Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - News

News

This week the staff of Circuits Assembly is reporting live from the Apex trade show. Click here to read the latest news from Anaheim, CA.

FRANKLIN, MA - February 16- Frost & Sullivan has named Speedline Technologies its 2005 Surface Mount Technology Company of the Year, citing the firm's "tremendous success, focus on process expertise and excellence in operations, competitive strategy and industry leadership."

Speedline is a maker of capital equipment for electronics manufacturers. The company's "dramatic turnaround and performance over the past two years," despite tough overall economic times for the industry, was key in the selection, according to Keith Robinson, industry manager of F&S.

Speedline's process knowledge expertise, especially in lead-free manufacturing, its customer service and its used equipment programs were cited as additional factors in the award.

"Speedline provides increased value to its customers through its innovative product offerings and close work with their customers' R&D teams to refine the emerging lead-free manufacturing process," said Robinson. "Speedline treats customer service as a separate business and cross-trains its customer support team to work with various types of equipment," said Robinson.

The award will be officially presented to Speedline at a banquet on May 25 in Naples, FL.

REDMOND, WA - Data I/O today reported fourth-quarter revenues dropped to $5.8 million and the firm posted a net loss of $584,000 on seasonality and customer postponements.

Last year the company, which supplies programming solutions, showed a net profit of $337,000 on sales of $6.6 million.

Gross margins slipped one point to 53.8%.

The company took a restructuring charge of $60,000 in the fourth quarter.

As of Dec. 31 cash and short-term investments were $6.6 million. The company is debt-free.

For the year, Data I/O reported revenues of $27.3 million, up 10.6% from revenues in 2003. The net loss was $92,000, compared with net income of $1.3 million a year ago.

"The fourth quarter financial results reflect the seasonality of our customers' businesses as some of our customers delayed shipments until the first quarter of 2005," said Fred Hume, president and CEO, in a statement. "Our disappointments in these delays were compounded by the fact that a major shipment to China was also delayed in customs for over two weeks."

Data I/O guided for first quarter revenues of $7 million and gross margins of 54%. "January revenues provide a good start for the first quarter, and we remain confident that 2005 will be a good year," Hume said.

ANAHEIM, CA -- DDi Corp. CEO Bruce McMaster will take direct responsibility for the circuit board maker's sales organization, effective immediately, the company said today. The timeline is interim and McMaster will continue as chief executive, he said.

Meanwhile, Tom Ingham, vice president of sales for North America, has resigned, DDi said.

In a statement, McMaster said, "I want to give our sales organization a renewed sense of purpose -- to grow this business and to drive revenues. I will be visiting our customers, focusing on their technology roadmaps, and working to ensure that DDi remains a vital link in their supply chain."

DUBLIN -- The market for OEM automotive electronics in China is forecast to reach $3.5 billion by 2012, a compound annual growth rate of 14.2%, a new study says.

At that rate, China is the fastest growing region for automotive electronics, says Dublin, Ireland-based Research and Markets.

The average automotive electronic content per light vehicle in China is forecast to increase from $300 in 2003 to $500 in 2012, the firm said.

UTICA, NY -- Indium Corp. of America has named a distributor for its solder materials in Denmark.

PC Trading will be responsible for selling Indium's line of solder pastes, wave solder fluxes, wires and preforms.

In a statement, Indium European sales manager Tony Howard called PC Trading a "well respected supplier." The company reportedly has extensive experience supplying consumables, machinery and laser stencils for surface mount assembly in Denmark.

KOKOMO, IN - The Chinese Patent Office has granted Foresite Inc. a patent for its cleanliness analysis tool for electrical circuits.

Patent number ZL98107079.5 was issued Sept. 29 for the C3, Foresite said.

The C3 performs real-time cleanliness analysis, the company said. It operates using a steaming technique to extract residues from a specified area and electrically test for conductivity and corrosivity. Results are returned in minutes, Foresite said.

The process is a means for localized residue assessment and for collecting samples for ion chromatography analysis. The C3 tests specific areas and pinpoints the location of residue without exposing the entire board to water, which can dilute test results.

Tests can be localized to an area of 0.1 in², Foresite said.

The C3 has been issued patents in the U.S. and U.K., and has patents pending in Germany and Hong Kong.

WASHINGTON, DC - The electronics industry's leading trade group said creating a more innovative and competitive environment for U.S. high-tech companies heads its public policy agenda this year.

President and CEO Dave McCurdy said the Electronics Industries Alliance's top priorities include trade with China, RFID and tax relief.

"EIA's broad goal in 2005 is to work with the Bush Administration and the 109th Congress to implement a technology-oriented economic agenda that can allow the U.S. high-tech industry to compete favorably in the global economy," said EIA board of governors chairman Ron Turner.

HAUPPAUGE, NY - Jaco Electronics, a distributor of components, reported second-quarter net sales of $52 million, down from $61.5 million a year ago. For the period ended Dec. 31, the company lost $1.5 million, vs. $437,000 last year.

The December results do not Jaco's former contract manufacturing subsidiary, which the company sold to Sagamore Holdings last September.

In a press statement, Jaco's chairman and chief executive Joel Girsky said, "During this difficult period we are focusing on managing the company's overhead and investing resources in areas we believe provide the best prospects for growth.

The company continues to shave expenses, announcing overhead reductions of $1.5 million annually, in addition to previously announced cuts of $2 million. The reductions will be fully implemented by March, the firm said. The company also intimated that further cuts may be coming as it tries to reduce spending by a total of $5 million per year.

Gross profit was flat at 12.7% on a sequential basis. SG&A declined both sequentially and year-over-year. Inventory levels increased sequentially, primarily due to $10.7 million of inventory for existing orders with a customer through June.

SALT LAKE CITY - Huntsman Corp., one of the world's largest chemical firms, raised $1.45 billion in its initial public offering yesterday.

Demand for the company's 60.2 million common shares was stronger than anticipated, Wall Street analysts said.

The bulk of the proceeds will be used to reduce debt.

The company has also committed about $100 million of the proceeds toward various family charities including the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and cancer research, chief executive Peter Huntsman told the media.

Until yesterday, Huntsman Corp. called itself the world's largest privately held chemicals manufacturer. For nine months ended Sept. 30, the company reported a net loss of $284.9 million on revenues of $8.36 billion. It operates 63 plants in 22 countries and employs 11,600.

Huntsman has a total debt of about $6.2 billion, including bond debt, due to a series of acquisitions and restructurings.

The company has a variety of holdings in the electronics sector, including the former Vantico, a supplier of soldermask materials for circuit boards.

SAN CLEMENTE, CA - YESTech, a provider of AOI equipment, has opened a branch office in Shanghai.

The new office provides training and sales on YESTech's automated optical inspection and x-ray inspection systems for circuit board assembly and semiconductor packaging.

"The opening of the China office is a milestone for YESTech," said Don Miller, president of YESTech, in a press release. "We will be able to provide improved customer support, more effectively demonstrate our products to potential clients, and reduce the sales cycle for the rapidly growing China market."

BINGHAMTON, NY -- Frost & Sullivan has named Universal Instruments as recipient of its 2004 award for customer service leadership.

In a press statement the research firm said Universal won for its proactive service partnership approach that meets both the stated and unstated requirements of its customers globally.

Frost & Sullivan presents the award annually to the company that has demonstrated excellence in customer service leadership within the industry.

"In the evolving world of electronic assembly, Universal has a refreshingly proactive and predictive approach to customer service in the surface mount technology placement equipment market," says Frost & Sullivan senior research analyst Vikram Shanbhag. "This includes the establishment of a highly networked global service infrastructure with regional hubs to meet specific customer needs."

Universal has a network of over 200 service personnel around the globe. New service offerings such as support continuance, and a focus on service partnership initiatives have set Universal apart from competitors, Frost said.