News
TOKYO -- Kyocera Corp. has made plans to outsource its cell phone production in North America to Flextronics International and cut 1,700 jobs at its mobile phone division to turn the loss-making business around.
The latest restructuring follows Kyocera's announcement in March that it will quit its struggling digital camera operations this year. The company will outsource production at U.S. unit Kyocera Wireless Corp. to Flextronics from late May.
The biggest exhibitors were Universal, Assembleon and Bosch Rexroth. Some notable local suppliers chose to forego exhibiting while competitors made the trip to Boston. For example, of the three leading screen printer suppliers in North America, NJ-based DEK exhibited, although Speedline Technologies and EKRA America, both of which are based in the Boston suburbs, did not.
Numerous bare-board fabrication (MEI, Bare Board Group, Circuit Connect, Printed Circuit Corp., Sierra Proto Systems) and assembly companies (Masstech EMS and LightSpeed Manufacturing among others) were on hand. Most told Circuits Assembly that business growth was modest year-to-date and orders for lead-free boards were few and far between.
- Juki Automation, the second leading seller of placement
machines worldwide, rolled out a pair of selective soldering units.
Called the 300L and 400L, the machines come with internal spray or
drop-jet fluxers, nozzles ranging from 4 mm to 30 mm and preheat
capability, and the 400L has a three-stage inline system for high-speed
automated soldering. The 400L can also be customized for three
miniwaves or a combination of one miniwave and one full wave.
- Datron Dynamics, a
supplier of milling and routing equipment for assemblers, showed off
its new low-cost (under
$47,000) CNC machine for milling and engraving. The mini-Raptor has a
51 x 51" footprint and comes with a 60,000 rpm spindle, a solid granite
table and a 3-tool changer feed. It is said to reach rates up to 400"
per minute.
- Excelta is offering the Smart Tweezer, a slick little device that among other things IDs the capacitance,
resistance or inductance of the surface mount device being picked up.
Once a major convention in its own right, the expo
has morphed into a solid regional show. It was in its third location in
three years, having shifted this
year to the brand new Boston
Convention Center, a
mammoth (510,000 sq. ft.) hall located on a pier just east of downtown.
Official attendance numbers have not yet been released.
Dual-mode handsets have been virtually unknown to consumers until recently, and have not penetrated the enterprise space to any degree either.
But according to ABI Research senior analyst Philip Solis, some of the giants of global telecommunications -- notably British Telecom and Korea Telecom -- plan to offer dual-mode services by the end of 2005. That could start a very large ball rolling.
"The advantages of dual mode handsets and services, when they arrive, can be summed up in two words: seamless and economical," Solis said. Though the full spectrum of capabilities won't appear in the first generation of products, when these services are mature you will be able to start a phone call at home (connecting to residential Wi-Fi network and then broadband VOIP phone service), continue it in your car (switching to your cellular provider's network) and wind it up at work (phone switches to 802.11 LAN, and VoIP). The handset would sense the available signals and switch automatically from one network mode to another.
The decrease is related to a reduction in the number of PCB layers shipped, reflecting a softer market. Partially offsetting the decline in PCB sales was a $1.8 million increase in net sales from the quick-turn assembly operation.
Despide the limited PCB growth, president and CEO Bruce McMaster added that March PCB bookings were at their highest level since October 2003.
Gross profit for the quarter was $8 million, up from $5.6 million for the first quarter 2004, due to a $6 million decrease in non-cash compensation charges and intangibles from the prior year. Excluding non-cash charges, adjusted gross profit increased sequentially by $0.5 million on the $0.9 million increase in sequential net sales.
The company reported net income of $9.7 million from discontinued operations, primarily due to a $11.1 million non-cash gain on the disposition of DDi Europe.
DDi announced that it will close its Arizona plant to shift production of mass lamination cores back to its four North American PCB plants. It is also closing is Corporate Support Center in Colorado Springs to streamline operations from its Anaheim headquarters.
Founded in 1980, Flexlink has 540 employees, with its head office in Göteborg and business activities in 50 countries.
Johan Bjurström, Nordic Head of ABN AMRO Capital, said the company had prospered under its previous ownership but had further potential for geographic growth and to lead consolidation in its sector - key investment criteria for ABN AMRO Capital. "FlexLink is well positioned for future growth, as factory automation systems continue to develop in sophistication in response to the increased use of robotics and the growing need for flexibility in manufacturing," he said.
The site -- alphametals.com/lead_free/rohs.html - should facilitate the search for RoHS-compliant materials (RoHS Directive 2002/95/EC restricts the use of six hazardous materials, including lead, from electrical and electronic equipment).
The format for declarations is based on the design of the joint industry group of EIA, EICTA and JGPSSI. The library of declarations will be updated regularly.
Harrisburg, PA - Phoenix Contact Inc., a manufacturer of specialized electronic components and connection systems, has added a second Infomobile for use at customer sites and trade shows.
The Infomobile is an informational and educational vehicle that provides hands-on demonstrations of the company's products. The newest vehicle features a simulated control room where products interact to produce real-time industrial solutions.
The Infomobile is available to visit all types of businesses, including manufacturing plants and engineering firms. The vehicles currently visit more than a dozen countries.
Visit www.phoenixcon.com/info for a complete schedule of stops.
Operating income rose 64% to $315,333, while net income more than doubled to $98,892.
"This year has started very well, with positive momentum continuing from the second half of 2004," says Mike Degen, President and CEO of Nortech Systems. "Our diverse customer base remains a core strength."
Sales growth was led by aerospace systems and electronics assembly.
As previously announced, the company expects revenues in fiscal 2005 to increase eight to 10%, in the range of $78 million to $80 million.NORWALK, CT -- The global auto-ID market, worth approx. $13.9 billion in 2005, is expected to grow at an AAGR (average annual growth rate) of 15.8% to reach $28.9 billion by 2010, according to a new report.
Research from The Business Communication Company shows that the high growth rate of the market can be attributed to a higher demand for strong security solutions in different market verticals, such as government installations, financial services and mobile telephony. The need to automate business processes to minimize costs is another reason for the growth in the automobiles, aviation, retail and transportation sectors.
Some primary technologies in the market include smart cards, optical cards, RFID, barcodes and biometrics. The smart cards market is developing rapidly to accommodate the demands of immigration control. In the near future, biometric identification is expected to be used as the primary tool of identification.
BCC suggests that since it is intimately connected to the semiconductor industry, developments in areas such as high-density memory will boost growth in the auto-ID industry. The decrease in chip size and increase in processing power have led to the development of more complex applications. Therefore, auto-ID players have to keep up with new technologies to stay competitive.
Some older auto-ID technologies, such as barcodes, are expected to lose their market share to new technologies, such as RFID (which boasts greater storage capacity and more efficient data-capturing ability). Biometric identification may be integrated with smart cards in the form of passports and visas. Biometrics will also be used as a standalone application to provide security solutions to government installations and other sensitive locations.
San Diego — KIC, Henkel Technologies, Engent, Speedline Technologies, Cogiscan and OK International will co-sponsor a lead-free workshop on May 18-19, at the Henkel Technologies facility in Irvine, CA.
The hands-on training program is designed for engineers and engineering management, and will provide a broad knowledge of lead-free materials interactions, and an understanding of the process (including advantages and limitations). A sample lead-free board will be produced and taken away by each attendee.
· Dr. Neil Poole and Dr. Brian Toleno of Henkel Technologies will present on material interactions, surface mount adhesives, underfills, conformal coatings and alloy reliability.
· Dr. Daniel Baldwin of Engent will discuss process engineering methods, analytical tools and design of experiment (DOE).
· Francois Monette of Cogiscan Inc. will present on material logistics and identification, component compatibility and the impact of MSD.
· Marybeth Allen of KIC will discuss management of the thermal processes as they relate to the conversion to lead-free manufacturing.
· Grant Miller of OK International will present on rework with lead-free devices.
· Keith Howell of Speedline Technologies will present on wave and reflow processes.
The workshop will feature hands-on production floor training in the following areas:
· Screen printing surface mount adhesives and solder paste, and placement
· Reflow profiling
· Inspection/analytical
· Rework
· Wave.
HERNDON, VA— The International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI) has added seven new members.
The following companies have joined the group in the past few months:
Coherent Inc. (Santa Clara, CA)— produces photonics-based solutions for commercial markets and scientific research.
Henkel Corp. (Irvine, CA) —electronics material solutions from wafer-level to board-level and final assembly.
NanoDynamics Inc. (Buffalo, NY) — produces nanomaterials for improved functionality and performance of a wide range of industrial and consumer products.
Nihon Superior Co. Ltd. (Osaka, Japan) — provides advanced soldering and brazing technologies and products for the metal-joining industry.
PCNalert (Pasadena, CA) — specializes in component event management, a discipline that synthesizes content, software applications and business processes.
Symbol Technologies Inc. (Holtsville, NY) - develops enterprise mobility products such as mobile computers, wireless infrastructure, barcode scanners and kiosks.
Total Parts Plus Inc. (Fort Walton Beach, FL) — offers obsolescence management products and services as well as detailed material content information services.
"iNEMI's success is directly attributable to the diversity and participation of our members. These new members represent both the global reach and the variation of companies that make up the industry's supply chain," said iNEMI CEO Jim McElroy.
SHANGHAI - Enthone Inc., the chemistries arm of Cookson Electronics, opened a $3 million technical service center in Shanghai. The facility will process functional and decorative coatings for use in automotive, plumbing and other surface finishing applications. In total, five plating lines will be installed for pre-treatment, plating and post-treatment chemical processing.
Hubb van Dun, president, said, "In 2004, Enthone achieved a breakthrough market position in aluminum wheel plating in Asia. We will continue to evaluate and invest in technologies, applications and markets that expand our Enthone chemistry business and support the needs of our worldwide customers."
The center, home to about 60 employees, is equipped with advanced instrumentation analysis, including AAS, UV/VIS, CVS and a CASS test chamber that will analyze a range of materials, including decorative accessories, functional items and electronics components.
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