Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - News

News

Salem, NH – EMS provider Synchronized Manufacturing Technologies has achieved ISO-9001:2000 certification.

To obtain the certification, a company must demonstrate its ability to consistently provide product that meets customer and applicable regulatory requirements, and aims to enhance customer satisfaction through the effective application of the system, including processes for continual improvement of the system.

“We are extremely proud of our employees who worked diligently to achieve this certification. When we founded this company in 2004, our first goal was to achieve ISO-9001:2000 certification. Accomplishing this goal within the first 14 months of our business illustrates our commitment to our customer’s goals and providing the widest opportunities to our valued employees,” said Gary Tarallo VP of operations.

NEWARK, N.Y -- IEC Electronics Corp. reported fourth-quarter net income of $52,000 on revenue of $4.1 million.

For the year ended Sept. 30, IEC's net income was $285,000 on revenue of $19.1 million. This compares to a net loss of $828,000 on revenue of $27.7 million for fiscal 2004.

For the fourth quarter last year, the EMS provider reported net income of $62,000 on revenue of $7.7 million

Essex, CT – Landrex Technologies of Santa Clara, CA, has named Ascentech as its sales representative for the six-state New England territory.

Landrex manufactures the OPTIMA series of PCB AOI equipment.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – The IPC has commissioned a history of the past 50 years of electronics manufacturing.

The book is due to be published in early 2007, on the anniversary of the trade group's founding in 1957.

Mike Martel of MMC Inc. has been tapped to put the book together. He is seeking input, including recollections and perspectives about milestones and notable developments. Contact Martel at mmc@mmc-marketing.com, mmcmarketing@gmail.com, 401-254-1473.

Irving, TX – EMS provider Elcoteq received the Frost & Sullivan 2005 Customer Service Leadership Award for providing customers with value-added services.

“Elcoteq is the only EMS company that focuses on communications technology including WiMAX, and is evolving constantly to serve its customers better from a technology point of view,” said F&S research analyst Vinoth Praveen Premkumar. “The company’s deep understanding and competency in communications technology fosters its expertise in defining and manufacturing products.”

The award is given each year to a company that has demonstrated excellence in customer services within its industry. It recognizes responsiveness to customer needs and continuous focus on long- and short-term customer profitability goals. Recipients are acknowledged for flexibility in tailoring service offerings to suit customers’ business needs.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – The September 90-day moving average shipments of all types of circuit boards rose 8.5% year-on-year, while bookings fell 0.4%, according to the latest poll of North American PCB fabricators.

A large percentage of the production includes boards built offshore and distributed by North American vendors. According to IPC, 33% of the shipments reported were produced offshore.

The domestic book-to-bill ratio fell 0.05 points to 1.13. The ratio is based on data collected by IPC from rigid and flex producers and is calculated by dividing three months worth of orders by sales. A ratio over 1.0 is considered an indicator of rising demand.

The ratio for rigid PCBs rose 0.07 points to 1.14, while that of flexible circuits dropped 0.42 points to 1.10.

“Rigid PCB sales in October continued a bit below last year, but the increase in bookings suggests that this segment of the industry will have a solid fourth quarter,” said IPC in a statement. “The sudden decrease in October bookings for flex was a surprise, but it is not a cause for alarm. Monthly bookings tend to be very volatile in the flex segment.”

Rigid board shipments, estimated by IPC to make up more than 75% of all domestic PCBs, were down 3.6% in October vs. a year ago. Bookings rose 31.5% during the month.

Flex sales rose 49.1% and bookings dropped 62.7%. Value-added services made up 78% of the shipment value of flex circuits.

Year-to-date, rigid shipments are down 4.6% and bookings are up 1.5%. Flex bookings are up 29.9% and shipments are up 17%. Shipments of all boards are up 1.9% and bookings are up 5.3%.

Sequentially, combined shipments were down 10.2% vs. September, while bookings were down 35.9%. Rigid shipments were down 18.3% and bookings fell 12.8%. Flex shipments fell 14.7% and bookings were down 77.3% vs. September.

Sixty-seven percent of PCB shipments reported was domestically produced. Domestic production accounted for 85% of rigid PCB and 29% of flexible circuit shipments in September, IPC said.

In a statement, IPC cautioned that month-to-month comparisons should be made with caution as they may reflect cyclical effects.

EL SEGUNDO, CA – IBM and Microsoft once teamed up to dominate the PC market. Can they make history repeat itself in the video-game console business?

A teardown of Microsoft’s new Xbox 360 Premium video-game console conducted by research firm iSuppli indicates that IBM silicon is a key factor driving the cost and functionality of the product. iSuppli's analysis found the total bill of materials cost for the new Xbox reaches $525, well above the retail price of $399.

BRUSSELS -- Members of a task force on classification and labeling representing EU member states confirmed on Nov. 16 that Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) is not subject to any classification for health. This decision follows the EU human health risk assessment, completed last May, which concluded that TBBPA presents no risk to human health.

MINNEAPOLIS -- The SMTA is seeking abstracts for the Third International Conference and Exhibition on Green Manufacturing and Industry Development for Electronic Products.

The trade group is seeking papers on green electronic product design and manufacturing, SMT and service adaptability, green materials, retrieving and recycling of waste products and other topics.

The conference will be held May 13-14, 2006, in Tianjin, China.

Abstracts of 200 to 400 words should be submitted by Jan. 30, to SMTA administrator JoAnn Stromberg. It is expected that papers will be presented in Mandarin or with translation.

For full details on submitting an abstract: joann@smta.org.; smta.org/education/education.cfm#call.

PALO ALTO, CA – HP’s server revenue growth outpaced that of all other major server vendors worldwide, according to third quarter 2005 figures from research group IDC.

HP was No. 1 in total worldwide revenue for the three major operating systems of Windows, Linux and Unix individually as well as combined – together, these three operating systems comprise more than 95% of units shipped and 80% of revenue worldwide.

Clinton, NY – Bill Brunstedt has joined Indium Corp. as Asia-Pacific market development manager. Based in Singapore, he will manage the business development efforts for the region, focusing on new and existing regional markets, general market strategies and new product requirements.

Brundstedt spent the last 21 years with BTU International, most recently as managing director for the Asia Pacific region.

Indium is a supplier of electronics assembly materials, including solder pastes, solder preforms, fluxes, Pb-Free solder alloys, underfill materials, die-attach materials and more.

NORWALK, CT --The global market for green materials is estimated at $6.1 billion in 2005 and is expected to reach $8.7 billion by 2010, an average annual growth rate of 7.4%, according to a soon-to-be-released report from Business Communications Co.

Green materials include Pb-free solders and solder coatings, and replacements for PBB and PBDE, hexavalent chromium, cadmium and mercury. PBB and PBDE replacements accounted for $3.5 billion in 2003, $4.3 billion in 2004, and $4.7 billion in 2005.