Carlsbad, CA – Asymtek added a new team of sales representatives, Shanghai Kankun Trading Co., to market its automated fluid dispensing systems in China. Headquartered in Shanghai, Kankun also has branches in Suzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dalian, Chengdu and Wuhan.

Kankun (kankun.com.cn) will provide on-site equipment service, training, applications support and spare parts.  In addition, they offer extensive lab resources, including equipment demonstrations and the latest technical data on dispensing.

Kankun’s customer base includes the electronics, automotive, medical, and appliance markets. The company also employs more than 20 sub-distributors located throughout China.

Singapore - Contract manufacturer Flextronics and marine electronics maker Raymarine Plc. entered into an outsourcing relationship in which Flextronics will provide manufacturing services for Raymarine at a facility in Hungary.

The deal is worth about $500 million over five years, Flextronics said. The EMS company will not assume any Raymarine buildings or assets, and no employees will be transferred.

St. Charles, IL – With a military budget that is approximately equal to the sum of all the rest on the nations in the world, the U.S. is by far the largest single market for military connectors. However, the fastest growing defense budget is that of China, says a new report by Bishop and Associates.

According to the group, the world military market for connectors continues to grow, totalling $2.329 billion in 2004. The most significant change comes from the growing use of non-mil spec connectors in a market that was once virtually off limits to commercial suppliers.

Oulunsalo, Finland -- Elektrobit Group Plc is combining its Testing and Automation Solutions business units into the single Test and Automation unit. The units previously operated independently within the Products business segment.

Former executive VP of testing, Dr. Hannu Hakalahti is now executive VP of the combined unit.

Customers will include the manufacturers of mobile communication devices and mobile networks, network operators, electronics contract manufacturers, as well as automotive, consumer and industrial electronics companies. Test and Automation will be divided into four business areas: Production Solutions, Integrated Test and Automation Products, System Test and Network Test.

In terms of net sales, Test and Automation is the Group's largest business unit, accounting for 56% of net sales in 2004 (€113.5 million).

LONDON -- The U.K. government is awaiting formal notification of the adoption of the Commission Decision establishing the RoHS Directive's maximum concentration values. To keep industry stakeholders informed of the latest developments, the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) has issued a revised version of the draft non-statutory guidance first published in July 2004.

The document now reads: For the purposes of the RoHS Regulations, a maximum concentration value of up to 0.1% by weight in homogeneous materials for lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, PBB and PBDE and of up to 0.01% by weight in homogenous materials for cadmium will be permitted in the manufacture of new EEE.

The revised issue, dated August 2005, is here.

Gurnee, IL -- Purex International, manufacturer of fume extraction systems for soldering, lasers, laboratories, welding and other applications, opens its first American office this week.

The facility in Gurnee will serve customers in North America, Canada and Mexico. It includes a demonstration and training area, and a dedicated sales and support team. Inventory levels have been greatly increased.

The sales team will be headed by U.S. sales manager Andru Ryniec and sales support coordinator Jacqueline Smith.

Ryniec added, “Purex is a long time player in the U.S. fume extraction business and the opening of the new office shows our commitment and belief in the U.S. market.”

FRANKFURT -- Cisco's inline Q, modestly improved inventory efficiency and only somewhat reserved outlook for the first quarter suggests that Celestica and Solectron are losing share at Cisco, according to Deutsche Bank analysts. DB believes U.S.-based EMS vendors will continue to lose share to more cost-competitive Asian-based suppliers like Hon Hai.

Cisco is one of the largest customers of the EMS industry and an indicator of the health of enterprise spending/communications equipment end demand. Cisco reported revenue of $6.58 billion, up 6% from last quarter and up 11% year on year, and roughly inline with consensus

($6.56B). Inventories increased 1% this quarter. Revenue guidance for 2006 was slightly below expectations.

Given the weak guidance by Solectron and Celestica, most EMS investors were expecting a meaningful inventory reduction (Solectron's revenue from Cisco declined 25% from the previous quarter). Solectron (14% of sales; switches and routers), Celestica (>10%; optical and switches) and Jabil (10-15%; routers, storage) have the most exposure to Cisco.

Switch sales increased 10% quarter on quarter, while year-on-year growth slowed to 3% for routers. Advanced Technology products remained strong, increasing 27% from last year.  Cisco's suggested that demand in Europe and the U.S. remains healthy.

DB remains cautious on the EMS industry due to their continued share loss to Asian-based competitors like Hon Hai. While Hon Hai's Q3 sales will likely be up roughly 50% year on year, the U.S.-based EMS industry's sales are forecast to be down 5%.

Solectron, Sanmina-SCI and Celestica are at most risk of further share loss, while Flextronics is best positioned for market share growth, said DB. 

SAN JOSE, CA -- X-line Asset Management will hold an online auction Aug. 16-17 for the liquidation of over 275 pieces of SMT, PCB and ETM equipment from a variety of sellers. X-line forecasts the value of the equipment to be over $1 million from companies within the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Tto view the auction catalog and bid, visit xlineassets.com.

X-line is also liquidating high-tech manufacturing equipment from the Anaheim, CA, facility of APW Ltd. APW Ltd. provides global capabilities in the design manufacturing and integration of electrical and mechanical solutions. Brands such as Sanyo, Heller and CR Technologies are up for bid (xlineassets.com/apw.shtml).

The company has also agreed to liquidate the 10,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility of EMS provider Selectronics Corp. (Round Rock, TX). Equipment is available for immediate sale, contact sales@xlineassets.com.

Fort Worth, TX – Allied Electronics has launched an online RoHS Knowledge Center to help design engineers, purchasers and other industry professionals comply with emerging green laws, such as the EU’s RoHS legislation set to go into effect next year.

The Website (www.alliedelec.com/RoHS) is designed to keep customers up-to-date on RoHS and other green laws affecting the electronics industry in North America. It will feature manufacturer updates and a listing of the company’s RoHS-compliant products.

In addition, the site features a RoHS search functionality that will display products that are RoHS compliant. Users can enter a part number to determine a component's RoHS status.

STAMFORD, CT — Feinfocus, a COMET business unit and manufacturer of high-resolution microfocus x-ray inspection systems, formed a technology alliance with INNOV-X Systems, a manufacturer of high-performance portable x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzers. The companies are collaborating to introduce products to the electronics assembly and semiconductor packaging markets.

COMET recently exhibited the INNOV-X Hawk-i solder paste analyzer at Semicon West, which offers yield accuracies of 0.1 – 0.5%. It uses an air-cooled microfocus x-ray tube with a spot size of 0.2 – 6 mm for precise analysis. Powered by proprietary user-friendly parameter software, it can detect even slight variances in a solder joint. Features a standard Windows computer with single-button operation. Options include an enhanced spot size of 0.1 – 13 mm, a joystick with automatic x-y stage positioning and a liquid sample adapter with specialized liquid analysis software.

Hsin-Chu, Taiwan -- The world's leading made-to-order microchip maker, Taiwan Semicon-ductor Manufacturing Co, said yesterday that sales last month fell 9.9% year-on-year but rose 3.7% from the previous month due to increased demand.

Haverhill, MA – Dage Precision Industries has opened its East Coast demonstration center and application lab.  An alliance with Circuit Technology Center allows Dage to showcase its digital x-ray inspection technology in Circuit Technology Center’s 30,000 sq. ft. facility located in Haverhill.

“The Circuit Technology Center continues to be recognized as one of the most innovative providers of circuit board repair, rework and training in the U.S.,” said Charley Dennehy, president of CTC.  “We remain totally focused on the intricate needs of high reliability circuit board repair, including rework, upgrades and modification.”