News
ARLINGTON, VA -- Down in January, up in February, down in March, up again last month: electronic component orders continued their 2005 seesaw ride, according to the monthly order index compiled by the Electronic Components, Assemblies & Materials Association (ECA).
"Anytime you see an uptick such as the one in April, it's a good sign," said Bob Willis, ECA president (ec-central.org). "So far, it's been a positive year, but we are still seeing fluctuations from month to month as a result of manufacturers' uncertainties about where the market is heading."
Sales improved "significantly" during the quarter, the company said, and current indications "are that this strength has continued into the second quarter."
Of the sales increase, $1.24 million came from the company's Ottawa operations acquired in the first quarter 2004.
For the quarter, gross
margin increased to
$930,000, from $100,000 a year ago. Selling, general and administrative
costs were $1.14 million, down 13.6% from $1.32 million.
Sequentially, sales were slightly higher while the net loss was lower.
F. Michael Marti, president and CEO, said Adeptron "has made significant progress by reducing costs while maintaining revenue. Starting in the fourth quarter of 2004, we engaged in an aggressive and ongoing campaign to improve the cost structure. The cumulative effects of these cost reduction measures will be more evident in the second quarter and fully reflected by the third quarter."
Sales increased by 27% and maintenance revenues increased by 13% over last year's first quarter.
The financial statements incorporate for the first time the adoption of new International Financial Reporting Standards published by the International Accounting Standards Board. Net profit before expensing Share-Based Compensation was $823,000 in Q1 '05 - nearly three times higher than the same quarter last year ($295,000).
Research and Development expenses were $2.8 million - an increase of 5.7% year-on-year.
NATICK, MA -Cognex Corp., a supplier of machine vision systems, has acquired DVT Corp., a privately-held company based in Duluth, GA.
Cognex purchased the outstanding shares of DVT with a cash payment of $104 million made at the closing, and a final payment of up to $11 million in cash to be paid at the end of a one-year escrow period.
Cognex plans to maintain operations at the Georgia facility, and to continue selling and supporting the vision products through DVT's existing third-party distribution channel.
As a result of the acquisition, Cognex expects an increase in its revenue of approx. $15 - $20 million during fiscal year 2005.
Noting the "disappointing" margins of the last quarter turned in by Taiwan-based ODMs Hon Hai, Asustek and Quanta, Deutsche Bank asserted that further downsizing is ahead for the industry.
A program committee, drawn from university and industry members, will review submitted papers in a range of disciplines, including: emerging technologies, components, assembly, lead-free and business trends.
For more info, visit: http://www.npl.co.uk/ei/clubs/sstc/.
While visiting the site, also note that the FAQ page ( www.npl.co.uk/ei/news/faqs.html ) has been updated and extended.
It now poses the "Top 37 Questions" giving answers and offering advice on a range of topics relevant to lead-free soldering, including the WEEE/RoHS directives, compliance, solder replacements, equipment upgrades, component compatibility, reliability and training.
HARRISBURG, PA - Tyco Electronics Corp. will close its Austin PCB manufacturing plant by July 1, and lay off about 190 employees, according to a news article.
Mike Ratcliff, a spokesman for Tyco, told a local paper that work from the 240,000 sq.-ft. plant will be transfered to other Tyco plants. The Austin location has stopped taking orders for PCBs but will fulfill existing orders.
"The printed circuit group has been
evaluating how best to operate the business, reduce costs where
possible and eliminate duplication," Ratcliff says. "It's a competitive
industry."
Tyco purchased the plant from Raytheon, which in turn obtained it through a large purchase of the defense business from Texas Instruments.
There has been no report at this time of other Tyco operations closing down.
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.
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