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News

ATLANTA - UP Media Group has issued a call for abstracts for PCB Design Conference East, the annual conference for PCB designers and engineers.

Presentations of 30 minutes, one or two hours, and half-day are sought. One- and two-day tutorials are also sought, organizers said.

For consideration, go to www.pcbeast.com for an online submission form, or e-mail conference chair Andy Shaughnessy, ashaughnessy@upmediagroup.com. Abstracts are due March 15.

Submissions should include a suggested course title, length, a short description of the target audience, a detailed 100- to 300-word abstract, and a short bio.

PCB East will be held Oct. 10-14, in Manchester, NH. The trade show is sponsored by Printed Circuit Design & Manufacture and Circuits Assembly.

SAN DIEGO -- Pulse, a large component manufacturer, today announced plans to increase prices of magnetic components for local area network, telecommunications, and power conversion applications due to rising costs of sub-components, consumables, energy and labor.

Unless set by contract, prices for certain catalog and custom products will increase between 3% and 10%, depending upon product type and quantities purchased, on orders placed after March 31, the company said in a statement.

ARMONK, NY - The groundbreaking sale of IBM's PC division to a Chinese OEM has passed a key federal review and is expected to go through.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has completed its review of the estimate $1.75 billion sale to Chinese PC maker Lenovo.

SIOUX FALLS, SD - Raven Industries Inc. today announced record sales and earnings for its fourth quarter and full year ended January 31. Net income for the quarter climbed 41% to $3.6 million. Total sales for the industrial manufacturer's rose 31% to $44 million.

For the past 12 months, Raven reported net earnings increased 29% to $17.9 million, and sales were up 18% to $168 million.

The company projects double-digit earnings growth in fiscal 2006.

The company's electronic systems division fourth-quarter sales were relatively flat at $12.2 million. Operating income declined 6% to $1.4 million. For fiscal 2005 division sales climbed 6% to $47 million, while operating profits fell 23%, to $4.5 million. "The ESD business model of providing low-volume, high-mix contract manufacturing services, coupled with strong customer service and engineering support, is still the most viable in this marketplace," the company said.

AURORA, CO - Advanced Circuits today announced the availability of a PDF preview tool said to provide an accurate, convenient view of circuit board designs prior to production.

"Traditional Gerber viewers don't always show the actual manufactured image without time-consuming setup," said Ron Huston, founder and CEO, in a statement. "PCB Check Plot Online delivers an accurate representation of the final design in a PDF format, allowing engineers to avoid costly redesign efforts and project delays once a circuit board moves into the manufacturing phase."

The tool permits engineers to upload Gerber files to Advanced Circuits' FreeDFM.com Web site and receive feedback within minutes. The feedback highlights potential design for manufacturability problems and suggests modifications. The free service requires no commitment to order.

Check Plot Online allows engineers the opportunity to remedy potential problems before declaring their design "complete."

Advanced Circuits Check Plot Online is available through its FreeDFM.com service. Engineers can view a sample of the PDF format at www.freedfm.com/checkplot.

KENOSHA, WI - SMT assembly equipment supplier Pro-Mation Inc. today named two sales persons to the Dallas area, citing increased business.

In a statement, president and CEO Gary Goldberg cited improvements in current and forecasted equipment sales for the additions.

Carey Gray and Jared Tucker will be based in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and will provide field support.

SHANGHAI - Reserved exhibition space for next month's Nepcon China/EMT China has surpassed last year's final size and more than 20% growth is expected, according to conference organizers.

The trade show, which takes place next month, will feature 700 exhibiting companies from 21 countries. Reed Exhibitions, which manages the show, forecasts 15,000 attendees from the Pacific Rim.

New for 2005 is the Soldering Zone, a showcase of the latest products and technology in soldering technology. "We are excited to be exhibiting our latest soldering equipment at the Soldering Zone. It's a rare opportunity for us to reach quality decision makers and gives us very focused platform," says David Chen, general manager of Ersa.

The show takes place April 12-15, in Shanghai. Visit reedexpo.com for details.

Nepcon is home to suppliers of equipment and materials for electronics assembly. EMT China, which is co-located with Nepcon China, focuses on component manufacturing, electronics manufacturing services and test and measurement.

The growth of the event is a reflection of the local market, Reed says. By year's end, China's electronics manufacturing base will grow by $65 billion, an increase of 135% over 2003, according to the International Finance Group. The forecasted value of China's electronics market: $247 billion.

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, IL - SigmaTron International reported third fiscal quarter net revenues of $28.3 million, up 18% for the three months ended Jan. 31. Net income was $1.4 million, up 16%, the company said.

For the nine months ended Jan. 31, the company's net revenues are up 8% to $81.2 million. Net income is down 13%, to $3.9 million.

In a press release, president and chief executive Gary R. Fairhead said sales of appliances and fitness gear increased, but competitive pricing pressures hurt gross margins.

GUADALAJARA - Electronics manufacturing in Mexico is not dead after all. While expansion in China continues to make the most waves, Mexico has been quietly reshaping its manufacturing infrastructure to accommodate higher-end and faster-turn products.

Companies are adding capacity south of the border. According to published reports, Tier 1 EMS provider Sanmina-SCI is opening a 200,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in Guadalajara and will "aggressively" relocate production from the U.S.; Jabil may expand in Chihuahua and Reynosa; and Hon Hai has designs on Juarez. On the supplier side, Kester announced last fall plans to ramp production in Nogales.

Product mixes taken on a new look as suppliers supplement their traditional volume business with greater value-add offerings such as box-build, systems assembly, logistics and after-market service. Jabil's new product introduction activity in Mexico is said to be up four times over last year. And Solectron's product mix has reportedly evolved from 80% high volume/low mix products in 2002 to just 45% today, with the rest being medium-volume/medium mix ((31%), low-volume/high mix (19%) and systems assembly (5%).

BANNOCKBURN, IL - (NOTE: DATA REVISED MARCH 8) - The January 90-day moving average shipments of all types of circuit boards rose 9.2% year-on-year, according to the latest poll of U.S. PCB fabricators. Aided by a boost in demand for rigid circuits, bookings were strong, up 20.2%. This was on the heels of a climb of 30% in December.

However, a large percentage of the "production" includes boards built offshore and distributed by North American vendors. According to IPC, which takes the poll, 35% of the shipments reported were produced offshore.

The domestic book-to-bill ratio was up 0.04 points to 1.08. It was the second month in a row the key indicator was above 1.0.

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.

Separately, the ratios were 1.0 for rigid PCBs and 1.36 for flexible circuits.

Rigid board shipments, estimated by IPC to make up 75% of all domestic PCBs, were up 12.4% in January vs. a year ago. Bookings were up 9% for the month. Flex sales grew 46.9%, and bookings more than doubled, up 160%.

Sequentially, flex bookings dropped 37% and shipments fell 2%. Rigid shipments were up 5% and bookings climbed 10% sequentially.

Domestic production accounted for 75% of rigid and 31% of flex circuit shipments in January, IPC said.

Flex sales include some value-added services in addition to the bare flex circuits.

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

PARIS - Seica SpA has signed a licensing agreement to add a third level optional testing capability to the EADS Test & Services line of second level systems, ATEC Series 6 and derived products. Users will have the ability, after LRU testing, to confirm the SRU to be diagnosed faulty and be sent back for repair on the same test equipment and with a comprehensive test process.

Seica's offering is based on the VALID Module Test Unit (MTU), a self-contained board level subsystem hosted and controlled by the Series 6.

EADS provides commercial avionics testing. According to a press release, the company is the leader for French weapon systems testing, supplying the French MoD with multi-purpose, high performance testers.

Boston - Teradyne today dispelled a report that it plans to close its backplane manufacturing operations.

In a statement to Circuits Assembly, Tom Pursch, vice president of Teradyne Connection Systems and manager of its printed circuit board business, said: "Teradyne is committed to our printed circuit board business. Credit Suisse First Boston's reporting of a 'hint of a possibility' that we may exit this business is just plain wrong. Our strategy to lower our costs, reduce idle capacity and focus on the high-end domestic market is working."

On Thursday, Forbes reported a leading investment bank suggested the maker of semiconductor and assembly test gear and PCBs might be looking to exit the PCB business.

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