned handset subsidiary Foxconn International Holdings is considering a R&D center in Japan.

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The Bromine Science and Environmental Forum today issued a statement that undercut an earlier missive from a European political group of the status of the chemical known as Deca-BDE.

According to the BSEF, a statement European Green made earlier this week regarding a nonbinding interpretation by the European Commission's DG Environment on Deca-BDE's exemption from the RoHS Directive "is incorrect and ignores the fact that the interpretation is under review. "

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El Segundo, CA — After a better-than-expected first quarter, iSuppli Corp. has upgraded its semiconductor forecast slightly for 2006, going to 7.9% from 7.4%. Worldwide semiconductor revenue will rise to $255.7 billion in 2006, up from $237 billion in 2005, iSuppli predicts.
 
“The rise in the 2006 semiconductor revenue outlook comes despite a slowdown in the markets for electronic equipment,” said Gary Grandbois, principal analyst. “Worldwide electronic equipment revenue growth will decline to 6.8% in 2006, from 8.2% in 2005.
 
“However, electronic equipment demand remains very strong, and continues to be driven by the healthy PC, mobile- phone and consumer-electronics markets. Furthermore, improving conditions in the semiconductor industry, bolstered by rising average selling prices and lengthening lead times, are propelling chip growth to a higher level than that experienced by the end-equipment markets.”
 
The company predicts that semiconductor market growth will peak in 2007 and then bottom out in 2009.
 
The major products behind the market’s growth in 2006 are analog and memory ICs. Analog ICs are experiencing a strong resurgence as prices are pushed up by suppliers to pass on increases in material costs. A healthy mobile-phone market, expected to post 14% unit growth this year, also is important to the growth of analog ICs.
 
Memory IC growth is led by the continuing strength of flash, an area that is expected to expand 27%. Flash memory growth, combined with an 8% rise in DRAM revenue, will generate total memory IC growth of nearly 15% for the year.
 
However, higher-than-expected growth seen in the first quarter will be followed by some sluggishness in the market in the second half. Second-half growth of 5% is less than normal seasonal expectations. Orders appear to be weakening and inventories are rising.

REDMOND, WA –Data I/O, provider of manual and automated programming systems, has named the second member of its Preferred Partnership Program. The company is also in talking about the program with several other memory and microcontroller companies.
 

 
Program benefits and collaboration areas include:
 
Focused attention on increasing quality of service and reducing time-to-market;
Offering a full solution to end customers rather than selling only a device;
Providing global support to partners and mutual customers;
Helping multi-national OEM customers to link their design and manufacturing in wireless, automotive, consumer electronics, white goods and process control markets;
Protecting IP with “Connected Strategy”;
Helping partners and mutual customers improve profitability and achieve Lean manufacturing by reducing RMAs and introducing higher quality standards;
Educating mutual customers and arranging joint seminars globally;
Providing “Priority Device Support” for partners and their customers;
Collaborating to develop and/or license technology from each other;
Collaborating between partners’ sales/FAE forces early enough to address manufacturing related issues during design phase.
 

HELSINKI, FINLAND -- Nokia Corp. had filed suit in Chinese court, accusing two Chinese companies of copying its  cellphone designs.

In Beijing court Nokia asked for damages and a cease-and-desist order.

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ROUND ROCK, TX – Michael Dell, the founder of Dell Computer, today said the computer and consumer electronics maker would offer free recycling of Dell-branded products worldwide.

"We have a responsibility to our customers to recycle the products we make and sell," said Dell, who is chairman of the company. "Our direct relationships with consumers allow us to offer this easy and free service and we encourage others in our industry to do so as well."

"We don’t believe consumers should have to pay for responsible retirement of products,” Dell said.

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ELKHART, IN -- Electronics manufacturer CTS Corp. said today it entered into an bank agreement providing it with a $100 million unsecured revolving credit facility through June 2011.

The company, which makes parts for medical and automotive customers and performs some contract electronics assembly, said it will also have access to an additional $50 million.

CTS said it plans to use the loan for general corporate purposes, including strategic acquisitions.

CTS customers include Hewlett-Packard and Motorola.

BANNOCKBURN, IL -- May sales of rigid printed circuit boards by North American fabricators were up 20.2% and bookings climbed 7.1% year-over-year, the IPC trade group reported Wednesday. Sequentially, shipments rose 8.5% and bookings were up 2.9%.

Flexible circuit shipments fell 4.2% and bookings were off 20% compared to May 2005. Shipments rose 19.5% and flex bookings increased 19.2% over April's numbers.

The May book-to-bill ratio for rigid boards fell to 1.02. The flexible circuit book-to-bill ratio was 0.91, its third straight month below the benchmark 1.0 level.

The ratios are based on monthly data collected from PCB producers that participate in IPC’s monthly PCB Statistical Program. The combined (rigid and flex) industry book-to-bill ratio in May was 1.01.

Ratios are calculated by dividing the value of orders over the past three months by the value of sales. A ratio of more than 1.0 suggests expansion.

It is difficult to derive the value of the IPC data, critics contend, because of the limited number and size of companies that participate in the survey.

Year to date, rigid PCB shipments are up 11.1% and bookings are up 12.8%. Flexible shipments are up 0.8 % and bookings are down 14.5%. Combined industry shipments are up 10.3% and bookings are up 10.8%.

More than 75% of the PCB market in North America is for rigid boards.

At least 13% of the boards sold in May by those surveyed were built offshore.