ELK GROVE VILLAGE, IL — SigmaTron has announced the promotion of John P. Sheehan to President of EMS Operations. Sheehan has been with SigmaTron since September 1986 and most recently held the position of Vice President, Director of Supply Chain.

BANNOCKBURN, IL — COVID-19, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, soaring global inflation rates and recession fears were major contributors to the cloud of uncertainty in 2022 and also to slower global economic growth, per IPC’s December Economic Outlook report.

By now you probably have heard of ChatGPT. This new artificial intelligence program mimics conversations and language in a way the general public has never seen. Per its website, its developers trained an initial model using “supervised fine-tuning”; in other words, humans provided conversations in which they acted as both user and AI “assistant.” Model-written suggestions were used to help compose their responses.

TAIPEI — Foxconn Interconnect Technology has entered into an agreement to acquire PRETTL SWH group, a German developer and manufacturer of sensor, connectivity and electrification solutions, as part of the company's effort to expand its electronic vehicle development.

EGER, HUNGARY — Eurocircuits is currently in the process of moving into its new assembly facility in Eger, Hungary, with an expected completion of the move by the end of the week.

LODZ, POLAND -- Flex has expanded its footprint here and extended its lease for nonmanufacturing space.

BANNOCKBURN, IL — Over the next six months, manufacturers expect to see continued increase in both labor and material costs, while ease of recruitment and profit margins are likely to remain challenging, according to IPC’s December Global Sentiment of the Electronics Supply Chain Report.

BANNOCKBURN, IL — Total North American PCB shipments in November 2022 were up 26.1% compared to November 2021, according to the IPC's findings from its North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program. The book-to-bill ratio stands at 1.00.

BANNOCKBURN, IL — Total North American EMS shipments in November 2022 were down 0.6% compared to the same month last year, the IPC announced in the November 2022 findings from its North American Electronics Manufacturing Services Statistical Program.

OULU, FINLAND — Scanfil is finishing up a 2,000 sq. m. expansion of its factory in Malmö, Sweden, with the project expected to be completed in January.

BRUSSELS — SEMI has announced key actions proposed by SEMI Europe and European Commission (EC) representatives in consultation with semiconductor industry stakeholders to overcome the skills shortage in Europe’s microelectronics industry. The actions resulted from a Dec. 2 workshop held in Brussels to support the European Chips Act and address challenges and future opportunities for developing skills critical to Europe’s semiconductor ecosystem.

SAN FRANCISCO — Tempo Automation reported revenue of $2.4 million in the third quarter, down 56% from the $5.4 million in revenue in the third quarter of 2021.